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Future Playground Studio

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Grades K-245-60 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Kids design a playground structure that every kind of kid could enjoy and access. It's a thoughtful engineering project that builds empathy alongside design and testing skills.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Prep: 11 minActivity: 30 min1 session~$1/groupOne table or a small area of floor spaceBeginner-friendly

Setup

Gather cardboard, foam, craft sticks and clear a small work surface. Read the Future Playground Studio mission aloud, then place the supplies where children can choose and compare them safely.

Activity

  1. Predict what kind of equipment would let every kind of kid play together, including different abilities.
  2. Design and build an inclusive play structure using cardboard, foam, and craft sticks.
  3. Test the structure with different figures and discover one can't access a piece of equipment, then redesign that part.
  4. Present the inclusive playground model to the city planning board, explaining how it welcomes every user.

Done when: Children complete the core mission and the inclusive playground model to the city planning board, explaining how it welcomes every user.

Materials

Cardboard, craft sticks, foam scraps, small figures representing varied users, tape

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Disclosure: Materials links below go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Steps

  1. Predict what kind of equipment would let every kind of kid play together, including different abilities.
  2. Design and build an inclusive play structure using cardboard, foam, and craft sticks.
  3. Test the structure with different figures and discover one can't access a piece of equipment, then redesign that part.
  4. Present the inclusive playground model to the city planning board, explaining how it welcomes every user.

Standards it satisfies

  • NGSS · K-2-ETS1-1

    Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through development of a new or improved object or tool.