Our team was tasked to create a sensory playset to keep a 3-year old autistic boy and his sister entertained in spite of their short attention spans. Our design focuses on incorporating a variety of fun and engaging mechanisms that would appeal to a child with autism while maintaining safety in the play area.
The participating family has requested a playset for their children specifically designed to meet the needs of an autistic child with a very short attention span. They specifically requested a slide, pair of swings, and climbing element in addition to as many different features and functions as possible to keep the boy engaged. As such, we need to supply a variety of mechanisms to allow him and his sister to play despite his autistic behavior.
The rough dimensions of our working area are as follows (an image is provide below as visual reference):
For our ease of mind when operating on the family’s property, we confirmed that there were no pipes underground to be wary of.
For our project, the background research focused on researching existing play sets that aligned with the family’s requests, ideally including a slide, swing set, and climbing apparatus. By purchasing a product that was predesigned for commercial sale, we could ensure that the framework of our playset sits atop one that already meets the standard safety requirements.
To customize it for children with special needs, we looked through common sensory attachments as well as non-traditional sensory features to enhance the children’s play experience. The primary focus of these additions is to provide a wide variety of interactions to diversify creative, social, and developmental outlets. Playset elements should grow with the children, and be repeatedly usable as they age (target age ranges from 3-10 years old).
Additionally, various materials were evaluated to ensure the final design would be durable and could stand up to local weather.
This design is based off a pre-existing playset that features a slide, swing set, and a rock-wall (existing elements shown in white). The playset specifications are listed below:
To customize this playset to the family’s needs, the upper platform’s walls can be transformed to include a Tic-Tac-Toe board, a tactile maze, and a spinning wheel. A webbed rope wall is tied to the side of the swing set for climbing, and a play area with a hammock and sandbox are included below the playset. A sprinkler system runs along the top railings to provide cooling during hot summer months. (alterations shown in red)
This concept design is a alteration of a Costco Swing Set, which contains a slide, swings, monkey bar, stairs, and an upper floor.
To customize the set to the family’s needs, various interactive toys have been added, including: Connect 4 board, module gear pegboard, Spiderman rope wall, and cutout shapes wall.
This sketch is based off of the playset linked below. Its features include two slides, a swing set, a chalkboard, and a lookout area accessible via ladder.
Skyline Lookout Swing Set | Gorilla Playsets
This design adds features to the playset to better engage the siblings and fulfill high-sensory needs, including a two-person swing for the siblings, spinning tic-tac-toe wheels, a sand pit, a sprinkler system to create a waterslide, a climbing wall on the A-frame of the swing set, and a tunnel connecting from the climbing wall to the lookout area.
