Jennifer Severson’s daughter, Leah, loves slides and climbing. Leah has spina bifida, a birth defect that affects the development of the spinal cord. Jennifer Severson describes her daughter as playful and fun—a typical 4-year-old. She just needs a little help getting around.
Leah is a student at St. David’s Center in Minnetonka, where she has been enrolled for almost three years. Jennifer Severson and her husband Ty were looking for an inclusive environment where Leah could have a great preschool experience. St. David’s Center proved to be the perfect fit. When St. David’s installed its brand-new playground last fall, it made the school environment that much better for Leah. “She is able to access every piece of equipment as the other kids,” Severson says. “For her it is just a regular playground.
Julie Sjordal, the executive director of St. David’s Center, is the visionary behind the new playground. St. David’s specializes in preschool for typically developing children and offers a variety of programs for children of all ages with special needs. The center has early childhood education, early intervention and treatment for children with developmental needs, and support services for kids and adults with special needs.
Last summer, St. David’s began an expansion and renovation process that will eventually include the entire facility. The project is being completed in phases so the center can remain open during construction. The playground, which opened in October, was one of the first completed projects. “Our goal was to have a playground that incorporated natural formations and rock, and looks natural and blends into a natural area,” Sjordal says. The playground is located behind the St. David’s building and connected to a state-protected forest.
The playground has zones with a variety of equipment, which combine typical play surfaces with those that are appropriate for kids with special needs, so that all students can enjoy the space. Everything is built on a soft rubber poured-in-place surface, firm enough for a wheelchair or walker but soft enough to cushion jumps and tumbles.
Play areas include the more traditional playground with a wobbly rope bridge, a nature-based area with a musical instrument zone and mud kitchen (read more about it on page 18), and a forested area with a boardwalk. Each of these elements works as a fun play zone but can also be used therapeutically. Everything on the playground was designed by a team of occupational therapists, early childhood development teachers and landscape architect Dan Sjordal. The group worked together on every aspect of the playground to create the right aesthetic and functional environment.
The wobbly bridge is a perfect example of how the playground can benefit kids with special needs, Julie Sjordal says. “A lot of times, kids with special needs are struggling with how to manage their body and the environment, so you want to create spaces that give them the right amount of risks and ways to engage safely with therapists.”
At St. David’s Center, kids with special needs and typically developing children can play together—this type of cooperation promotes inclusion.
And inclusion is something every parent wants for their children. Via organizations like St. David’s Center—and its amazing playground—kids like Leah Severson are learning that the world is open to them.
