Category Archives: Parks

Deliver maximum impact with Quantis™

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Quantis™ A.3

Meet the newest members of the Quantis™ family of net climbers! Quantis™ A.2 + Quantis A.3 deliver an open format playscape for kids ages 5 to 12, which encourages them to navigate to the Oodle® seat at the structure’s core, balance across the SwiggleKnots™ Bridge or tackle the overhead netting and molecular-style belting. Best of all, the preconfigured, ADA-compliant Quantis playground net climbers are loaded with dynamic play in a compact design.

Quantis™ A.2

In addition to the new Quantis playground designs mentioned above, we have pulled together a sampling of design ideas and custom concepts. You’ll find the original Quantis playground design, Quantis 8.1, which delivers net climbers, belting, swings, gliders and so much more for an infinite play experience. A variety of net structure concepts, tower structure concepts, topography concepts and nature-inspired concepts are sure to help inspire your upcoming playground projects. Browse all the custom concepts here.

Quantis™ 8.1
Nature-Inspired Concept Q
Net Structure Concept B
Topography Concept O
Tower Structure Concept H

When you’re ready to get started on your playground design or want more custom playground ideas, contact your local Landscape Structures playground consultant.

Encourage active lifestyles with community fitness parks

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We’re excited to make the benefits of a fitness facility accessible to everyone with the introduction of HealthBeat Circuit™ Activated by FitLot®. The circular design and open layout make HealthBeat Circuit Outdoor Fitness a perfect space for community circuit training classes, and the combination of equipment—for strength, cardio, balance and flexibility—creates a fully functional fitness space that can be used for a wide variety of training methods. Best of all, community-based outdoor fitness spaces create opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to achieve a more active lifestyle.

HealthBeat Circuit includes 11 fitness stations for a full-body workout. Each piece of equipment is integrated directly into the SkyWays® shade structure to provide protection from the sun while exercising. Plus, open areas within the circuit design provide comfortable space for ground work and stretching. There are 32 locations throughout HealthBeat Circuit to attach resistance bands to add even more exercise options.

Each exercise station has signage with a scannable QR code linking the user to instructional videos on FitLot.org. The Welcome Sign also features a library of movements and additional fitness tips. While this fitness system can be used effectively without additional programming, talk with your consultant about how FitLot can further enhance and help activate HealthBeat Circuit in your community. FitLot offers a Neighborhood Coaches Training Program that teaches local fitness professionals how to lead community classes for all ages and abilities

Help build a stronger and healthier future for you community by adding HealthBeat Circuit Outdoor Fitness to your public space. Contact us to get started on your fitness park design today.

Supporting state parks and recreation associations with 13 years of scholarships

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State Speaker Scholarship 2021-22

We are excited to announce the 13th Annual State Speaker Scholarship Program has launched! The State Speaker Scholarship 2021-22 program will support the appearances of keynote speakers at state parks and recreation associations’ annual or regional conferences. State associations that are chosen will receive a scholarship of $2,500. Applications are being accepted through June 30, 2022; submit your application today!

Recipients of the State Speaker Scholarship 2021-22 will receive $2,500 to support conference speakers whose messages are focused on topics related to play, inclusion, equity, urban parks planning or other professional development. In addition to the $2,500 scholarship, Landscape Structures will provide one complimentary Play Healthy™ Hand Sanitizer Station to each state association awarded a scholarship to raffle off, donate or share with a member.

Since the scholarship program’s inception in 2009, Landscape Structures has awarded nearly 300 scholarships to state associations and more than $720,000 to support the appearances of speakers at park and recreation conferences throughout the nation.

Learn more about the 2021-2022 State Association Speaker Scholarship here, or contact your local Landscape Structures playground consultant.

Innovative designs deliver a whimsical play experience

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If you’re looking for innovative playground designs at affordable price points, you’ve come to the right place. Our design experts have curated a collection of preconfigured playground structures that are perfect for your community park or school playground! Our Smart Play® family of playstructures not only fit in a compact space, but they are packed with activities to help kids develop key sensory, motor, cognitive and social skills. Choose one or pair the affordable Smart Play playground designs together to create a whimsical play experience.

Smart Play Billows

Smart Play Billows™ Imaginations will soar as kids ages 5 to 12 float across the sky on bridges, climbers and down two sensory-rich slides.

Smart Play Breeze™ Kids ages 2 to 5 will find plenty of airy insights to explore as they crawl, walk and climb up to the hot-air balloon basket.

Smart Play Tree Tops

Smart Play Tree Tops™ Give kids the sense of playing in the treetops as they navigate wiggly bridges, the 3-ring climber, roar down two slides and much more.

Smart Play Sprig™ Encourage kids ages 2 to 5 to explore leafy pods and flower blossoms while they flex their emerging skills on this fresh-as-spring playstructure.

Smart Play BeachComber™ Young imaginations are encouraged to go with the watery flow as they surge forth to explore oceans of activity.

Help create memories for kids in your community to look back on with these affordable Smart Play playground designs. Learn more about this family of playstructures and contact your local Landscape Structures playground consultant to get started on your playground design today.

We come back to play

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Remember the moments that defined your childhood. The best of those often began in play. That’s why we design playgrounds that encourage kids to try new adventures, let their hearts and minds swing open, and simply have fun. That’s why… we come back to play.

We are proud to lead the conversation about the power of play with our Shaped by Play video series. Go here to watch all three videos.

Each of us have stories about how play has shaped us. Review the Shaped by Play video series and encourage your colleagues, friends and family to remember the moments… that got your heart racing, imagination swirling and body moving. Use our social media toolkit to share the message of why we come back to play.

Most importantly, help create the memories for the kids in your community to look back on. Contact your local Landscape Structures playground consultant to get started on a playground design today.

Design Matters. Play Matters More.

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For us, design refers to what a playstructure looks like as much as it does to the play value built into it. We simply cannot design one without the other. Play value is what creates return visitors. That’s why we design play environments to be fresh and exciting upon every visit. Go here to view and request a copy of the 2021 PLAY Book.

Deliver a hive of activity that sparks the imagination, facilitates discovery and lends itself to new adventure. See a few of the signature playground designs from our 2021 PLAY Book in action below.

Turn your destination playground into a legend. By design. Contact your local Landscape Structures playground consultant to get started on your next playground design.

2020 Legacy of Play contest winner supporting all-inclusive play

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We’re excited to announce that the Early Risers Kiwanis Club of Worthington, Minnesota, is the winner in the 7th Annual Legacy of Play contest. The club, which will receive $25,000 in playground equipment, plans to build an all-inclusive playground at a local park—the only playground of its kind in the community of 13,000.

The club garnered community support for the project, including financial help from a local man who had polio as a child and remembered feeling left out while watching other children play. The club’s contest application noted the resident offered to transport the playground equipment at no cost to the club, using his personal trucking company equipment.

A local family whose son has Joubert Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, also supported the playground project. In a letter that accompanied the club’s contest entry, the family wrote, “Since three months old, Blaine has been in physical, occupational and speech therapy and has made some great strides in his coordination and strength. Play and peer relationships are also such important parts of development. What an all-inclusive playground will mean for us is that Blaine will be able to explore and wander the playground independently, he will have more opportunities to be engaged with other children and hopefully make a new friend.”

The family noted their child would be able to use the playground equipment independently and play with his siblings and others. “When we talk about the park with Blaine and show him pictures of what is coming, he gets excited and will give a shrieking shout of “Yay!” and then tap his chest and say, “Me too, I can do it, I can play.”

Plans call for the playground to be installed on Kiwanis One Day on Oct. 24, 2021. The club plans to begin construction on April 1 of next year, in tandem with the city’s construction of a new handicap accessible restroom facility.

Celebrating Sensory Awareness Month 2020

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The disruption of the coronavirus pandemic has been tough on everyone including kids. As children safely resume outdoor play, each child will experience the playground differently. For kids with sensory processing challenges—5 to 16% of school-aged children—regulating their bodies and emotions through play is especially critical.

For Sensory Awareness Month, which is in October, we’re sharing the importance of creating inclusive playground environments.

According to Virginia Spielmann, executive director at the STAR Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder, for many kids with sensory processing difficulties, a traditional playground doesn’t offer the same opportunities to master physical challenges, gain social confidence or hone fine motor skills.

To highly sensitive children, the intense experiences of a playground like the spin of a merry-go-round or the tussle of kids on the monkey bars can feel like an assault on their senses. In other cases, children may seek out external stimulation.

“Kids may react strongly and with enthusiasm to this external stimuli, or they may retreat,” explained Spielmann. “And often, they can’t match the motor skills of other children, which makes them feel even more different and isolated—especially on a traditional playground.”

The right play equipment can make all the difference. And today’s thoughtfully designed playgrounds have evolved into places that foster all-sensory experiences for every child.

At Landscape Structures, our product and playground designers are educated and interested in how kids with special needs experience the world, which informs their approach and designs—and makes an enormous difference in the final product.

That insight translates to subtle equipment details in materials, shapes, movement or orientation. For example, a playstructure with built-in tactile elements invites children to explore a variety of textures and shapes and helps them to integrate multiple tactile experiences.

We can also design playstructures to offer a variety of interactive panels in a variety of positions—including musical or auditory components. Our inclusive playgrounds also incorporate quiet, cozy spaces where overstimulated kids can go for a calming escape to regain their equilibrium and recharge.

There are many other ways that playground design can invite children of all abilities to play, explore and learn with confidence. Learn more about designing inclusive playgrounds to meet the needs of your community at playlsi.com. And learn more about sensory processing and how to help spread awareness for it at spdstar.org.

Return to play

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During the global pandemic, children and families have been eagerly waiting to get outside and back to the playground. And as many communities reopen their parks and playgrounds, we’re here to support you in your efforts to Play Healthy™. That’s why we’ve pulled together resources from our partners, which provide guidance to ensure the reopening of play spaces is done safely and swiftly. Additionally, city leaders will find product offerings to support their efforts of keeping the community healthy.

There’s a lot of information out there about reopening playgrounds, so we’ve curated some of the key resources released by our partners including KABOOM!, NRPA and NAESP. Here you’ll find actionable guidelines for returning to play equitably, a webinar on safely reopening play spaces, as well as tips, best practices and professional resources for park and school professionals. And if you’re at home for distance learning or other reasons, we’ve pulled together innovative ideas for kids and families to stay active and playing.

In addition to the above resources for reopening playgrounds, we have product offerings to support your community’s health:

  • Return to play safely with the new Play Healthy Hand Sanitizer Station! With this ADA-compliant Sanitizer Station, all park and playground visitors will have access to hand sanitizer before and after play. In addition to holding up to one gallon of sanitizer to require less frequent reorders from your sanitizer supplier, the graphics on the container can be customized with your logo, tagline or your own pictorial instructions.
  • Remind users how to play safely with our Play Healthy Labels. These tamper-proof labels can be affixed directly to your Landscape Structures playground. Contact your local Landscape Structures playground consultant to request the labels, and add them to your playground to keep visitors healthy.