Written by Pete Wharmby – Neurodiversity author and speaker
Planning an inclusive play centre
When designing an indoor play centre that is truly designed for all children, there are a number of key things to consider. Here, I will explore five of the most important, which would ensure that your indoor play space is as inclusive as possible.
1. Accessibility
It is vital that your play space is physically accessible to all children, no matter their physical needs. Wheelchair access is obviously a must, but so is an awareness of routes and space for those whose mobility might be different to others.
Ensuring that children can move around without being hemmed in by clutter, or in danger of hurting themselves on poorly designed play equipment is a huge part of this.
Do not forget sensory accessibility, too. Spaces that are too loud, too bright, too smelly or too hot can be impossible for some children to access.
2. Purpose
It is really important that you have a clear idea of the purpose of the space. Is it a play area, filled with excitement; is it a calming space, meant to reduce stress?
It is very difficult to make any space do both of these things, so be very clear in your own mind about what it is you are looking to achieve. Then you will be able to drive your play centre design ethos with clarity, leading to far better outcomes.
3. Proprioception and Vestibular senses
This is almost certainly going to happen anyway, as most children’s play is centred around these to some degree. Therefore being familiar with the terms is very useful.
The proprioceptive sense is to do with where our bodies and limbs are in space. Children can be very sensitive to it. They will find joy in pure movement, spinning, swinging and running in a way that we adults may find exhausting.
The vestibular sense is to do with balance, being upright and lying down. Again, you will want to provide opportunities for this. Balance bars, mats for lying and rolling, and opportunities for climbing are great for when children seek out these sensory opportunities!
4. Colour and Natural Motifs
Inclusive designs need to be suitable to children who are more readily overwhelmed by sensory information. As a result, it would be wise to focus on softer, more calming colours and themes. This should be considered even in the most boisterous play spaces.
Autistic children in particular may be put off an otherwise excellent space due to overcomplexity and intensity of colour design. For example, too many clashing colours can make spaces difficult to navigate for children with sight differences.
5. Flexibility
It is key that your space has as much flexibility as possible. By this, I mean that lighting, sound effects/music and temperature are all (to some extent) alterable to the needs of the child.
In an ideal world this would mean they would have access to the light controls, and be able to open windows, or turn on the air conditioning, and turn music on and off.
Children have enormously varied sensory preferences, therefore one child’s sensory heaven is another’s sensory hell – having flexibility baked into the design is a great way to accommodate this.
Inclusive play centre design benefits everyone
All of this, in turn, benefits the provider. Whether you are a school, a business or a charity, creating spaces that are designed inclusively is going to benefit you, too.
Being mindful of the needs of the canaries in the coal mines that neurodivergent people represent means that you will always be ahead of the curve, realising where the stresses and strains in your spaces exist, and doing something to mitigate them.
Overall, this will ensure happier clients, customers and service users, which can never be a bad thing.
Contact us today or book a free consultation to get your inclusive indoor play centre project started.
