Possibility Playground

A huge new playground opened in Port Washington last weekend that Elsa and I have been looking forward to going to for months: It's called Possibility Playground, and it is a 100-percent universally accessible playground, designed so that kids with disabilities can play right alongside all other kids.

When I first heard about it this summer, we decided to donate to it for two reasons: First, it made me think about how much Elsa loves going to the playground and how heartbreaking it would be to have a child who couldn't enjoy that simple pleasure. Second, based on the plans posted on their website, it looked like it would be the mother of all playgrounds—paradise for all kids! Here's Elsa with her brick, which is located right at the entrance. You can click on the photo to see a larger version, but it says " 'Down on in the slide!' Elsa Heinrich." (She always used to add that extra "in" whenever she talked about going down a slide, so I couldn't resist putting that on her brick.)
Possibility Playground was built over one weekend, almost entirely by community volunteers, in mid-September, and the grand opening was this past Saturday. Since it was such a beautiful weekend, we decided we'd better get out there, while we still had the chance before winter comes.

The verdict: Not surprisingly, Elsa loves Possibility Playground! Much of it is basically a maze of double-wide ramps leading to a castle, a pirate ship, slides, and more—and the ramps were probably Elsa's favorite part. She went running up, down and all around, literally never slowing down the entire hour that we were there. Here's just one small portion of the ramps Elsa loved:

They also have a separate "Tot Lot," which I always appreciate for her. Here she is trying out the balance beam:

And she got a kick out of the colorful turtle and elephant toys in the tot area:

Possibility Playground is a fun, amazing place—these pictures don't even come close to doing it justice. We're proud to have been a (small) part of it!