In 2018 I wrote a blog called Park Life. In the first part I sat on a bench in a park and cried. We were with friends and even although the park claimed to be inclusive there was absolutely nothing for Quinns to play on. The second part of that blog described the day we visited a more inclusive playpark and discovered that wheelchair-accessible roundabouts and other accessible equipment existed. Being new to disability I had no idea about accessible play equipment.

This revelation took us on a journey to discover the best accessible play equipment and inspired us to take on a fundraising campaign to make our local play park more accessible and a great place for Quinns and everyone to play in. We succeeded in all we planned to do and finally everything was installed in 2023. Quinns has subsequently had many fun times in that park and hopefully he still has a few to come although he is maybe getting a bit too old for it!

I, however, am still frustrated when I see new or refurbished parks that don’t contain accessible play equipment. In my original blog I dreamt about an accessible roundabout in every park. I now think that is the absolute minimum and there could be so much more done with wheelchair-accessible play equipment. Afterall making the play equipment accessible to disabled children doesn’t exclude other children.

As part of my work as the graphic designer for Socialudo, we have developed a game called Domino Park with the aim to inspire discussion around what makes greenspaces (including play parks) accessible and inclusive. It’s a simple game where you collect dominos to build your own park. At the end the scores are tallied and the person with the most accessible/inclusive features gets the most points.

I hope it will be a useful tool for anyone taking on a similar project to the one we did, or for anyone looking to discuss the design and development of greenspaces. I would love to hear from you if you’re inspired to play the game!

There is a Print & Play version of the game on the Socialudo website for anyone to download and play for free. The Socialudo team would love to hear from you, and answer any questions. You can even arrange to try out a ‘giant’ version of the game!