Announcing the launch of the 16th Annual State Association Speaker Scholarship Program

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the 16th Annual State Association Speaker Scholarship Program, continuing our unwavering support for parks and recreation professionals. This initiative offers parks and recreation associations the opportunity to bring dynamic keynote speakers to their annual or regional conferences.

What is the State Association Speaker Scholarship Program?

The State Association Speaker Scholarship Program, offered by Landscape Structures, helps bring expert speakers on topics such as play, inclusion, equity and urban parks planning to the forefront. This program empowers state associations to inspire and educate their members through engaging presentations and discussions.

As part of the scholarship, we kindly request the following contributions from state associations:

  1. Advertisement: Please provide a complimentary advertisement in the state association magazine or another publication
  2. Introduction: Allow Landscape Structures the opportunity to introduce the keynote speaker
  3. Social Media: Create a social media post highlighting the speaker sponsored by the Landscape Structures scholarship
  4. Article: Publish an article provided by Landscape Structures in the organization’s newsletter or email.

We welcome applications from all state associations who have chosen their speaker for their upcoming conference. The application process is straightforward. Go here to complete the online application form, providing basic conference information–dates, location, name of keynote speaker and a brief description of their proposed presentation. We review each application and will notify the state association of their award within 30 days.

Benefits of the State Association Speaker Scholarship

The Speaker Scholarship from Landscape Structures offers a wealth of benefits. Primarily, it provides financial support, significantly reducing travel and accommodation costs for the speaker. This allows state associations to concentrate their efforts on delivering an outstanding conference experience.

Additionally, the scholarship enhances networking opportunities. Members gain access to industry experts, creating valuable connections and learning opportunities. Best of all, this program positions your association as a premier source of high-quality content. Landscape Structures is dedicated to cultivating a community of knowledge sharing and collaboration through this initiative.

Take Action Now

Now is the time to act. Apply today to bring an inspiring, thought-provoking speaker to your conference. Visit playlsi.com/speaker-scholarship/ to submit your application. This is your chance to get and stay connected through play and recreation.

Join us in making the 16th year of the Speaker Scholarship Program the most impactful yet!

Partnering to develop the most innovative playground designs

2024 PLAY Book

Well-designed play brings everyone together. It’s why landscape architects and playground designers are constantly creating wildly original and wondrous kid-centric worlds. Like incorporating moments of landscape play that provide multiple options for a child’s next move, a key strategy for adding play value. Or featuring innovative playground designs that help play spaces blend into—or stand out from—their surroundings.

Thoughtful and imaginative design has always been central to how we work. Creativity is our playground, and getting to explore ideas that boost the wow factor and inspire kids, well that’s how we play. View the virtual publication and request a copy of the 2024 PLAY Book.

To us, innovative playground designs can only function in service to play. It’s a perspective that continues to influence our entire industry. And it’s why we are recognized for building the best playgrounds in the world. And why we appreciate partnering with landscape architects and communities to keep stretching design, and play. Contact your local Landscape Structures playground consultant to get started on your next playground design, and view all of the unique designs of the 2024 PLAY Book in the video below.

Empowering Disability Pride: Taking back the language that defines us

We’re excited to have Jill Moore, inclusive play specialist at Landscape Structures, as our guest blogger today. She’s here to help wrap up Disability Pride Month by discussing the varying language preferences across the disability community.

The language of disability is changing, and the impact of this is so much deeper than it appears. In six years in inclusive play, I’ve carved out a niche in disability advocacy and true inclusion. I’ve grown up with my disability. It’s always been a part of my identity. It defined me and my pursuits, but discussions about it weren’t always positive. I grew up when the Medical Model of disability was mostly used, and people referred to me as someone that needed to be “fixed.” At that time, it was the individual with the disability that was the problem, not the environment or the society we live in. Recently, the disability community has shifted away from this mindset, actively reframing our language to show disability pride.

Avoiding disability to comfort others

I remember the first time I told someone I was disabled, or rather, when someone first told me it wasn’t okay. Around kindergarten age, another student asked me why I was using crutches. I cheerfully explained that I was disabled and used crutches to move around and play with my friends. His mother quickly became flustered and told me, “You shouldn’t call yourself that! You’re not disabled, you’re handi-capable!” My kid-brain didn’t know what to make of this proclamation, but afterwards, I stopped calling myself disabled. I was told being disabled was bad and I needed to be more able. That impacted how I viewed myself into my late 20s. I avoided ‘disabled’ to comfort others, not for myself.

I had never viewed my disability as a bad thing. It is a part of who I am, so why should that be something to shy away from? I remember when I got my first wheelchair. It was so exciting! Finally, I had a tool that would allow me to go faster, keep pace with my friends and not tire so quickly. But so many people in my life—adults and friends—would say things like, “Your wheelchair isn’t permanent is it?” or “You’re still going to try to walk, aren’t you?” As if I needed to find a way to explain away my wheelchair and the needs that came with my disability.

I’d hear the words “adapt and overcome” all the time, and that was how I learned to feel about my disability. I should adapt to the world around me instead of making the world inclusive. Society taught me to hide my disability, comfort others about it, and overcome rather than celebrate it.

This view had even seeped into the media. We didn’t isolate the Medical Model of disability to a few conversations; it was all around us. In ‘Avatar’, the wheelchair-using protagonist sought to erase his disability, influencing our views.

Learning acceptance through inclusive play

Entering the world of inclusive play introduced me to the Social Model of disability. In this space, someone first told me that my abilities weren’t the problem, but the designed environment should accommodate me. Exploring the social model of disability, I realized my abilities and needs weren’t the problem. I began to find myself frustrated with person-first language (i.e. person with a disability). Wasn’t this essentially saying that the disability facet of our identity had to come second? If I had to use language to separate myself from my disability trait, then that trait suggests a negative. It was within the learning space of inclusion that I discovered identity-first language (i.e. disabled person).

I’m proud to say we are pushing to take our words back, and be confident in our disability pride. Within the disability community, you might hear us using identity-first language. We prioritize our identity label as it’s a key part of who we are. You may hear the word “disabled person,” and that’s okay. Some may identify as Blind or Deaf, and neither is negative. You may see media campaigns surrounding the changing language. You may even still hear disabled individuals using person-first language. All of that is okay, too.

The point is that it’s our choice. Able-bodied individuals no longer own the conversation space about what we should be called. It’s nothing about us, without us. The social model means that we don’t have to be fixed or changed. We don’t need to change to fit a preset mold of disability; we aren’t the problem. Differing abilities are all of us. And we get to be proud of that.

Supporting Parks and Recreation Professionals with the 15th Annual State Speaker Scholarship Program

We’re excited to share that we’re standing strong in our support of parks and recreation professionals with the launch of the 15th Annual State Speaker Scholarship program. The 2023-2024 scholarship program is about bringing in amazing keynote speakers—experts in topics like play, inclusion, equity, urban parks planning or any professional development—to state parks and recreation associations’ annual or regional conferences.

So, what’s in it for the lucky recipients of the 2023-2024 scholarship? They will receive $3,000 to support the appearance of these remarkable speakers at the conferences. We’ve increased the parks and recreation speaker scholarship amount to ensure that these conferences are filled with insightful discussions and eye-opening presentations.

The application is open! You can apply for a scholarship until May 31, 2024, to support a brilliant speaker at your conference. Head on over to playlsi.com/speaker-scholarship/ to fill out the application today!

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the impact this scholarship program has made over the years. Since 2009, we’ve awarded 350 scholarships totaling over $867,000 for speakers at national conferences.

It’s time to take action. Apply now to bring an inspiring, challenging speaker to your conference. Head over to playlsi.com/speaker-scholarship/ and fill out that application. This is just one more opportunity to get and stay connected through play and recreation.

The magic of play

At Landscape Structures, we see connections made every day. Everywhere. This is the beauty of play. An extraordinary opportunity for interaction and imagination. Coordination and cooperation. Freedom and fun. Play lets us connect to who we are and see our wonder amplified in the connections we make. That’s why, in everything we do, we celebrate the beauty of play.

We are proud to lead the conversation about the power of play with our videos. Watch the trilogy of Shaped by Play below.

We Come Back to Play
Play Will Always Shape Us
For a Better Tomorrow, We Play Today

The beauty of play is that it’s not just play at all. It’s magic. An opportunity to make connections. Use our social media toolkit to share your story of how play has helped you make connections throughout your life.

Most importantly, share the magic of play with your community by contacting your local Landscape Structures playground consultant to get started on your upcoming playground designs today.

The best of 2022

2022 has been an amazing year… filled with great people, designs and products. See the best of 2022 Landscape Structures in the form of our most-read blog posts.

1. Congratulations to Penchura, our 2021 Rep of the Year
Penchura, our playground consultant covering Michigan and Ohio, was chosen as Landscape Structures’ 2021 Rep Organization of the Year.

Best of 2022 Landscape Structures

2. All Together: Design Matters. Play Matters More
We’ll collaborate with you to create a well-designed playground that brings everyone together. Find inspiration in our 2023 PLAY Book.

3. A cost-effective, simple approach to building community splash pads
Our AquaSmart™ Packages are self-contained splash pads that are powered by HydroLogix®, which eliminates the need for costly electrical installation and allows you to install one just about anywhere.

Highland Ridge Park in Delano, Minnesota

4. Delivering adventure with playground towers
The best way to create adventure-filled play experiences for kids of all ages and abilities is to look for playground designs that encourage the progression of the play experience.

5. Welcoming and supporting all with Universal Design
Our design philosophy at Landscape Structures is heavily influenced by the tenets of Universal Design, a theory of design that strives to make environments more usable, safer and healthier for all.

Thank you for tuning in to Together We Play in 2022. We’re looking forward to an exciting year of play; tell us below what you’d like to see more of in 2023 and we’ll do our best to share it here.

Deliver social and cooperative play opportunities with playground spinners

Modern day merry-go-rounds attract kids of all ages and abilities. But why are kids so fascinated with spinning activities? Because it’s one of the core movements that engages the vestibular system. When a child twists and turns on playground spinners their brain receives signals to help control movement and balance. Even more, playground spinners offer developmental benefits including social and cooperative play.

Three children standing on a Curva spinner playground feature

We understand that kids discover their world and how to be successful in it through sensory play. And the more sensory-rich play experiences kids are presented with, the more they can fully develop a wide array of skills necessary to engage, change and impact the world around them.

Adding multi-user playground spinners to playground designs is a great way to expand play spaces and freshen up the play experience. Best of all, while kids whirl and twirl their day away, they’re receiving developmental benefits like building an array of motor, cognitive and social/emotional skills.

Try placing one spinner or multiple together to create a play zone filled with thrilling experiences that are great for kids of all ages and abilities. The Revi™ products including the ReviRock™ Bouncer, ReviWheel™ Spinner and ReviWhirl™ Spinner are a great option for this. Designed with inclusion in mind, all three Revi products are designed at transfer height, offer multiple ways to hang on, and provide plenty of room for kids of all abilities to lay down, sit, kneel or stand as they experiment with the motion.

When children play together, they develop in ways that they couldn’t alone. That’s why we develop multi-user spinners that combine the sensory input of spinning and social interaction among peers. Even better, many of these products like the We-Go-Round®, OmniSpin® Spinner and WhirlyQ® Spinner are inclusive to individuals of all ages and abilities.

Learn more about how certain types of play may shape children’s development by requesting our whitepaper, Shaped by Play: How Play Types Impact Development. Our observational research with the University of Minnesota examines whether certain types of developmentally significant play are best supported by certain playground components.

Two Kiwanis Clubs Named Co-Winners in the Legacy of Play Contest

2022 Legacy of Play Contest supports two all-inclusive playgrounds

Children of all abilities in Minnesota and Florida will soon have all-inclusive playgrounds at parks in their communities to play on thanks to their local Kiwanis clubs. The Albert Lea Noon Kiwanis Club in Albert Lea, Minn., and the Kiwanis Club of South Lake in Clermont, Fla., are co-winners of the ninth annual Legacy of Play contest, sponsored by Kiwanis International and Landscape Structures Inc. Each Kiwanis club will receive US$25,000 in inclusive playground equipment.

The inclusive playground design of the Albert Lea Noon Kiwanis Club

The vision behind Albert Lea Noon Kiwanis Club’s winning project

Albert Lea, Minn., about 90-miles south of the Twin Cities, is home to nearly 20,000 people. And while the city has many great parks and playgrounds, none provided children of all abilities a place to play together. After learning of a parent group working to bring an inclusive playground to their community, the Albert Lea Noon Kiwanis Club committed to helping. The vision for the inclusive playground is for children of all abilities to play side-by-side with their peers, deliver a rich, sensory environment that encourages children to grow and learn at their own pace, and allow everyone to access every point of the space.

Kiwanis Club of South Lake’s inclusive playground design

Helping children feel like champions with an all-inclusive playground project

The City of Clermont, Fla., a community just 22-miles west of Orlando, is known for being home to the United States Triathlon National Training Center. With the city motto being “Choice of Champions,” the Kiwanis Club of South Lake felt they needed to help children of all abilities feel like champions on the playground with an inclusive playground, which had been lacking in the community. Kiwanis and community members envision children of all abilities and their families easily accessing the playground as well as freestanding playground components like the We-Go-Round®, plus there will be activities that enhance sensory, cognitive, motor, social and emotional skills through sensory play panels and Rhapsody® Outdoor Musical Instruments.

Both clubs saw an outpouring of community support for the projects from the beginning, but particularly when it came time for the public vote on Facebook. Additionally, both clubs are working closely with their Cities as well as have other strong partnerships with community organizations to ensure that the all-inclusive playgrounds are installed and ready for children by 2024.

This year marks the ninth year of the contest sponsored by Kiwanis and Landscape Structures. The contest aims to inspire Kiwanians to bring play and playgrounds to their communities, providing a legacy of play for future generations.

Encouraging play and communication on the playground

Playground design has been evolving to become more inclusive and inviting for children and their caregivers of all abilities. Play is not only fun, but it’s also an essential part of a child’s development and critical for the successful growth of both the brain and the body.

That’s why we’ve drawn on the expertise of child development professionals to help us explore new avenues that allow for all children to fully participate in play together. Our work doesn’t just focus on playstructures and activities that are accessible to children with physical disabilities, but also those who may have sight or hearing impairment, intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities.

Symbol Communication Sign

For individuals who are non-verbal, speech-challenged or early-learners—or perhaps are non-English speaking—their inability to share ideas, feelings and needs can be frustrating and may keep them from socializing with others at the playground. That’s why we’ve introduced the new Symbol Communication Sign to be placed at the entrance to play areas, which will ensure every child, family member and caregiver is allowed to further their expression, interaction and communication.

With guidance from experts in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and Inclusive Design, we developed the Symbol Communication Sign to include pictures representing nouns/pronouns, verbs, feelings, activities, and playground events as well as letters and numbers. The graphics are universally understandable and easy to use, arranged left-to-right as one would build a sentence and use industry-standard colors representing different types of words. The DigiFuse® graphics are printed on both sides of the Symbol Communication Sign.

We’re committed to providing play experiences for children of all abilities. Our inclusive play design philosophy, which addresses the accessibility, age and developmental appropriateness, and sensory-stimulating activity, and other inclusive play product innovations like the We-Go-Swing®, We-Go-Round®, We-saw™, OmniSpin® spinner and Sway Fun® glider, we’re helping bring children with and without special needs together to play, learn and grow on the playground. Learn more at playlsi.com.

Introducing endless thrills with Revi™ Products

We’re excited to introduce the Revi™ products, which includes the ReviRock™ Bouncer, ReviWheel™ Spinner and ReviWhirl™ Spinner. Each of the Revi playground equipment products, explained below, were created using a single sculptural form to deliver three different and thrilling play experiences.

The ReviRock Bouncer for ages 2 to 12 position on a large center spring bounces and rocks in all directions.

Designed for ages 5 to 12, the center wheel of the ReviWheel Spinner allows kids to spin themselves around and around.

Deliver an adventure in physics for kids ages 5 to 12 with the the ReviWhirl Spinner by offering spinning through perpetual motion or a push from the outside.

The Revi playground equipment products were designed with inclusion in mind. All three products are designed at transfer height, offer multiple ways to hang on, and provide plenty of room for kids of all abilities to lay down, sit, kneel or stand as they experiment with the motion. Even more, the ReviWheel and ReviWhirl spinners include a proprietary dynamic speed control to keep spinning at a fun yet controllable speed.

Adding freestanding play components is a great way to expand existing play spaces and freshen up the play experience. Placing one or all the Revi products together with other freestanding spinners, the ZipKrooz® or a selection of playground swings creates a play zone filled with thrilling experiences great for kids of all ages and abilities.

See the new Revi products in action and learn more about each one at playlsi.com/revi-play/.