Making a place where everybody plays

Examining the science, psychology behind an inclusive playground 

Julie Hoffman, left, and April McDaniel are pictured outside the Peyton Parker Lane Playground in York next to statues of their late sons for whom the inclusive playground is named. The women and their husbands were members of the group that founded the facility which opened in 2023.
Julie Hoffman, left, and April McDaniel are pictured outside the Peyton Parker Lane Playground in York next to statues of their late sons for whom the inclusive playground is named. The women and their husbands were members of the group that founded the facility which opened in 2023.

The dictionary defines the adjective “inclusive” as “Taking a great deal or everything within its scope; comprehensive. ie, ‘an inclusive survey of world economic affairs.’” With that definition in mind and with the opening of the Hamilton County Inclusive Playground (HCIP) this past summer, ANR set out recently to discover what makes a playground truly inclusive and to examine the science and the…