One thing all children have in common, regardless of build, ethnic background or even abilities is playtime. Even adults need a break from work now and then; thus, the coffee break. At Pontchartrain Elementary and Tchefuncte Middle School, parents know this as well and the concept of the sensory playground known as KidSense was born.

The playground has many purposes. It is a sensory integration playground designed to help children with autism, ADHD and special needs regain self-control and concentration—and play like everyone else.

The concept for the playground began at Pontchartrain Elementary. LeAnne Cantrell, mother of an autistic child, partnered with other special needs children’s parents when they learned an outdoor play structure could help their children.. The pilot playground has been built with donations, including labor and contracting expertise from many individuals and companies. It is not funded by the school system, but instead a 501.c.3 company called Angels on Earth Foundation sponsors the group, KidSense.

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Cantrell said the playground will contain large-scale equipment to help special needs children obtain a clearer focus and improve their ability to communicate. The motor sensory equipment, including slides and spring riders, will help them by experiencing movement in space.

Cantrell said that both schools will use the equipment. The secured playground is located between the two schools in an adjoining courtyard area. The site will be within constant visual contact of teachers and completely ADA accessible for sensory integration.

The playground also has another purpose — socialization on the playground. The maximum capacity of the playground will allow for inclusion classes to use the playground together—about 20 students.

Cantrell said that inclusion classes are regular classes that those students in special education attend for about half of the day with their peers. About three special needs students are in an inclusion class of 20 students.

With the new facility, all students will be able to play together, thus reducing the differences affected students can experience. Camaraderie and friendships between children will build as they realize that they all love to do the same thing, such as go down a slide. Accepting differences within others will also build communication, citizenship and hope for a better understanding of each other.

The playground itself will not contain the usual mulch to break falls, but rather recycled rubber tires. The tires will also allow for wheelchair accessibility.

The playground will contain learning areas that everyone can use. Cantrell, a geologist by profession, is donating fossils that will be embedded in concrete for the children to see, touch and feel.

The motif of the playground emphasizes the surrounding geographic area accompanied by a river and lake design in the tiles and a mural. Tactile implants in the wall and walkway will contain fossils, arrowheads, Braille words, mosaics and 3D redfish and blue crabs, complete with scales and fins.

In addition, the parents will be stamping the five-foot-wide walkway with footprints from the past and wildlife that inhabit the area such as raccoons, egrets and herons.

The walkway will ensure maneuverability for wheelchairs and will offer touchable and teachable embedded Braille words, a Braille alphabet to allow everyone to “decode” the Braille, Redfish and blue crab carvings, and mosaics that all children will be able to see and interpret.

There will be both a rock wall tunnel and a pathway tunnel. The pathway tunnel will be large enough for wheelchairs and tricycles to pass through.

The wall offers a great opportunity to add sensory and tactile adventures to the playground, expanding the mural to include 3-D relief with the use of tiles, mirrors, castings and even manipulatives such as wheels, cranks, pulleys and levers.

Sponsors include Wainer Companies, Follow the Child, St Tammany Washington Home Builders Association, Angels on Earth Foundation, The Movement Science Center, Mandeville Seafood Festival, Dyna Play, Pontchartrain Elementary School PTA, Kyle Associates, Power Plant Digital Post Production, JEB, New Orleans Track Club, Jeweler for a Cause founder Anne Dale, Compass Capital Management and MD Small Business.

The cost of the playground is $65,000 and funding is still needed to carry out the planned facility. The group would also like to provide seed money for other schools that may need a similar playground.

To donate to the group, go to www.KidSenseLA.com or mail to KidSense Donation, P. O. Box 131, 310 Dalwill Drive, Mandeville, La. 70471. All donations are tax-deductible and bricks are still being sold for $100.