On the top of a small hill at Shawnee Mission Park’s new million-dollar playground, children swarm on an elaborate spider web of ropes. Down a wheelchair-friendly ramp to a more shaded area, families swing, slide and clamber over a myriad of structures that spin, bounce or make music.
It’s all designed to be fun — and accessible — for kids of different abilities.
The inclusive playground highlights a growing trend in the Kansas City area of helping kids with special needs get off the sidelines and into the action. The Kansas City Zoo opened such a playground in 2018, the first zoo to do so in the nation. Later that year, Johnson County added one in Stillwell. The playground at Shawnee Mission Park opened earlier this month.
(Read more: KC Star Local News)