....and every parent of every generation before us is rolling in their grave laughing. I do, truly, appreciate the beauty of outdoor play and schools who encourage it, but expensive playgrounds (I’m looking at you Beauvoir) are a sign to me that our society’s priorities are incredibly misaligned. The world used to be a child’s playground. Now we are spending thousands and millions to REPLICATE the world in play structures. Not only is it artificial and forced, it seems like a tremendous waste of resources. Our species has really painted ourselves into a corner. We pay mega bucks to artificially replicate a tree fall, with none of the actual lessons in gravity and physics (cause it’s bolted together) or benefits to wildlife or plants, and then pay ourselves on the back for providing fake nature to our kids with our hard earned big law salaries.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Real question: do parents who helped raise 300k when their kids were in pk3-K now feel like they wished they had a 50k playground and 250k elsewhere? asking from the perspective of a school who is looking at launching a campaign but where the lower elementary voices tend to be louder.

Playgrounds are tremendously expensive and 50K won't get you much. I would say it depends on the needs of your school. But I would put a 100K max on it, unless it is very large for a larger school.

Bigger kids use the playground too, and a play structure that is age-appropriate for them costs even more. I am a 3rd grade parent and my kid plays on it routinely.

Having said that, I did think the cost was a bit much.

Anonymous wrote:Real question: do parents who helped raise 300k when their kids were in pk3-K now feel like they wished they had a 50k playground and 250k elsewhere? asking from the perspective of a school who is looking at launching a campaign but where the lower elementary voices tend to be louder.

I am a Creative Minds Parent ... and i have to say the playground was well worth it. My son goes to recess twice a day and then a third time at aftercare so the kids spend a lot of time out there. I'd so much rather then play on logs and dirt (aka nature) then a play structure.

Anonymous wrote:Real question: do parents who helped raise 300k when their kids were in pk3-K now feel like they wished they had a 50k playground and 250k elsewhere? asking from the perspective of a school who is looking at launching a campaign but where the lower elementary voices tend to be louder.

Playgrounds are tremendously expensive and 50K won't get you much. I would say it depends on the needs of your school. But I would put a 100K max on it, unless it is very large for a larger school.

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe that playground was $300k. It really is just some swings and logs.

That is truly an amazing amount of money. My kids love that playground though!

We have walked in to the playground a bunch of times and no one has ever bothered us.

Anonymous wrote:We have an access pass to soldiers home we pay for and when we are there on weekends we do use the playground.

Nice. How do you get an access pass?

I can’t believe that playground was $300k. It really is just some swings and logs.

We have an access pass to soldiers home we pay for and when we are there on weekends we do use the playground.

Real question: do parents who helped raise 300k when their kids were in pk3-K now feel like they wished they had a 50k playground and 250k elsewhere? asking from the perspective of a school who is looking at launching a campaign but where the lower elementary voices tend to be louder.

Anonymous wrote:op here - yes, the area near the street. I drive by it frequently and the kids always ask if they can go.

No, the playground is not open to the public because the whole AFRC campus is closed to the public. Unless you have a pass or some reason to get through the security gates to the AFRC, you can’t get to the school or playground. But the AFRC security will let you on the property if you’re going to Lincoln’s Cottage or to a public event on AFRC grounds, and they *probably* won’t bother you if you stop by the playground for a bit. But generally the public can’t just come onto the AFRC grounds to use the playground (or the golf course, or gardens, or to walk/jog around the grounds, etc.)

op here - yes, the area near the street. I drive by it frequently and the kids always ask if they can go.

nope never open to public. unless the soldier's home is having a (rare) public event which usually costs admission.

we went to an AFRH event and the dirt pile with the logs was open. Is that the area we're talking about?

Is the Creative Minds playground open to the public afterschool or on weekends?