Play.
For All.

GameTime is excited to announce a new inclusive playground at Ponder Park in El Paso, Texas. 

The City of El Paso Parks & Recreation sought to provide an inclusive play environment for children and families of all abilities. Working with GameTime and Triple M Recreation, GameTime's exclusive representative in El Paso, the El Paso Parks and Recreation Department designed a play space that addresses the needs of the whole child, the whole environment and the whole community. The new playground was made possible by Quality of Life Bonds from the City of El Paso and from a Parks Promote Quality of Life Grant awarded by Texas Recreation and Park Society, and GameTime.

“The City of El Paso is honored to have been selected as one of eight communities in the State of Texas to receive this grant made possible by TRAPS and  GameTime. We believe that the City’s first all-abilities playground will help champion a new mindset in our community that can spread throughout the world that recognizes an individual’s abilities not their inabilities to both play and life,” said Joel McKnight, Assistant Parks and Recreation Director for the City of El Paso.

With a goal of creating the City’s first ever inclusive playground, Triple M Recreation set out to design a space to address the needs of the whole child: cognitive, communicative, sensory, physical, and social/emotional.  “I thoroughly enjoyed working with Joel and the El Paso Parks & Recreation Department to come up with this exciting all-inclusive playground design. I know the people of El Paso will love it,” said Ron Romero, local representative for Triple M Recreation.

The playground was designed using the principles found in Me2®: Seven Principles of Inclusive Playground Design created in partnership with PlayCore and Utah State University Center for Persons with Disabilities. PlayCore recognized the new playground as National Demonstration Site for Inclusive Play. The site will receive a certificate of recognition, placement on the National Demonstration Site registry, and active promotion to other communities wishing to offer appropriate inclusive play programs to help share best practices.