30 October 2012

Big Thumbs Up For Playground Equipment

| Mav
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Our family enjoys camping and going to parks around Canberra. The amenities are generally fantastic for the kids.

Of special note, and one I think is worthy of a big thumbs up, is the installation of a wheelchair friendly swing at the Black Mountain Peninsular Park playground. Whoever was responsible for this needs a big pat on the back.

Our kids thought it was great that there were facilities like this to allow children confined to a wheelchair to also have some fun and we as adults agree with them.

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I haven’t read the technical specifications to see if there is a weight limit

Neither have we, but I can confirm that a 100kg+ motorised chair with approx 90kg occupant plus 20kg child on their lap can have fun on the swing without breaking it!

There is also a folding bench that would allow someone to use it who is not a wheelchair user but doesn’t have the ability to balance well enough on a regular swing.

Muttsybignuts9:32 pm 30 Oct 12

Solidarity said :

How do they work?

I’ll answer without being a smartarse… Instead of a seat the “swing” has a large box with one side that opens to form a ramp. People simply wheel their chair into the box, latch up the ramp/back of box and then it becomes a normal swing i.e someone pushes it back and forth.
Like others said for some people it is the first time they have ever had a swing in their lives. Top stuff.

s-s-a said :

How does it work?

Google is your friend

The swing at Black Mt Peninsula was the first in the ACT and was installed after lobbying by people in the local community. The one at Queanbeyan was already in place.

A group from Cranleigh School attended the opening in Sept 2006, and several of the students who tried it had never been on a swing in their lives! I think it was their obvious enjoyment of the experience that led to TAMS moving pretty quickly to scope venues and costings for additional swings.

There may also be adults who never had access to an appropriate swing as children who would also like to try it. It seems to be usable by adults too, although I haven’t read the technical specifications to see if there is a weight limit. (And before anyone accuses me of patronising adults with disabilities, I still like the occasional swing myself.)

How does it work?

Google is your friend

The swing at Black Mt Peninsula was the first in the ACT and was installed after lobbying by people in the local community. The one at Queanbeyan was already in place.

A group from Cranleigh School attended the opening in Sept 2006, and several of the students who tried it had never been on a swing in their lives! I think it was their obvious enjoyment of the experience that led to TAMS moving pretty quickly to scope venues and costings for additional swings.

Pork Hunt said :

Solidarity said :

How do they work?

There is a phenomenon discovered by Sir Isaac Newton (no relation to Bert) known in some circles as gravity.
If one could describe a swing as a pendulum, then a force being applied (usually by a parent) will cause the said pendulum to swing about its fulcrum in an arc.
First forth and then back, the amplitude of each forth and back decreasing with time not because gravity is variable but because of the effects of drag on a body in motion through a fluid such as air.
Hope that clears it up for you….

What a foucault smart comment that was …

Solidarity said :

How do they work?

There is a phenomenon discovered by Sir Isaac Newton (no relation to Bert) known in some circles as gravity.
If one could describe a swing as a pendulum, then a force being applied (usually by a parent) will cause the said pendulum to swing about its fulcrum in an arc.
First forth and then back, the amplitude of each forth and back decreasing with time not because gravity is variable but because of the effects of drag on a body in motion through a fluid such as air.
Hope that clears it up for you….

How do they work?

and the quenbeyan playground near the tennis courts.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd2:23 pm 30 Oct 12

Also @ guhngalin near the lake.

Great idea.

There is also one of these ‘Liberty Swings’ at Kambah Adventure Playground

GardeningGirl10:53 am 30 Oct 12

We noticed that earlier this year. “Whoever was responsible for this needs a big pat on the back.” +1

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