Our Evolution
The history and evolution of The Kids Play Place®.
The Beginning of time
The Beginning of time marked the opening of our very first location in Hell, Michigan. The main feature of the original was plenty of wide open spaces, and no rules.
The Year 1
The Kids Play Place® was saved from eternal failure with the opening of our second location in Christmas, Michigan. The next three decades brought plenty of doubt because of societal changes.
About 33 AD
Around 33 AD we had renewed hope that The Kids Play Place® concept was viable with the launch of our location in Easter, South Dakota
The Fifties
In the Fifties we added our Grand Rapids, Michigan Location. We wanted The Kids Play Place® to be a place for fun! We were all outdoors and had modest equipment for the day and plenty of open area for kids to run.
We provided a place that was always clean and inviting.
Safety was not a concern in those days; we just figured that Natural Consequences was the best teaching tool. Little did we know!
The Sixties
The next decade brought us some new bright colored equipment, with the focus on FUN!
We still did not give safety much consideration. Check out our merry go round, notice that there are no guards to keep the kiddoes from getting tangled up in the spokes.
There are no restraints to keep the kids from falling off! We still relied on Natural Consequences to be the reminder that holding on is a good idea.
We loved steel structures because they lasted a very long time with minimal maintenance.
Kids love to climb so we added monkey bars and a jungle gym so they could improve strength and coordination.
We did not know the dangers of lead, nor did we expect the children to eat it, so we used lots of lead paint. It is very durable and fade resistant.
A tall spiral slide was part of what you would find for the thrill seeking kids.
This was a favorite attraction for many of our little visitors.
The Seventies
By the seventies we started to give safety a little more thought, so we replaced our Merry Go Round.
This model was easier to stay on, and had no spokes.
We made the move from tall steel structures to lower wooden structures
The wooden structures were much less likely to cause injury.
The slides are much wider and the slope is more gradual, this was a new safety feature.
For the thrill seekers we replace the dangerous spiral slide with Giganta.
Giganta was a huge leap forward in both a thrilling ride and safety.
Notice that the slide is completely enclosed so that it is impossible for the kids to fall off the structure.
The Eighties
The eighties brought us some new climbing structures with much more emphasis on safety.
We also added our Lansing location in 1985
While they still had some height to get the appearance of a tough climb, any area that was over 4 feet had panels that prevented the kids from falling.
Our first indoor play area was installed at the Grand Rapids location.
The kids loved this, and we we're one of the first in the area to have a Year-Round-PlayPlace®. We started adding more locations to serve kids in other cities.
The Nineties
We added a new location in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1995.
In the nineties we added our first dedicated toddler area. We fenced it in with only one entrance, so keeping the kids corralled was much easier.
All of the items we made of bio-degradable plastics and low to the ground. This moved us into a much safer and Eco-friendly direction.
Gone were the hard edges found with steel structures and the toxic chemicals that were found in the wooden structures.
There were two small problems with this plan. We didn't have a place to go in bad weather and the bio-degradable plastics needed frequent replacement.
The new millennium
The new millennium brought us indoors! Gone is the exposure to harmful Ultraviolet Rays. Gone to is the chance exposure to second or third hand smoke.
All of our locations are now fully indoors and feature very large air handling equipment. The equipment is capable of cleaning and sanitizing the air at each location 100 times per hour!
The structures are like a maze for the kids. They can crawl, climb and swing with their safety first in our designs.
By the end of the first decade we got rid of all steel structures in favor of bio-degradable plastics.
Benefits of the new design
- No sharp edges
- No harmful chemicals
- Bio-degradable
- Non-Toxic
- Safety Rails and guards
The last Decade
The last few years has brought heightened awareness of potential injuries related to normal play, we found the solution!
All of our locations have been upgraded to include only inflatable play structures. This greatly reduced the risks of injury by eliminating all hard surfaces from the play environment.
© The Kids Play Place®, Spoof Designs 2012