Ivy Garden Learning Center is a revolutionary education provider offering premier preschool (6 weeks to 5 years) and after-school (6 years to 12 years) learning. A team of staff members discovered the Nature of Early Play product line while researching playground pieces for a planned playground addition for their South Michigan Avenue location in Chicago, IL. They had ample space in a private paved parking lot connected to their building.
They contacted us at Next Generation Play to review their site and make suggestions. We measured out the site and carefully reviewed play items that appropriately fit the age of the children that would be using the playground. They primarily needed to provide equipment for the youngest children, ages 6 weeks to 2 years old.
Eventually they chose a Swiss Chalet playset for infants. What a great choice! This infant playground features "cloud" decking which has a soft rubberized and textured surface which is perfect for infants who tend to crawl rather than stand on surfaces. It is soft on their hands and knees while providing enough friction to keep them from slipping. The same "cloud" decking is used on the Infant Rocky Ramp (a low-rise ramp with grab handle rails) and the Infant Cheesy Stepper (a step climber with whimsical Swiss cheese holes in the rails). A double slide sized just for young ones allows them to race together to the bottom of the casually sloping slide (not too steep!).
Inside the Swiss Chalet is a Chime Panel with tuned notes and 2 rubberized mallets, a Gear Panel, protected by a clear plastic panel to protect fingers from pinches, a Bubble Panel for playing peek-a-boo with friends or teachers on the ground, and a Handy Seat (a multipurpose seat that doubles as a support for young ones to grab cut out handles as they maneuver around inside the shaded house playground.
The project kicked off in June 2021 when the playground was delivered from Nature of Early Play's manufacturing facility in Somerset, Kentucky via a commercial trucking company to Ivy Garden Learning Center's location at 1455 S. Michigan Ave (just South of Roosevelt). Stunning views of the city greet you looking North, and Lake Michigan is only blocks away.
Tabitha Sani, owner of Next Generation Play, joined her husband, Laju, to install the playground on site. They measured out the correct placement of the equipment with Ivy Garden Learning Center staff, insuring everything was placed accurately to meet codes for safety zones. And then, installation began! The asphalt parking lot went from empty to adorable quickly! The finished Swiss Chalet playset was anchored to the pavement and ready for the rubber surfacing - Poured-in-Place rubber - to be poured around the equipment.
The Rubber Surfacing company, AdventureTURF, waited until all additional equipment had been installed on site and then arrived in August and commenced installation of the rubber surfacing. Once complete 2 days later, the site was finished and ready for the fence to be installed and for children to begin playing.
Jamie Moy, one of the directors at the Ivy Garden Learning Center emailed Tabitha shortly after saying, "Your playground is a hit with our little ones! We have been taking full advantage of it."
The staff at Ivy Garden Learning Center graciously allowed Nature of Early Play's marketing team to photograph the children happily scrambling around the Swiss Chalet playset. Those photos were then published in the new Nature of Early Play catalog!
We at Next Generation Play are proud to have partnered with Ivy Garden Learning Center to develop a beautiful and safe place for the young children at their Michigan Avenue location to play outside!
For questions, contact Tabitha Sani.
tabitha@nextgenerationplaygrounds.com