Play areas transformed via kids' input

From the dunes, then into the jungle, and suddenly, an oasis comes into view. Strolling leisurely, the surroundings shift and transform before your eyes while the cheerful laughter of children playing echoes around. This is not a dream, it is a real life outdoor playground at Sham Shui Po Park, managed by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department.

Inclusive play: The Spouting Whale and Octopus Fountain at Sham Shui Po Park have water play basins and tables at different heights to allow children of all ages and those in wheelchairs to play together.

Sham Shui Po Park, which has served the community for over 40 years, was recently revitalised as part of the Transformation of Public Play Spaces.

Prioritising inclusivity

Inspired by nature, the redesign features themes of water, sand, and plants, creating three zones: Sandy Bunker, Jungle Meadow and Oasis Spring. After consultation and design, which includes input from youngsters, the upgraded park has reopened, drawing many families and children to enjoy the new facilities.

The Sandy Bunker playground features a popular sand pit and a variety of slides. In addition to roller, group, and curved slides, visitors will also discover the longest spiral tube slide that exists at public playgrounds in Hong Kong. At over 6m high and 13m long, it offers a fun and interactive experience for visitors of all ages.

Nature-inspired themes: The Jungle Meadow area is a natural playground featuring various swings for both adults and children to enjoy as one.

Nearby Jungle Meadow provides a natural play space with a face-to-face swing, rope swing, wheelchair-friendly carousel, percussion walls, and a play tunnel for hide-and-seek, fostering family fun and group play.

The Oasis Spring area offers climbing rope nets, trampolines, water play features, and sensory walls, creating a diverse adventure zone for children to explore.

Amazingly-long slide: The park’s climbing tower is connected to the longest spiral tube slide - over 6m high and more than 13m long - among Hong Kong’s public playgrounds.

Community-engaging playground

The Leisure & Cultural Services Department oversees over 680 outdoor playgrounds and by way of its Transformation of Public Play Spaces plan, the department aims to revitalise more than 170 play spaces across the city. So far, 11 projects have been completed and opened to the public.

Leisure & Cultural Services Department Senior Project Manager Vivian Ho said the department provides non-prescriptive and flexible playscapes according to the site topography, introducing natural or environmentally friendly elements, such as small climbing hills for toddlers, sand pits, water play facilities or small labyrinths that captivate children and enable them to unleash their creativity.

Architectural Services Department Senior Landscape Architect Grant Liu added that the design concept for the play space redevelopment project began with community engagement, embodying a "people-centred" design philosophy. He highlighted that the goal is to promote the idea of inclusive play in more playgrounds.

“The Spouting Whale and Octopus Fountain have water play basins and tables at different heights to allow children of all ages and those in wheelchairs to play together. As an added bonus, the tube slide is made of stainless steel, which is safe for children with hearing implants, and does not create static electricity like plastics or fiberglass slides do.”

Key collaboration: The Leisure & Cultural Services Department and the Architectural Services Department work together to design and renovate children’s playgrounds, providing fun and safe play areas for children.

Kid-friendly design

Tong Mei Road Children's Playground, which was recently renovated, serves as a prime example of how children were treated as the protagonists of the playgrounds because their opinions are indispensable. The playground’s design consultant initiated a participatory design programme for the renovation. It included setting up street booths, questionnaires, parent-child workshops, and design workshops specifically for children, giving the consultant a lot of inspiration.

A workshop led by the playground’s design consultant Kevin Siu provided children with a unique opportunity to create their own playground. During the event, the young participants crafted models of imaginative play areas based on their ideas.

He explained that when sharing their designs for the playground, it was evident that different groups of children, despite being unfamiliar with each other, shared common features.

“Many expressed a desire for a high platform where they could escape from a pretend shark, which included hide-and-seek zones where they could feel temporarily protected.”

Imaginative ideas: Tong Mei Road Children’s Playground design consultant Kevin Siu says the playground is a direct reflection of how a public play space is a very important platform for children to engage and shape their collective memory.

The organisers were surprised by the enthusiasm and creativity displayed. In a group of over 20 children who did not know each other beforehand, more than half raised their hands when asked if they knew certain games. The response highlighted how children naturally connect through play.

The workshop served as a compelling example of how children socialise and why public play spaces are vital platforms for engaging young minds. Such environments not only stimulate creativity but also help shape their collective memories and social interactions.

Getting trapped in quicksand is a corny peril of old movies and TV shows, but it really did happen to one unfortunate hiker in Utah's Arches National Park.

The park famous for dozens of natural, sandstone arches gets over 1 million visitors a year, and accidents ranging from falls to heat stroke are common.

Quicksand? Not really — but it has happened at least a couple of times now.

“The wet sand just kind of flows back in. It’s kind of a never-ending battle,” said John Marshall, who helped a woman stuck in quicksand over a decade ago and coordinated the latest rescue.

On Sunday, an experienced hiker, whose identity wasn't released, was traversing a small canyon on the second day of a 20-mile (32-kilometer) backpacking trip when he sank up to his thigh, according to Marshall.

Unable to free himself, the hiker activated an emergency satellite beacon. His message got forwarded to Grand County emergency responders and Marshall got the call at 7:15 a.m..

“I was just rolling out of bed,” Marshall said. “I'm scratching my head, going, ‘Did I hear that right? Did they say quicksand?’"

He put his boots on and rendezvoused with a team that set out with all-terrain vehicles, a ladder, traction boards, backboards and a drone. Soon, Marshall had a bird's-eye view of the situation.

Through the drone camera he saw a park ranger who'd tossed the man a shovel. But the quicksand flowed back as soon as the backpacker shoveled it away, Marshall said.

The Grand County Search and Rescue team positioned the ladder and boards near the backpacker and slowly worked his leg loose. By then he'd been standing in near-freezing muck, in temperatures in the 20s (minus 6 to minus 1 Celsius), for a couple of hours.

Rescuers warmed him up until he could stand, then walk. He then hiked out on his own, even carrying his backpack, Marshall said.

Quicksand is dangerous but it's a myth total submersion is the main risk, said Marshall.

“In quicksand you’re extremely buoyant,” he said. “Most people won’t sink past their waist in quicksand.”

Marshall is more or less a quicksand expert.

In 2014, he was a medic who helped a 78-year-old woman after she was stuck for over 13 hours in the same canyon just 2 miles (3 kilometers) from where Sunday's rescue took place.

The woman's book club got worried when she missed their meeting. They went looking for her and found her car at a trailhead. It was June — warmer than Sunday but not sweltering in the canyon's shade — and the woman made a full recovery after regaining use of her legs.

“Both had very happy endings,” Marshall said.

FILE - Delicate Arch is seen at Arches National Park on April 25, 2021, near Moab, Utah. (AP Photo/Lindsay Whitehurst, File)