A playground for children with special needs in the "Memorial Garden" complex in Haifa

To this day, playgrounds are adapted exclusively for children with high motor skills. However, from now on children with special needs will also be able to enjoy this type of facilities.

In the "Memorial Garden" complex in Hadar, a playground was inaugurated, the facilities of which are specially adapted for children with special needs. for those children with disabilities.

This is real news, since until now there was no such garden in Haifa and its surroundings, and now for the first time in their lives the children can enjoy the experience of the carousel, the rocking chair and the Omega, which are adapted for those sitting in wheelchairs and other limitations.
The garden, established by the Haifa Municipality with an investment of approximately NIS 3 million, is the result of a collaboration between the municipality and the organization "Mothers Leading Change Haifa" and the Hadar Neighborhood Committee, who initiated the idea. In the kindergarten, there will be educational activities that will focus on the acceptance of children with special needs.

Sarit Zythoni, mother of a child with special needs, from the initiatives to establish the kindergarten: "It's a dream come true. As a mother of a child with high motor skills and a child with special needs, I am happy with the fact that now my son will be able to enjoy playgrounds and not sit on the sidelines and watch his twin brother play and have fun, as he was until now. Equally important, the kindergarten creates a meeting point and allows my son to meet other children his age, whether they have special needs like him or not. When I see my son enjoying the facilities and the expression on his face, it makes me happy!"
Neta Telmore, the director of the landscape planning department in the Haifa municipality, plans the garden: "The goal of the garden is a place where all children can play. Play together, as equals. The facilities are scattered in a mix that allows all children of all ages to play together in an equal manner. We have a facility with a ramp that allows access with a chair wheels, the stairs further on are wide and allow climbing up to the slides by crawling. The kindergarten is also a platform for getting to know others and it will include joint educational activities for all the children with a special book that we published together with the Anush association on the subject"

 

Yona Yahav, Mayor of Haifa: This is a "duty of honor" for the population with special needs. We will continue to establish such gardens all over the city"