Congrats!

Congratulations to Ivette Margraves, who has been a HUGE force in getting this park up and running, on the birth of her son Charlie on September 23rd! Charlie clocked in at 7 pounds 9 ounces, and 19.5 inches long. We now have ONE MORE REASON for this park to open - another child in the Keweenaw needs a place to play! We're happy for you, Ivette!

Tree Stump Stage

Because every child deserves to be center-stage once in awhile....

The Layout

Thanks to David Goodman, design student from Finlandia, for providing us with the blueprint of the space so we could put together our layout! To scale even. Wowza. If you'd prefer not to have to look at the layout wearing zoom lenses, try clicking it in the sidebar, where there's a bigger version.

Daily Mining Gazette Article on our Park

Kurt Hauglie/Daily Mining Gazette

HOUGHTON - Adults and older children can take part in winter outdoor activities without too many difficulties, but for young children it can be problematic, which is a concern for some local parents. One of those parents is Jessica della Valla, who brought the idea of an indoor play space to staff at the Keweenaw Family Resources Center in Houghton in May. As a result of that contact, the Friends of Winter Park was created with della Valla as the chairwoman and the KFRC as the developing agency. "It was a natural fit," said Cathy Benda, KFRC executive director. "It was well received (by the board members). Other parents have made the suggestion (for such a facility)." After months of searching, a location for the indoor playspace has been found in two units of the Red Ridge Plaza on Sharon Avenue in Houghton. However, the name was changed from Winter Park to Treehouse, A KFRC Indoor Playground. Della Valla said the playground will be for children up to 5 years old. After the plan was announced in June, the idea was well-received locally. "We had several parents who said, 'We wish we had done this,'" she said. Della Valla said the theme of the playground is "the outdoors indoors." The layout (which can be seen at houghtonwinterpark.blogspot.com) includes a treehouse, suspension bridge, crash pit, or safe area, and crawl tunnel on one side of the space. The other side will have the KFRC offices and more play space as well as a quiet area and breastfeeding area. Each side is 1,500 square feet. The design work for the Winter Park will be done by students of Rick Loduha, Finlandia University associate professor of art and design. Della Valla said besides being fun for children, the play area will be designed to help children develop physically and psychologically. The center will be a "hub of wellness," della Valla said, where parents can get information about many things pertaining to children. "It sounds funny, a playground is going to have a philosophy," she said. Della Valla said she wanted to emphasize the playspace will not be a childcare center. "This is specifically a place where caregivers must stay with the child," she said. Benda said the playspace will be accessible to children with physical and mental developmental disabilities. "We want to make the space available to all kids," she said. Those special needs will be met, Benda said, because one of the members of the design committee for the facility is a pediatric physical therapist who knows what their needs are. Della Valla said the Red Ridge Plaza is owned by brother and sister Madelyn and Michael Wilder, and the lease for the space was finalized Tuesday. In order to have two contiguous units, the Wilders asked an existing tenant, Cartridges and More, to move to another location in the shopping center, which they did without dispute. "They didn't even blink," she said. "This was the best. We have landlords who were willing to work with us." To pay for the construction of the playspace, Benda said the KFRC officially begins its fundraising effort on Nov. 1. The goal is $100,000. Before that, however, in order to get people acquainted with the project and the fundraising effort, the KFRC will conduct a Fall Into Winter Preschool Family Fun Day at Houghton High School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 24. There will games and other entertainment. Bids for the construction and equipment are being taken, Benda said, and it's hoped the Winter Park can open in January. Benda said KFRC members are excited about the Winter Park project. "This will enrich the quality of life for everybody in the Keweenaw," she said.

http://www.mininggazette.com/page/content.detail/id/506727.html?nav=5006

Recap of September 23rd Meeting

What a FABULOUS meeting. A huge thank you to Ric Loduha and his Human Factors class for presenting some truly awesome ideas! We were thoroughly impressed, and hope to incorporate several of them into the park, if we can! I took copius notes, and found myself saying "wow! Cool!" a whole lot. Good job, guys. We're hoping some of you Finlandia students might actually want to follow your designs to the next step and help us construct various pieces. After the Finlandia meeting, we travelled to the site and discussed our impressions of the Kids Crooked House proposal. We're seriously considering having this company build our treehouse structure, and are in the process of hammering out specifics. Check out their website at http://www.kidscrookedhouse.com/. You may have seen their playhouses on TLC's "John and Kate plus 8", or on ABC's "Extreme Makeover Home Edition". Last week, they were also on DIY network's "King of Dirt". They do excellent work, and will help us create a truly whimsical, inviting space for our children.

Decisions are coming down to the nitty-gritty, and we're in the process of assigning "construction projects" to various individuals with willing hands and the right skills. Check out the "project assignment" link in the sidebar. If there's an empty space and you think you're the person to fill it (or know someone who is), PLEASE contact me at monicaaho@gmail.com!

And the Official Name Is.......

Thank You BHK!!!

BHK just donated tricycles for our trike merry go round! YEAH BHK!!! Thank you so much! Christine Westrich, a Finlandia Student with aspirations of being a toy designer, will be building us our trike merry go round for her portfolio. So excited to see what she comes up with!!

Recap of September 16th Meeting

An excellent meeting last night - thanks to all those who attended! We're getting down to the nitty-gritty details, deciding what's going to go where, what it's going to look like, and who we're going to have build it! We taped out the first space, and quickly realized that we don't have the space for some things we were hoping to have (i.e. a teeter-totter weigh station), although we will be able to keep the growth tree - just move it to the 2nd room. We marked walls, taped floors, drew sketches, took loads of measurements. Jessica will be contacting area businesses and miscellaneous talented people to see if anyone can help us make our "tree stump stage", our giant frog sculpture, and other such random things. We're still looking for more artsy people - especially seamstresses, wood-workers, and sculptors. Please contact me at monicaaho@gmail.com if you're interested in helping!

Our next meeting will be held September 23rd, and we'll be meeting with the Finlandia students at the Jutila Center to hear their formalized ideas. We may sneak over to the site afterwards and finish up with the layout....

Call for Tricycles

We are in need of old tricycles for a Merry-Go-Trike! They don't have to be beautiful, or even in working condition. If they've got a front wheel with pedals, we'll take them!! Spread the word, and contact Christine Westrich at oomar_duh@yahoo.com if you locate any! We'll need at LEAST five, so keep your eyes peeled at garage sales, search the back of the shed, and hit up the neighbors whose kids are now grown.

Ball Activity

We just had the Montes of Monte Consulting Company step up and offer to build us THIS ball roll, which looks like so much fun! The playhouse will be home to such interactive pieces - so far we have slated the giant Lite Brite, a "steam roller", and a sound making drum (there's a name... what is it???)

Lily Pond

Another idea for the toddler area - a "Lily Pond"! This would be a fun, challenging activity for the new-walker set. Check out these pics and video...

We would probably do a square version out of a twin-sized waterbed mattress, due to space constraints. Also would most likely put a small, toddler-sized slide off the platform, to pack as much "punch" as possible with one activity.

WANTED:

WANTED: Artistic people to help us decorate! We need painters, sculptors, cartoonists, sewers, carpenters, visionaries and creative people of all ilk to help us turn a boring square space into an enchanted forest. If you are such a talent, or know of someone who is, PLEASE send them our way! We're getting very close to finishing up our design decisions, and will be ready to move on to the next phase... transformation! Be thinking of groups that might be open to taking on a project... quilting circles, art students, wood shop class. We need them all!

Email me at monicaaho@gmail.com if you're interested.

Recap of our Sept. 9th Meeting

We met at the Jutila Center, and heard the Finlandia student's ideas for each area. Some preliminary ideas included hanging fabric, clouds, and large elements from the ceiling for sound absorption, and possibly adding "night time" components with twinkling and colored lights in one portion of the space (the "quiet cave" might be a perfect place for a night-time sky). The toddler area group suggested foam blocks that could be stacked and crashed, as well as a stage area for imaginative play. The infant area suggested padded, hollow crates for sitting on, and babies to climb on. There was talk of adding mirrors and hanging elements from the ceiling for visual stimulation for our youngest customers. The playhouse committee is working on interactive elements such as fun-house mirrors, and suggested that there be seasonal decorations that can change to keep things fresh. The "open area" group is working on unifying theme elements. The students will continue to brainstorm and formalize their ideas over the next few weeks independently, and then report back to the rest of the committee.

Next meeting will be without the Finlandia students, and we'll be finalizing our ideas for components. Meet up with us Wednesday, Sept. 16th, at 6:30, at the site!

It's An Official Unanimous Decision

The Keweenaw Family Resources Board of Directors unanimously approved our project tonight. This is EXCELLENT news! We are full steam ahead! Thanks to each and every last Board member for the support, and to Cathy and Jessica for their unfailing leadership and enthusiasm! Let's go build us a park, shall we?

Recap of Sept. 2nd Meeting

The meeting was led by Joel Liimatainen. Here's his summary:

"To start things off we gave the students a tour of the facilities and introduced Jessica, Ivette and Dave to the group. Then we discussed themes. This took up the majority of the time. We settled on the following main themes:
A bug's view and playing with perspective/oversized elements. Continuing the crooked house theme throughout the play area, using crazy angles and things like that whenever possible. Seasonal elements - should include things that can be changed in and out to keep things fresh. Last, but not least - light! After some of the talk about tubes and caves, Jessica suggested that we remember the importance of light. It is sort of a refuge for parents and kids in the dark winter, after all.

After that we split into groups (listed in the sidebar). These groups aren't all encompassing, we will need to add some more on as we go. With the number of people we had, and shooting for about four people per group, we just limited it to the following five groups for now: 1. Sky design (draped cloth, clouds, birds, etc.) 2.Playhouse 3. Open Area - Floor (also tasked with working with the other groups to keep the themes unified) 4. Toddler Area 5. Infant Area.

Rick will assign some other students who couldn't make it to the class to the infant area group as well.

I asked the groups to brainstorm ideas and and post on the blog some specific elements that they would like to see and maybe design. Also, I emphasised the need to be as cost efficient as possible and think about things that we can actually make. Cathy had the idea of themed toy carts that could be rolled in and out of the playspace. There could be a funky kitchen cart, a music cart, etc. She also would like to see a spot dedicated to parent one-on-one. And finally, someone (I think it was Julie) said something along the lines of the Enchanted Treehouse and we were wowed by it. Cathy said she would get in touch with Dave about it. The idea that we're building an enchanted treehouse and forest inside our space is so cool. Really fires the imagination."

See you all on the 9th!!!

Thank You Portage!

Portage Health System just officially donated several of their old xray light boxes to our cause. Now that images have gone digital, they don't need them anymore - but we certainly do! If you have ideas on how to use these light boxes, post them here. I was thinking that if we put a few of them together and cover them with a metal grid, we could make a giant "Lite Brite" along a wall or up in the playhouse (playhouse might be preferrable, to keep things contained and add extra light in a potentially darker area). Clear, tinted acrylic rods of about 1.5 " diameter and a few inches long would be easy and cheap to use as the "pegs" for kids to make their own gigantic pictures. This would be an excellent activity for both sighted and visually-impaired children - which is in keeping with our goal of accessibility. We have several sizes available to us: 56"x42", 56"x20.5", and 28"X 42". There's more than enough for a life-size Lite-Brite, as well as something else....

Here's an example of a giant Lite-Brite.

Step By Step Tree Construction

Here's the low-down on tree construction. The internet is a wonderful thing.
http://www.polygem.com/zoo/treehow2.php

The Magic Material

Just spoke with the director of the Marquette Children's Museum. The "magic substance" used to create their rock caves and their tree bark is Durabond 90 - sold at many local hardware stores, including Mennards. A 25 pound bag goes for something like $15. It goes on like a clay, and hardens to a concrete-strength in 90 minutes. It can be textured with combs or brushes, and then painted with various finishes. MSDS/Safety information can be found here: http://www.mta.ca/administration/facilities/safety/msds/carpentry/Concrete%20and%20Fillers/DuraBond%2045.pdf.

Marquette Children's Museum's treehouse covers a steel girder I-beam. They made a wooden frame, bent 8x4 boards to make it cylidrical, and then covered with Durabond. Viola! Tree! Durabond is a crucial component for theming - with it we can create our own hollow log for crawling, and log slices for balance activities. One thought for the log slices is to use a standard balance disc, and then cover the top of it with the Durabond and paint to look like a log slice. It then has the "wobbliness" of the disc, but goes with our theme....


I'm extremely excited to know there's options out there besides the faux bark I've been pricing, which would've cost us literally THOUSANDS of dollars!!! Other uses include making both the climbing wall and the "quiet cave" look like real rock. We can also fashion our "rock stage" out of this stuff. Yahoo!!