Manthey Park among locations for Inclusive Day of Play

Owatonna is known for its many parks, and one of them is being recognized for being inclusive and accessible to all children.

Manthey Park is one of the several parks around Minnesota that is participating in Gillette Children’s Inclusive Day of Play on Saturday, July 27. The park is included on Gillette Children’s inclusive play map along with other participating inclusive parks.

“We want to get as many families across Minnesota to get out and play at their local inclusive playgrounds and engage in play with children of all abilities,” said Callie Goodman, who is on Gillette Children’s communication and marketing team.

Gillette Children’s is a nonprofit hospital located in St. Paul with clinics all over Minnesota. They care for brain, bone and movement conditions in children that need specialized expertise.

On top of finding solutions for the conditions, they also help children and families be able to create their own story and be able to live their lives and have a healthy childhood. They strive to support the full value of every child.

Gillette Children’s created the Inclusive Day of Play as a rallying cry to unite kids of all abilities and encourage families to plan inclusive play dates in their own communities.

“We created it to bring greater awareness and shine a light on why accessibility is important,” Gillette Children’s Certified Child Life Specialist Natalie Fetzek said. “It started with us questioning how do we promote inclusiveness in the community.”

This year is the inaugural Inclusive Day of Play, as Gillette Children’s plans to make it a yearly thing. With parks in Minnesota and a few others in the Midwest, Gillette Children’s hopes it will eventually be a nationwide event.

The event is similar to National Night Out and coincides with Disability Pride Month, which is in July. Gillette Children’s created resources and worked with Minnesota Parent to promote and locate numerous parks around the state and midwest that are inclusive for everyone to play at.

The event is intended to create a conversation among communities about inclusiveness and Gillette Children’s hopes the day will inspire communities to invest in inclusive playgrounds and make local playgrounds accessible to all children.

“Play is important for cognitive development and social development,” Fetzek said. “The more inclusive spaces communities have, it reduces the stigma and allows for our kids to be kids.”

Manthey Park has accessible play spaces that welcome kids of all abilities.

Gillette Children’s encourages parents and families to go online at inclusivedayofplay.org and look at the inclusive play map. If you think there their is a favorite accessible or inclusive play area missing from the list, you can submit a form to let Gillette Children’s know, so they can add to the resource and make parks in local communities more accessible for children of all abilities.