Nest! inclusive play forest in Kaatsheuvel

Location Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands

Client/operator De Efteling B.V.

Landscape Architect Efteling, Ivo Südmeier

Author Efteling

Photos Efteling

Official opening May 2021

SOCIAL INCLUSION IN A LEISURE PARK

NEST! INCLUSIVE PLAY FOREST IN KAATSHEUVEL

The focus of the play area located in the Netherlands’ largest recreational park is to make it accessible for all children with and without disabilities, visible or not. All play elements and paths are designed so that all young users can have fun there together. In the shape of an arena, Nest! has an entrance and exit. Children with and without wheelchairs can access all the different levels and play elements via the boardwalk running around the play forest. A special elastic outdoor surface ensures that the ground is as smooth as possible throughout.

In planning the area, the theme park consulted the independent Dutch foundation “Het Gehandicapte Kind” (The Handicapped Child). Also heavily involved was Marc de Hond, Dutch presenter, theatre artist and himself a wheelchair user and athlete, who died in 2020. As an expert adviser, he regularly shared his ideas on barrier-free accessibility with the theme park’s management. His collaboration with Efteling inspired de Hond to write an inclusive fairy-tale. In “De redders van Ruigrijk” (“The Saviours of Ruigrijk”), a boy in a wheelchair and his blind friend take up the fight against the dragon Naga together to protect the inhabitants of Ruigrijk. Fairy-tale world An 80 m long boardwalk encircles the 1,200 m² site, connecting different elevations and play elements with each other, which children can explore sitting and standing. In the middle of the play area is the compass, a waterbed accessible to all children with and without wheelchairs. Here they can experience gentle wave motion while sitting, lying, rolling, standing or jumping.

The waterbed made of sturdy plastic is five metres in diameter, so there is plenty of space for many brave adventurers at the same time. The

threshold to the waterbed is particularly low, and carers and Nest! staff can help with access.

For those seeking a nerve-tingling experience, there is the dragon tower with two slides. On the larger, 6.5 m high slide, young adventurers slide down the dragon’s tongue. The smaller dragon slide is also accessible for children in wheelchairs who can leave their vehicle (if accompanied). The high side walls ensure good support during the descent. Through a viewing tube, children on the ground can experience the dizzying dragon’s-eye view at a height of over 6 m.

All the children can play together on the boards at different heights. Care has been taken to appeal to different senses: seeing, feeling, moving and making sounds. Blind or visually impaired children can feel the shapes on a 3D memory game. With the rotating elements, young users can give free rein to their imagination and create figures themselves by turning their heads, bodies and legs.

Forest retreat Elsewhere, meanwhile, things are much more peaceful. In a part of the play forest with a design extra-low on stimuli thanks to the choice of colours and theming, children can retreat for a while. The course on which you can advance hand-over-hand hanging from ropes or have to overcome other obstacles offers appropriate challenges for all children.