Water Play

The complexity of weirs, wheels and valves make The Bay water unit an endless exploration for children of all ages. The hardiness of the stainless steel will hold up to any environment and heavy use for years to come.

What looks simple at first glance—a pump, a channel, and a diverter leading to two mixing plates—reveals complexity far greater than its humble appearance suggests. The winder pump feeds the system, and a distributing trough delivers it to one of the two mixing plates below. Tailwater’s genius is that it requires complex interaction and negotiation of the children playing with it. While one person releases water at the pump, others downstream have to decide when, where, and how much of the water is delivered below. An exploration of gravity, engineering, and cooperative teamwork, this water playscape stimulates social interaction and cognitive development in equal measure.

Compact but complex, Ripple combines four elements of water play in a balanced arrangement that can accommodate many children at the same time. A winder pump releases water into a channel that splits into two, with each side controlled by a hand-controlled dam. One branch leads to a water wheel driven by the kinetic force of falling water and the other leads to a splash table. It is possible to maintain eye contact from any point in the system, encouraging collaborative social play and interactive engineering. From toddlers to parents, everyone can find a way to engage in the stimulating, fun, sensory water play this system provides. 

A perfect water play element for smaller spaces, Redmond delivers far more than the sum of its parts. A winder pump is the single source of water, pouring into a distributing table that then deposits water into a long channel and eventually a basin below. Despite the simplicity and minimalism of this system, it offers multiple opportunities for children to interact with and explore the movement of water together. Anyone questioning if these two basins and single channel will be enough to keep kids engaged needs only to recall the hours of fun provided by a single puddle or paddling pool in a backyard. Social and sensory, this elegant bit of water play is an invaluable addition to a playscape.

The ultimate water playscape for large groups of children, Rapids features half a dozen mixing plates, water tables, and collection basins stemming from a single water source: an elevated central winder pump and basin. Ideal for coordinated group play and exploration of gravity and engineering, this sensory smorgasbord of pools and channels is innately interactive and cooperation-based. Social skills are a valuable commodity in this system where water can be diverted and directed at many different points before it reaches its terminal level.