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.

Dynamic and multilayered, Newtown offers the combination of a large splash table, a distributing table, and multiple water channels designed to keep many children engaged simultaneously. A single winder pump provides the water for the entire system, with hand-operated check dams, drains, and weirs throughout allowing for complex play. As water flows along channels and tables, canny operators can work out hydro-engineering or observe the spinning water mill as it conveys water. This type of play offers sensory stimulation and motor skill development—making it perfect for solo play or highly cooperative social interactions.

Ideal for a playscape with an integrated reservoir as the base, Narrows provides a series of distinct play areas rising up from the water below, each mimicking different natural systems. Incorporating a triangular water reservoir with dams, multiple winder pumps, channels, mills, and an Archimedes screw—opportunities abound for group or individual exploration and play. Highly sensory, endlessly engaging, and technically stimulating, children can move from station to station and discover various ways of moving, damming, and conveying water throughout the site. A beach, a creek, a waterfall, and any other natural setting you wish to imagine in one water-filled place. 

One of the more sophisticated, multi-channel systems we offer, Meander provides small or large groups of children with endless variations of water play. Two channels split off from a central hand pump and distributing basin. Every step along the way, you are invited to use your creativity to experiment and discover the different ways that gravity and engineering can stop, move, shift, and convey water. Communication and motor skills get a workout as kids create their own games and ordering systems. Long after the splash pad grows monotonous, kids working in an interactive waterscape will still be pumping, damming, balancing, and splashing together. Children of all ages and abilities can find a place to fit into the action, from operating a weir to observing the scoop wheel spin. 

Understated but richly engaging, New Orleans offers several levels of interactive water play in a compact system. A single winder pump releases water into a channel that invites you to enjoy the sensory pleasure of running water or to explore the engineering of damming and releasing it to the table below. The Water Swirl Table features triangular dams that you can rotate and manipulate to create various water flow patterns. Unlike a splash pad, this type of water play invites collaborative, experimental play and endless opportunities for discovery. From engineering to fun splashing, these simple play elements provide hours of entertainment and stimulating activity.

Elegant and dynamic, Headwater presents two different streams of water play originating at a single winder pump and mixing basin. Hand-operated weirs and check dams provide ample opportunity for children—playing individually, in pairs, or in a larger group—to work together collaboratively in complex water play. Working out the ways that water can be controlled across the various features requires creativity and logic. This complex play and interaction stimulate cognitive skills development and communication, while the open layout encourages cooperation, eye contact, and negotiation.