The NDSF Playground is located south of the Bunny Barn in the West Park of the fairgrounds near Gate E. The playground, for ages 2-12, is open to the public 365 days a year, weather permitting.

The playground was intentionally constructed to be accessible for everyone, including adults and children who use mobility aids such as wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, crutches and canes.

“It’s pour-in-place (PIP) rubber, so it is meant for mobility devices, be it the child’s or the caregiver’s,” said Char Ratliff, marketing director for the North Dakota State Fair, who believed creating a wheelchair accessible playground for the State Fair and city public was a necessity.

PIP rubber is a soft, shock-absorbing material that is durable and minimizes tripping hazards for those with mobility aids and/or mobility difficulties.

Audin Rhodes/MDN From the left are North Dakota State Fair staff members Sofia Alonso, Laci Hanson, Char Ratliff, Kaitlyn Godejohn and Alecea Pinkley. Hanson and Ratliff are holding a piece of the ribbon from the ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday for the North Dakota State Fair Playground.

The color gray was chosen for the PIP rubber for visibility reasons. Ratliff explained a standard sand color for the rubber could have confused people from a distance who might have assumed the surface to be sand or wood chips and not accessible to people who use mobility aids.

“We made it gray with some artworks put in there, the hopscotch on the left side, footprints for follow-the-leader, and a couple of other things so it would be obvious from afar that you can come in on your mobility device,” Ratliff said.

In addition to the PIP surfacing, the park also has inclusive equipment such as the OmniSpin spinner, a high-backed merry-go-round designed to be accessible to children who use wheelchairs and other mobility aids. Children using wheelchairs can park their device and be safely set into the OmniSpin spinner.

The pieces of equipment selected for the park are designed to engage various developing skills and senses of children, such as sensory skills, gross and fine motor skills, cognition, upper body strength, language, literacy, problem solving, and strategic thinking.

“We also have climbers and slides. There’s a slide with rollers which is meant for sensory as well,” Ratliff said. Additional equipment includes a sensory sandbox, balance beams, the Rhapsody Outdoor Musical Instruments, a smartplay motor skills structure, and a sensory wall on the west side of the playground.

Ratfliff said the idea for the park was formed shortly after the 2023 State Fair concluded.

“The board was 100% behind it, management, and leadership. We just thought it was a great thing to add to the community. So it made sense for us to get moving,” said Ratliff on the project’s swift timeline of completion.

“It was important for us to get the playground opened for the fair as its premier to the community, be it that we have 350,000 people passing through here, patrons know that now there’s another place,” Ratliff said. “If you need a place to come and let the kids run free then this is the place to come.”

A fence and gate surround the entire playground, including the sandbox. The gate and fence are meant to give adults peace of mind in knowing there is only one way in and one way out while children play.

“It’s a great place to get away from all the excitement,” Ratliff said. “It’s a place to relax.”

There are also wheelchair accessible picnic tables stationed in front of the park. There will be three new food vendors in the West Park section of the fairgrounds where the playground is located.