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Two in Tow & On the Go | Our favorite features at Sehmel Homestead Park

PenMet Parks replaced the aged rubber tile surfacing beneath the Sehmel Homestead Park playground with poured-in-place rubber safety surfacing last month. Photo by Tonya Strickland.

The latest update at Sehmel Homestead Park gave its centerpiece playground a fab new look last month with some fresh surfacing in a cool, maritime blue.

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Crews replaced the worn brown-and-black checkerboard rubber tile with a seamless poured-in-place rubber safety surfacing. PenMet Parks closed the playground in late June to early July to accommodate the work, giving time to let the mixture cure under clear skies.

Aaand … just look at it! Totally worth the wait, right? The new surface looks modern, clean and so much safer for the kiddos. While the fix may seem minor, it was, in fact, quite the undertaking. For one, the space’s resurfacing was long overdue. Not only does replacing the floor appear smoother, the work also repaired structural issues in the layer beneath it. The project not only improved the popular playground’s look — but it also helps with kids’ mobility as they run – or wheel – between the slides, steps and climbers in the years to come.

Here’s the playground’s old tile surfacing in 2021.

Getting older

Sehmel Homestead Park debuted to the community in 2010, making it surprisingly 14 years old already! As such, several pieces of its play equipment have already come and gone (anyone remember the four-seat seesaw? It was Clara and Wyatt’s favorite).

I also hear that folks on Facebook are patiently awaiting a replacement on a certain “big green slide” that cracked in April.

All in all, the aging playground is still a local gem. And, before too many features get aged out, now is the perfect time for a recap of Clara and Wyatt’s favorites!

Playground in 2023. Photo by Tonya Strickland.

Restrooms and seating

But first, for the adults: you’ll find nice restrooms and lots of perimeter seating to join other parents to sit and watch (and maybe play on your phone — I don’t judge). I’d say this playground is almost always busy — but it’s big enough that it doesn’t seem to matter all that much.

NOTE: While the playground seating is handy, it can be tricky to keep an eye on your kids from certain angles that create blind spots. I’ve often had to get up and walk around to locate them behind slides or under platforms, just to make sure they hadn’t wandered off.

About the park

Clara and Wyatt get silly on the swings in 2021.

Once home to the Sehmel Family’s 1884 settler homestead, the entire park is 98 acres off 78th Avenue in Rosedale, northwest of Gig Harbor’s downtown waterfront. And it truly is the family-friendly place to hang. It features 76 acres of meadow, wetlands, and a forest conservancy area with trails. The remaining 22 acres are packed with things for the kids such as sports fields, an outdoor grassy amphitheater that hosts summer concerts and outdoor movies, picnic areas, and recreation classes. The property also plays host to several PenMet Parks events like all its summer camps going on now. Wyatt even had his field trip at the park way back in kindergarten!

Inclusive features

Inclusivity is this playground’s big thing — something news reports back in 2007 said the community helped fundraise for after a local mom of a son with muscle-weakening cerebral palsy very nearly won a national manufacturer’s essay contest for a free, $300,000 playground for her community. Rubber is considered an all-abilities surfacing choice since it makes the entire play area accessible for walking, crawling, wheels – you name it.

When I asked Clara and Wyatt to recap their favorite park features at this playground, I was surprised when they listed off different features! Here’s a closer look.

Accessible swing seat

(Clara’s pick)

According to Sehmel’s playground manufacturer, Pennsylvania’s based Playworld Inc., “… accessible swings allow children of any ability to feel comfortable and safe while playing.”

While the playground has an impressive amount of belt and baby swings, the hardback swing is designed for children with different abilities — and helps support them. It features a structured seat and what the designers call “rollercoaster-style safety harness.”

The swing fits right in with park’s playground is bright and fun in its rainbow of colors. Clara and Wyatt love the long line of arch swings so there’s a good chance of snagging one.

Activity panels

(Wyatt’s pick)

The playground’s multi-sensory structure has activity panels placed at various heights for seated or stand-up play. These little wall panels are often some of Wyatt’s favorite activities at the park. The panels feature grooves to slide pieces around on, puzzles to figure out, themes for shapes or numbers, and all are in bright colors. Some even feature bright orange bongo drums and bells.

“LolliTop”

(no one’s pick, lol)

Anyone ever wonder what this thing is over by the covered picnic area? The “Sand and Water Table with LolliTops” is the manufacturer’s name for it. While neither of the kids picked this freestanding station as their favorite, I was curious about it! I thought perhaps rain dripped from what (maybe?) appeared to be tilted mushrooms, with the water droplets splashing downward and collecting into the clear basins below for kids to scoop up to explore motion sequences. At home, water table play involves the same idea – using cups and spray bottles for splash play at child height.

Alas, I was incorrect – the maker of this item says the trademarked “LolliTop” post topper is a rotomolded plastic piece secured to a post to help block the sun. It shows up on many of its larger play structures, installed here and there and usually in groups. Huh. So, perhaps the LolliTop design vibe is less mushroom-top and … more melted lollipop shielding all those rays.

In Playworld’s 2024 Buyers Guide, the LolliTop is listed under the “shade and rooftop components” category and exists as one of several post toppers designed to add “fun visual impact to any playground; many colors, styles, and sizes add interest and height.” Other post tops look like green tree canopies, baseballs, golf balls and reeds. I’m not 100% certain about it all yet, but I love knowing a little bit more about their design and purpose, don’t you?

In the case of the sand and water table, the twin basins are shallow and made of clear plastic. They’re called “multifunctional bins” in this commercial play setup, and are designed to hold sand or water for tabletop play (except there’s no sand at this playground). Apparently, this unit also comes with optional bin lids to make the tabletop flat enough to become an arts and crafts station. Personally, I haven’t seen the lids in use (or even show up, if they’re around somewhere) at Sehmel Homestead Park’s playground yet.

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Both kids told me they love this “Accessibility Climber” made with plastic treads.

Accessibility climber

(Clara’s pick)

The “Accessibility Climber” is slightly different than a set of playground steps to ‘facilitate an accessible route to higher elevations,” according to the manufacturer’s catalog, due to what apparently is “wrap-around finger holds for crawlers,” on either side of the traction tops – which I have yet to see in action! Each step also has user-friendly plastic treads. 

Quattro seesaw

Playground in 2021. The now-removed Quatro Seesaw is seen to the right. Photo by Tonya Strickland.

(Clara’s pick)

We’re sad to see Clara’s fave “Quattro Seesaw” is no longer there – we spotted the four-seater in 2021 and it featured room for kids to sit and  bounce — all with a special spring design that works to prevent each seat from hitting the ground.

Sway Fun glider

(Clara and Wyatt’s pick)

Sway Fun on the right in 2024 with new rubber surfacing below.

The Sway Fun Glider, this time from playground company Landscape Structures, is a giant wheelchair-accessible glider designed with a play table (featuring cup holders in the middle!) and wheelchair handholds for a sturdy sway. The platform has room for two wheelchairs, according to manufacturer’s catalog, “plus two large benches for other passengers.”

Sway Fun doesn’t move on its own. Similar to a glider/rocker chair in a baby’s nursery, a group of people can sway the couch-like unit with their body movement alone, or, an easier way is for someone to stand outside the structure and push it while standing on the ground. Perhaps the puzzle in figuring out how to use it is fun in itself! Cooperation, imaginative play and social skill development are listed among its key benefits. Interestingly, Playworld also has a nearly identical swaying unit called an AeroGlider that “encourages cooperation and teamwork among children of all ages and abilities.”

Grass Amphitheater

The grassy outdoor amphitheater hosts Summer Movies In the Park. This year’s lineup takes place in August.

(Wyatt’s pick)

Out of sight from the main hub, Sehmel’s grassy outdoor amphitheater is a stunner in the summer — and is home to the rec organization’s outdoor movie nights on the big screen. The kids and I saw Disney’s The Little Mermaid there one summer.

Volunteer Vern Pavilion

Across the parking lot from the sports concession stand is a large indoor rentable pavilion for events. It also serves as PenMet’s  rec hub for classes and its popular Kids Night Out events. Clara and Wyatt have done these and they usually involve pizza, a movie, and an activity.

(Update: PenMet’s new Community Recreation Center is also under construction at 2416 14th Ave NW for classes, events, and administration).

Cute spider detail under the slide.

IF YOU GO

HOURS: Open 7 a.m .to dusk

PARK + TRAIL MAP: Linked here

MORE INFO: Call 253-858-3400 or visit here

FUN FACT: The Gig Harbor Demonstration Garden is also at this park.

Sway Fun on the right in 2024 with new rubber surfacing below.

Tonya Strickland is a Gig Harbor mom-of-two and longtime journalist. Now in the travel and family niche, her blog, Two in Tow & On the Go, was recently named among the 10 Seattle-Area Instagram Accounts to Follow by ParentMap magazine. Tonya and her husband Bowen moved to Gig Harbor from California with their two kids, Clara (10) and Wyatt (8) in 2021. Find them on Facebook for all the kid-friendly places in and around town.