A new way to play: Sensory playground opens for children on autism spectrum
Parks are at the heart of play for children and their moms and dads, and Miami-Dade County has created some special new outdoor spaces.
The first is the new “Superhero Garden Autism Playground” at Tamiami Park, located next to the park’s pool, at 11201 SW 24th St. It features a 4,220-square-foot sensory playground and garden, and is the first of its kind for the Miami-Dade Parks system.
Dedicated April 26, the new playground has an ADA-accessible “Whirl,” a “Spinami” motion play spinner, an “Adventure Crawl Tube,” a “Cozy Cocoon” play berm, sensory play panels, and engineered wood fiber safety surfacing. The site has native trees and plants, a 5-foot-high fence with a privacy screen, park benches, and an ADA-accessible walkway.
“Miami-Dade Parks is happy to provide this awesome Superhero Garden Autism Playground at Tamiami Park,” said Miami-Dade Parks Director Maria I. Nardi. “It provides a safe and relaxing play space for children with autism.”
Another new design is the Biscayne Shores and Gardens Park at 11525 NE 14th Ave. It has nature-inspired play spaces designed to encourage residents and children to spend more time outdoors.
The 6-acre park has a new 10,800-square-foot playground that includes an explorer dome, boulder climbers, an embankment slide, swings, bee and forest bug spring riders, and a forest lake boat.
And there are new plantings of royal palms, gumbo limbo trees, live oaks, milkweeds, Fakahatchee grass, pineland crotons, yellowtops, porterweeds, gamagrass, giant ironweeds, and Boston ferns.
“Park spaces like these encourage people to be active and de-stress with nature,” Nardi said of the Biscayne Shores and Gardens Park. “These living ecosystems of green grass, plants, trees, flowers, and wildlife are helping to nurture new generations of parks stewards.”
Jazz Roots’ New Season
The 2019-2020 JAZZ ROOTS season, featuring six evenings of music in the Arsht Center’s Knight Concert Hall, will celebrate the blues, the British Invasion-Latin style, Cuban jazz and the jazz of the genre’s musical giants.
“As an artist and educator for the past 40 years, I am honored to continue to be a part of this amazing series. It presents world-class jazz to South Florida’s audiences and educates students about America’s music. I look forward to working with the Arsht Center as we continue to carry on this key mission,” said Shelly Berg, JAZZ ROOTS artistic adviser.
The JAZZ ROOTS: Sound Check program, a partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, will continue for the 2019-20 season. This program has brought more than 9,000 high school music students to the center for a free behind-the-scenes experience that includes a pre-concert sound check, a Q&A session with featured artists, and free entry to the evening’s performance.
To learn more and buy tickets, visit www.arshtcenter.org/jazz.
Free Patriotic Concert
Volunteer members of the Kendall Orchestra will present a second annual “Patriotic & Americana” concert, 6 p.m., May 19, at Kendall United Methodist Church, 7600 SW 104th St. The group is a community-outreach orchestra that is multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-denominational and multi-skill level.
“It’s amazing how these volunteers all have fun playing music together,” said director Thom Proctor. “We’re unique, because we also have a full saxophone section — in an orchestra!”
The concert will include guest vocalist Daisy Su, singing “Bring Him Home” from “Les Misérables.” Joining the orchestra will be the Kendall Choir performing Randall Thompson’s “Alleluia,” a piece with narration called “The Greatest Generation,” selections from “Hamilton,” a “Patriotic Sing-Along,” and a surprise guest soloist from the original K.C. and the Sunshine Band.
To learn more, call Proctor at 305-962-6316 or the church at 305-667-0343.
South Florida Youth Symphony
Treat your family to the last concert of the 54th season for the South Florida Youth Symphony, 4 p.m., May 19, at the Lehman Theatre, 11380 NW 27th Ave., Building 5000, on the campus of Miami Dade College North.
Two students have composed orchestral tributes in memory of Dennis Kam, recently deceased associate conductor and SFYS resident composer. Yurri Harper-Rosenberg’s piece, “A World of Twilight,” will feature two harps, orchestra and viola solo, while Yosvani Rodriguez’s piece “Recursion” features a solo violin.
The Southwood Magnet School girls choir directed by Deborah Mar will perform with the orchestra in the “Polovtsian Dances” by Alexander Borodin. Tickets to the concert are $15 at the door.
To reserve, visit www.sfys.net or call 305-238-2729.
This story was originally published May 9, 2019 at 2:43 PM.