ProSlide’s WaterKINGDOM is establishing itself as an industry leader in the world of children’s aquatic play. Parks all over the world like Soaky Mountain Waterpark in the United States, Atlantis Sanya in China, and Six Flags Hurricane Harbour in Mexico have all had phenomenal success with their installations and with good reason. Their purposeful engineering, world-class design, high-performance rides make them entertaining attractions for any park’s younger guests. But there’s more that goes into a WaterKINGDOM than just fun and entertainment. There’s a philosophy at work that helps guide the creation of ProSlide’s WaterKINGDOM: play, exploration, and discovery help kids develop socially, physically, emotionally, and cognitively.
How the Experts Informed ProSlide’s WaterKINGDOM
Child psychologists, therapists, and specialists have noted that play, exploration, and discovery allow children the opportunity to mimic behaviours, letting them practice what they see and develop their skills while learning new ones. Play, exploration, and discovery create unique outlets for experimentation and opportunities to be creative, which lets them learn to interact and communicate with others. Those in the field of child development have been clear on the benefits. In an interview with Healthline, Mayra Mendez, PhD, LMFT, a licensed psychotherapist and program coordinator at Providence Saint John’s Child and Family Development Center in Santa Monica, California, said “Play is important because it provides a primary foundation for learning, exploring, problem-solving, and building an understanding of the world and your role within it.” Education pioneer Maria Montessori called children “little scientists”, referring to their eagerness to observe “what if” discoveries about their world, testing their environments to see what happens when they do something. These principles are foundational in the design and engineering of ProSlide’s WaterKINGDOM, particularly with splash park’s and RideHOUSE®.
From Philosophy to Design
The splash park and RideHOUSE® series have distinctive aspects that set them apart from the rest of WaterKINGDOM and make them the perfect attractions to support and encourage development in young kids. Each RideHOUSE® and splash park is outfitted with a completely customizable suite of water toys and interactives that enhance the experience for kids, stimulating increased levels of play and discovery with their versatility. Toys are the more universal aspects of a RideHOUSE® or splash park that any age can enjoy, like the Rainbow Bar Jet. Interactives, like the Water Shooter, require active participation and engagement to get their full effect. Each can be enjoyed on their own or combined with others for unique results. “They’re intentionally designed to function on multiple levels”, says Director, Product Line Management and R&D at ProSlide Greg White. “A luminary spray doesn’t just spray water; it creates beautiful light shows and serves as a play space. The Team Blaster encourages cooperative play with other kids, while the Magnif-Eye is all about puzzle solving and other forms of discovery.” Many of the toys and interactives available can even be enjoyed cooperatively, in combination with others. “Every time I visit a park, I see kids using them in ways that had never occurred to me before. They’re really only limited by their imagination.”
