Hanging Basket Seats

Hanging basket seats are often promoted as an accessible playground feature. While they do have a place in inclusive design, they are frequently misunderstood and over-relied upon — sometimes even used to justify claims that a playground is accessible.

From lived experience, this is not an accurate or safe assumption.

Where Hanging Baskets Can Be Useful

Hanging baskets can be appropriate for:

• Small children with mild physical support needs

• Children who can be lifted safely by a caregiver

• Short, supervised play sessions

• Situations where the carer has full physical capacity to assist

In these cases, hanging baskets may provide sensory input or shared play experiences.

They are not without value — but their usefulness is limited.

The Reality for Older Children, Teens, and Disabled Adults

As children grow, the assumptions behind hanging baskets break down quickly.

Many disabled children:

• Become heavier than their carers

• Grow into teenagers with adult body mass

• Still require full physical support for transfers

• Cannot assist with lifting or balancing themselves

Expecting a caregiver — particularly one who may also be disabled — to lift a teenager into a hanging basket is unrealistic and unsafe.

From lived experience, this is not inclusion — it is exclusion disguised as accessibility.

Why Hanging Baskets Are Not Truly Accessible

Hanging baskets:

• Require manual lifting into the seat

• Offer no independent access

• Depend on carer strength and balance

• Carry a high manual handling risk

• Become unusable as users grow older or heavier

If a piece of equipment can only be used when someone else lifts you into it, then it is not independently accessible.

The Manual Handling Risk

Lifting a child — or teenager — into a hanging basket:

• Places strain on backs, shoulders, and wrists

• Increases risk of falls during transfer

• Can result in injury to both the carer and the user

• Is particularly unsafe when the carer has their own disability

Accessible play should reduce risk, not create it.

Why Hanging Baskets Are Often Overused

Hanging baskets are sometimes chosen because they:

• Are cheaper than wheelchair-accessible equipment

• Take up less space

• Appear inclusive at a glance

• Are easy to install

However, appearance is not the same as function.

A playground with multiple hanging baskets but no wheelchair-accessible equipment is not inclusive — it is selective.

What True Accessibility Looks Like

Truly accessible playground equipment:

• Allows independent or assisted access without lifting

• Supports wheelchair users directly

• Accommodates older children, teens, and adults

• Remains usable as a person grows and gains weight

• Respects dignity and safety

Wheelchair-accessible seesaws, swings, and transfer-free play elements provide inclusion that lasts beyond early childhood.

Key Principle

If access depends on someone lifting you, the equipment is not accessible.

Hanging baskets may be a supplementary feature, but they should never be the foundation of an accessible playground.