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ABOVE: Wildwood Elementary School first grader Sawyer Clarke dances while Ben Hertel drums a beat on the new outdoor learning equipment at the Amherst school. “I like that you get to drum on it and that you can also play on it,” says Clarke. -
LEFT: Athar Ebrahimi and Tasha Kilimo, both first graders at Wildwood Elementary School in Amherst, spend recess playing with the new outdoor learning equipment. -
Isidora Mentzer, a fifth grader at Wildwood Elementary School in Amherst talks about what she enjoys about the new outdoor learning equipment. -
Wildwood Elementary School first graders Athar Ebrahimi, Adar Mack-Fuerst and Ben Hertel spend recess playing on the new outdoor learning equipment. -
Tasha Kilimo and Athar Ebrahimi, both first graders at Wildwood Elementary School, spend recess playing with the new outdoor learning equipment.
AMHERST — Soft musical sounds emanate from a red oil barrel, perched on the hillside high above the playground at Wildwood School, as children at recess strike it with the attached drumsticks — and even climb atop it on occasion.
“I like that you get to drum on it, and that you can also play on it,” says first grader Sawyer Clarke, who, after tapping it alongside classmate Ben Hertel, proceeds to both dance on the whale drum and rest on it.
Down the hill, other children play at another whale drum, painted yellow, with distinctly different sounds coming from it, and nearby is a wooden marimba-type instrument that two to four children can use at a time, tapping the series of tone plates with mallets.
For fifth grader Isidora Mentzler, though, the red whale drum, because of its position on the embankment and near the wood line, as well as the music that comes from it, is the one she prefers.
“I like the sounds this one makes better,” Isidora says.
All the music coming from this part of the playground is part of a recently completed outdoor learning area, the culmination of a project to provide more creative activities for children during recess. The new outdoor learning area will be used this spring and the next two school years, before being brought to the new elementary school set to open in the fall of 2026.
Its installation, following April vacation, completes a project that began last fall when an octagonal GaGa Ball Pit was installed on the “metal” side of the playground, beginning the enhancements.
The wooden side, with a large play structure, has always been popular. Now, the instruments, along with the GaGa Ball Pit, have changed the other side and made children more excited to be there, said Principal Allison Estes.
“Kids love being musical,” Estes said.
The two whale drums, made from repurposed propane tanks, and the amadinda, were built by Jim Doble of Elemental Design in Maine.
Estes said she found them appropriate for the setting, that when toned they had soothing sounds, not overly loud, but interesting.
Funded through the Wildwood Parent Guardian Organization and a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council, the project completes a vision of former Wildwood Principal Nick Yaffe, who two years ago sought to give students more creative options for outdoor play.
After approaching the PGO, he talked to Estes, who was then vice principal, to find out what components Wildwood staff would like to see added to the playground. The goal was to inspire new kinds of play and to install only items that could be moved when the new elementary school is completed, she said.
The new instruments are dedicated to the memory of Jassidy Marie Garcia, who attended the school’s intensive special needs, or ILC, program for kindergarten and first grade. Jassidy died last year at age 7.
According to the PGO, Jassidy, though she didn’t speak, made deep connections with her peers, other children and adults in the community, and was known for her spunk and fashion sense and her love of purses, Pinkalicious books, sunglasses, bright lights and music.
Estes said that the Wildwood community looks forward to seeing students with all kinds of abilities enjoying the accessible outdoor instruments and believes they will provide as much love of sound and play as Jassidy did. They are also accessible and appealing to non-verbal interactions.
Estes added that the hope is to spray-paint a hair ribbon that will decorate the area as a reminder of Jassidy.
While the project is for Wildwood students during the day, the playground is open to everyone after school hours, including the GaGa Ball Pit, which has become a favorite after students learned the Israeli game in gym class.
“And come explore these beautiful instruments,” Estes said. “You don’t even have to leave your wheelchair to play them.”
On Friday, the school and PGO held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the new accessible instrument area.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
