Potawatomi History at Kid's Connection Park - Franksville, WI
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Kid's Connection Park - Franksville, WI
As a former home school mom of over 20 years, I am a firm believer that education and play go hand-in-hand. Teach a child something while they are touching, moving, or interacting and they will remember it long afterwards, compared to just reading a textbook filled with facts. I believe the creators and designers of Kid's Connection Park in Franksville, Wisconsin had the same belief as they designed this park for both creative play, and the education of children, about the Potawatomi Indian Tribe. Come with me as we tour this playground full of fun and sprinkled with ancient Native American history.
One of the first things that drew my eye to this playground was the alluring arrray of flowers that surround the park. After reading some papers in the history pavilion located in front of the park, I came to discover that the flowers planted around the park are planted in a lizard shaped effigy mound. Native Americans would create effigy mounds in the shapes of various animals, people or shapes and they were used mostly for spiritual reasons and often for burial grounds. This makes for an excellent opportunity to discuss these great works of Native American art, located all around Wisconsin, with your children. This particular mound was built in honor of the lizard shaped effigy mounds found on bluffs overlooking the Root River near Mound Cemetery in Racine, WI. The lizard, in Native American history, is considered to be a water spirit. This one that was created to surround the park is so stunning as the community plants many flowers to make it a beautiful mound to be enjoyed by many. While I was there in September, it was covered with gorgeous Black-Eyed Susan flowers.
One thing that makes this playground unique and special is that it was designed for all children and is handicap accessible. The wood fiber surface allows kids in wheelchairs to get around with ease. They also put special grooves in all the hand railings to help children with visual impairments to be able to enjoy the park as well.
Innovative ways to play are sprinkled throughout this 20,000 square foot park, including this Tic-Tac-Toe game which includes insects and fish.
The amazing thing that I learned was that this massive playground was built in six days, completely by volunteers and paid for by donations from people within the local community. By visiting their Facebook page, I noticed that all of the maintenance and upkeep is also done by volunteers. To me, this is a model of a community that cares deeply about the health and education of the future of their children living in their neighborhoods.
The maintenance of this playground is funded entirely by donations from the community and is no cost to the taxpayers. If you visit this great place and feel led to make a donation, you can send it to:
Kids Connection Maintenance Fund
c/o Village of Caledonia
5043 Chester Lane
Racine, WI 53402
1,200 children from the community, helped design this playground, and that is very evident throughout as there is adventure to be had around every corner.
When the Potawatomi Indians settlement was on this location, it was known as Skunk Grove. It was part of the mail route between Green Bay and Chicago and so this location was a stopping place for travelers and was the crossroad that led west from Lake Michign to Waukesha Springs and north from Chicago to Green Bay, according to the information posted in the history pavilion.
The village, inside of the playground, has replicas of wigwams that the Potawatomi village would construct out of bark.
The Potawatomi Indians had major clans that were named after animals such as, bear, beaver, eagle, loon, snake, turtle and wolf. Some of the other clans were named, bald eagle, catfish, crow, elk, fox, rabbit, swan, thunder and turkey. Inside the park is a historical wall that contains many of the symbols used by the Potawatomi.
Potawatomi Tribe Symbols at Kid's Connection Park
The Potawatomi Indians were part of a three-tribe alliance that consisted of themselves, the Ottawa and the Chippewa tribes. The Potawatomi had the occupation of "Keeper of the Fire." It was their job to keep the sacred flames going and so you will also see in the picture below, the Keeper of the Fire symbol.
Also, located within the park is a trading post, which in history, was located about 200 yards southeast of the park. The trading post was built by a Frenchman, whose name was Jacques Jambeau, who was married to Angeline LeRoy, whose mother was the sister of a Potawatomi chief. For that reason, Mr. Jambeau was respected by the Potawatomi that lived here and so it is a neat bit of history that is part of the park.
Handicap Accessible Ramps at Kid's Connection Park
The many layers of ramps and play equipment will keep children entertained for a long period of time. This would make a great stopping place to get some much needed excercise as you travel through Wisconsin with your family. It would also make a great field trip idea for schools or home schools studying Native Americans. Pack lunches with a Native American theme and you can use all 5 senses to teach about the Potawatomi Indians.
I don't know about you, but I didn't grow up with parks like this. The best kind of park when I was a kid had roller bar slides that would pinch your skin on the way down and give you welts. This park has so many wonderful safety features to keep kids safe while they play. I appreciate the extra thought and care that went into all of the design that allows kids free exploration and play, but helps keep them safe from injury.
Many of the activities are designed with all ages of children in mind. Small children can climb through the tires while older children can climb on top. So many of the activities are made like this.
As a mom who always likes to find ways to teach children about the history of the Bible, I look for ways to do that. The park has a Jacob's wall in their playground. The story of Jacob's ladder can be found in Genesis chapter 28 of the Holy Bible. Reading the story ahead of time and then waiting for your children to discover Jacob's wall and then talking about the Bible story will then give you a wonderful opportunity to reinforce what you learn in the Bible, by communicating about this biblical event.
The way the goldenrod flowers peaked over the fence makes the park enjoyable for the adults as well. It also brings butterflies, dragonflies and other insects that the children can observe and identify.
The Potawatomi used to build clan poles to identify their different villages. The replica clan pole at this site is a variation of the kind you would find in their villages. It depicts some of the clans in the Potawatomi and is topped with a bear, and a beaver on the bottom.
Native American Totem Pole - Kid's Connection Park
What You Should Know Before You Go
I would never had found this park if my kids didn't have a soccer game here. This massive park is surrounded by soccer fields and so you wouldn't just see the park from the road. It is located inside Franksville Park at 9416 Northwestern Avenue, Franksville, WI 53126.
Having a basic understanding of the Potawatomi Indian Tribe will help you to be able to get the most out of your time here. While kids will enjoy the park without knowing anything about the Potawatomi, I feel it would enhance the trip to know some basics. A book like The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire by R. David Edmunds will give you some good information to work from.
As an educator, I believe that using all of the five senses, whenever possible, hightens the learning experience to the fullest degree. A handy recipe book like, Foods of the Americas: Native Recipes and Traditions by: Fernando Divina will help guide you in planning something fun to eat on your trip.
Enrichment Ideas When You Return Home
As always, I love reinforcing what we learned in our travels once we are done with the trip. Here are some recommendations to help you do this.
My Name is Kewanee of the Potawatomi Tribe: Let's Go To A Pow Wow by Kewanee C. Wesaw and Ellen Callen provides hands-on opportunities for readers to become involved in the story by creating their own dance ragalia.
Having children create their own Potawatomi tribe in a diorama box could be a fun, engaging opportunity. You could use these Native American plastic toys to aid in their fun. You could also use these to make a cake or mini garden or even for sandbox toys.
More than Mocccasins: A Kid's Activity Guide to North American Indian Life by: Laurie Carlson will give your children plenty of hands-on activities to remember their trip to Kid's Connection Park.
If you end up going to Kid's Connection Park, please leave a comment and let me know how you enjoyed this fun place.
Until next time, always choose the scenic life!
Hannah Babiak is a stock photographer and travel blogger. For writing assignments or ideas for future posts, please contact her at alwayschoosethesceniclife@gmail.com or leave a comment below.
Hannah Babiak is a stock photographer and travel blogger. For writing assignments or ideas for future posts, please contact her at alwayschoosethesceniclife@gmail.com or leave a comment below.
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