WakeMed’s PlayWELL Park
The world’s first health education playground
Built in 2004, the Poe Center’s PlayWELL Park is a community resource visited by over 30,000 school children and local families per year. Our 1.5-acre one-of-a-kind health education playground offers children the opportunity to learn about health and engage in imaginative educational play.
The Poe Center recently completed a $1.6 million renovation. Updates include new health-themed playground equipment, interactive sidewalk art, refreshed signage throughout the park, and increased safety and security features.
PlayWELL Park is well-shaded, featuring two shaded picnic table areas and ample tree canopy coverage. Portable bathrooms and handwashing stations are available outside the Poe Center’s front entrance, a short walk from the park.
Parking is available:
- In the upper parking lot across from the Park.
- In the lower parking lot just beyond the Poe Center’s building.
- Along Kidd Road.
PlayWELL Park features include:
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- Nutri-Climb: Make healthy food choices to master the climbing wall.
- "Between the Ears" Zip Krooz: Zip between two giant ears.
- Pedal Posts: Pedal your arms and legs for strong bones and muscles.
- Adventure Climb: Traverse the obstacle course to work your bones and muscles.
- Lickety Split: Slide down a giant tongue.
- Play Paths: Balance, hop, and skip through beautiful sidewalk art.
- Cell and DNA Towers: Climb the basic building blocks of life.
- Healthy Choices Maze: Make wise decisions with each twist and turn to reach the end.
- Little Free Libraries: Take or leave a book, read, or share notes of kindness.
- Body-System Tree House: Scale a giant rib cage, climb the nerve net, crawl through the esophagus, and slide through heart's arteries.
- MindWELL Garden & Labyrinth: Take a meditative moment to walk through the garden and explore the five senses using a mindfulness technique.
Traffic Safety Course
Located outside the entrance to WakeMed’s PlayWELL Park at the Poe Center, the Traffic Safety Course educates and empowers participants to make healthier, safer choices while being more active as pedestrians, cyclists, scooter riders, and future drivers.
During the weekdays, local business parking may obstruct the Course. The best time to ride the course is during the weekend.
Poe’s Little Free Library
WakeMed is the lead sponsor of WakeMed’s PlayWELL Park at Poe and provides landscape maintenance as an in-kind donation.
Renovations to PlayWELL Park were made possible through partnerships with the Mead Family Foundation, Townebank, The Grange, Wake County and other individuals.
