Owen Park is a $35,000 playground. Owen Park is the destination for children five and under.

Dave Bohlinger is the Park Maintenance Supervisor for the city of Eau Claire. He knows this park like any four-year-old would and the technology of playground equipment has changed since most of today's parents were, themselves, children.

"Entrapments, protusions, fall zones, you're seeing the safety improve with everything else," Bohlinger said. "The biggest issue is falls."

While falls are trouble for todlders, Bohlinger says, in some spots, it is preferable.

"If a child's hips are stuck, we'd rather have them fall to the ground," Bohlinger said.

In city parks, to find the parts of a playground that can help keep your child safe, look down. Wood chips in the "fall zones" should measure 12 inches. Those 12 inches can absorb an impact from a fall up to 11 feet.

Dr. Kirk Dahl has worked in local emergency rooms for over 20 years and, himself, raised children, so he knows children's collisions. For those parents of toddlers that fill Owen Park, Dr. Dahl says the accidents and falls are just life and that injuries happen.

"Once they recognize the danger," Dr. Dahl said, "it's okay to let them go about the business of playing."

Each park playground that the city maintains does have a distinct personality. Carson Park is the largest, with two seperate play areas, but did you ever wonder why they're go far apart?

"There's a conflict between having a 12-year-old running around a two-year-old."

Expect to see newer equipment coming up at Lower Mt. Simon and Oakwood Hills soon.

"You want to challenge a child, especially with the girls, because they'll start out busy and then they'll go quiet, from active to passive play."

If your own home playground budget isn't quite $35,000, consider this for safety: Bohlinger says to remember the landing surface. Those wood chips are relatively expensive and any depth for fall zones, even less than the 12 inches the city uses, will help cushion the impact.