They called for tree houses, merry-go-rounds, swings, slides and a stage. There were also those who thought a new Belhaven playground should include a waterfall, a pool, a game room and a hot tub.

Nearly 30 children attended the KaBOOM! Design Day last Tuesday, drawing their idea of a dream playground that will built on Oct. 26 in the midst of the town’s recreational fields, at Railroad and Bay streets.

“A lot of them wanted some type of water in their playground, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said Lisa Woolard, Design Day organizer. “The KaBOOM! people don’t do water.”

The kids were imaginative: zebra stripes adorned one slide; all the past presidents’ names rose up the steps of another; a wishing well with a revolving show of colored lights at night was pictured; and there were rainbows — lots of rainbows.

“We tried to pick out some of the things they chose that were in here,” Woolard said, holding up a catalog of playground pieces that range in cost from hundreds of dollars to well over six figures.

Belhaven’s KaBOOM! planners have $17,000 to spend, with half of that provided by KaBOOM! and a grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust’s Healthy Places NC initiative. The other half will be raised by “Team Coalition,” a coalition of eight Belhaven churches, Belhaven-Pantego Rotary, the town’s Chamber of Commerce and the Belhaven Alumni Association.

While the (adult) volunteers on the design team picked out color schemes — primary colors, natural greens and tans, orange with several blues were their top options — the kids’ drawings were collected to deliver to KaBOOM! designers in Washington, D.C. They’ll be used to inform three designs; the local volunteers will chose the final design once they’ve been completed.

The project is in motion, Woolard said. With eight weeks to raise their share of the playground’s cost and to drum up 200 volunteers for the build day on Oct. 26, Team Coalition has its work cut out for it.

For more information about, or to volunteer to help with, Belhaven’s KaBOOM! playground, contact Lisa Woolard at 252-945-3156, or email lisa@beaufortcountykids.org.