For children living with disability, the simple magic of playing in a backyard sandpit or planting a sunflower can feel out of reach — but a ground-breaking initiative at this year’s Telethon Family Festival is set to change that.

Build Now Foundation and paediatric therapy provider Healthy Strides are joining forces in a high-stakes, race-against-the-clock challenge to build 10 custom, wheelchair-accessible garden beds and elevated sandpits for young West Aussies facing severe movement and coordination difficulties.

For kids using wheelchairs or supportive standing frames, standard ground-level play areas are often impossible to navigate.

The custom-built timber beds break down those physical barriers, allowing children to roll right up and join in the fun alongside their siblings and friends.

Stephen Mansfield, managing director of the Build Now Foundation, said the initiative targets a gap that many families face every day.

“We’ve partnered with Healthy Strides to identify 10 amazing young kids in wheelchairs who face the daily challenge of not being able to join in at ground level to plant flowers, veggies or fruit,” Mr Mansfield said.

“We’re creating above-ground garden beds where they can wheel right in to touch, feel, and explore at a height where they’re fully supported.”

The versatile timber setups offer a dual purpose; depending on each child’s preference, they can be filled with soil for gardening or converted into elevated sandpits for toy trucks, buckets, and spades.

“For a lot of us growing up, having easy access to sandpits and gardens was second nature, but for these kids, it’s a real struggle,” Mr Mansfield added.

“We measured all 10 kids to find their exact sitting height in their wheelchairs or standing height in their support equipment so each bed is custom-fitted.”

This marks the third consecutive festival challenge for Build Now, following previous years where the team constructed custom cubby houses and billy carts.

For the families, the impact of having an accessible play space at home is profound.

Caity Rawlings, whose three-year-old daughter Alecia was born premature at 28 weeks and lives with cerebral palsy and a brain development disorder, said the custom creation will transform their life.

“When I got the call, I cried because it is something that is just so hard to navigate,” Ms Rawlings said.

“Everyone continually wants to include everyone, but when it comes to playtime, all of a sudden your child can’t join in an activity because they can’t stand at it or it isn’t height-adjustable,” she said.

“To have something like this is honestly life-changing.

“Alecia can now interact and play right alongside her siblings, cousins, and friends.”

Four-year-old Luca, who lives with a rare genetic condition called Spinocerebellar ataxia type 29, was equally thrilled to hear he was receiving a custom set-up.

Luca loves monster trucks, construction sites, and being outdoors, but navigating soft sand in a walker usually means sitting on the sidelines or crawling.

His mother, Jessica, said the tailored sandpit means he won’t be left out during outdoor play anymore.

“Taking a walker to a playground with a sandpit is difficult — they either have to crawl or they can’t participate how other kids would,” she said.

“It’s amazing that he’s having a sandpit built custom for him and his walker so he can just play and do what every other kid is doing. He’s been so excited ever since we told him.”

The live build will take place during the Telethon Family Festival outside RAC Arena on October 18.