AMSTERDAM — The children at Clover Patch Preschool patiently waited Wednesday for a chance to play on their new playground, staring at the bright red structure in quiet anticipation.

When their teachers and staff finally let them loose, the 3- and 4-year-olds attacked the playground, running, sliding and climbing on the apparatus behind the school building attached to St. Mary’s Institute.

The CloverPatch Preschool is one of several preschools under the direction of the Center for Disability Services and educates 3- through 5-year-olds with special needs, along with typically developing children.

The Amsterdam site was the last of the CFDS-affiliated sites to have a playground. Before the new equipment, children played with large plastic toys, including a car and an airplane.

The new $15,000 playground was paid for by fundraising efforts through the Center for Disability Services’ Foundation and through a donation from the Amsterdam Rotary Club.

“This is awesome,” site Director Susan Cooper said. “The kids love being out here and it’s a great way for them to get their energy out.”

The bright red playground includes a climbing wall, stairs, a slide, ladders and tic-tac-toe game.

It took two years for the dream of a new playground to become a reality, Cooper said. Many people were involved in the planning process, including the schools occupational and physical therapists.

“Even the color of the playground was discussed, occupational therapist Anne Raco said. “For children, especially with autism, red is a nice visual color. It’s attractive and they know it.”

The playground equipment is beneficial to the children on many levels. It helps build strength, hand-eye coordination and social skills, Raco said.

The playground is the first piece of equipment that helps children, especially those with special needs with what Raco calls gross motor skills. It’s also a motivating factor for other challenging tasks, she said.

“We can trade one hour of coloring for one hour of playing outside,” Raco said. “An the equipment is visible from inside so the children can always see it.”

The CloverPatch Preschool offers integrated instruction with special needs and typically developing children in one classroom, along with specific instruction based on the child’s needs. Cooper said the Amsterdam site serves roughly 60 children during the day split into two sessions.

“This allows all the children to play together, which is so important,” said Anne Schneider Costigan, deputy executive director for the center’s foundation.

Raco said some of the children are playing on a playground for the first time.

“Some of these children don’t have the supervision to go to a playground and we never had one here, so this is a wonderful opportunity for them,” she said.

The playground will be expanded as money becomes available. The school has also installed a new fence around the perimeter of the yard and advocates are expecting picnic tables, benches and a swing set with adaptable equipment.