This month, MommyHiker.com welcomes Linda McGurk from Rain or Shine Mamma to our Guest Blogger Series! Linda's blog is a wealth of information for all thing play and she has put together a beautiful and comprehensive article to help us all revamp our kid's outdoor playspace!
The idea of creating an outdoor playspace for your child may
seem contradictory at first. After all, don't we send our kids outside so that
they enjoy simple pleasures like climbing trees, chasing after butterflies and
using their creativity to think up their own games in nature, not to have some
designated play area designed by adults? True. Kids today certainly don't need
another structured activity or pre-fabricated toy added to their already
over-scheduled lives and crammed toy arsenals.
That’s the beauty of a
natural playspace. It does NOT mean you need to go and buy a $2,000 play set
with double swings, a 15-foot slide, gym rings, monkey bars and a climbing
wall. And it does NOT mean that you have to build a state-of-the-art play house
or have a professional landscape architect create the ultimate, kid-friendly
backyard. Don't get me wrong - those things would be nice to have, but that’s
not the point of an outdoor playspace.
Outdoor playspaces can be created inexpensively, and in some
cases completely free, by using natural, existing, recycled and repurposed
materials. Essentially, it can be anything you and your kids want it to be. In
a backyard in the city, a small garden or a mud kitchen (more about those
later) might be a good way to encourage outdoor play. If you live in the
country and have more space, the sky is really the limit when it comes to
creating playspaces outside. But don’t get overzealous with the design – the
most important thing is to let your kids take an active part in the process and
shape the space in a way that invites to play. Done well, it will entice
imaginative and open-ended games that will captivate your kids for hours on
end. Here are seven features that your kids will want you to include:
DIRT AND SAND
We recently
had some construction done and ended up with two big piles of top soil in the
backyard, and, unsurprisingly, my girls have found at least a dozen different
ways of entertaining themselves with the dirt: Rolling down from the top, doing
somersaults (forward and backward), digging, diving, mixing it with water,
pretending to rescue each other using ropes…well, you get the idea. If having a
pile of dirt in the yard is not part of your landscaping plan, a mud kitchen
might be a good alternative. A mud kitchen can be made simply by putting a 2x10
over a couple of tree stumps and giving your kids some old pots and pans to
place on it or, if you happen to be handy, as elaborate as you want to make it.
For more detailed instructions, check out outdoor play guru Jan White’s ideas here.
Got Dirt? |
WATER
There’s
something about water that naturally attracts children. They love to scoop it
up, pour it, splash it, jump in it, float things in it, mix it with dirt, spray
it, race things in it and – inevitably – get wet. And you don’t need a creek in
your backyard to take advantage of the great play potential of water. A couple of
buckets, some empty milk jugs and yogurt containers combined with natural
objects like tree nuts, sticks, leaves and other things that may or may not
float are a great way for your kids to start having fun with water. And if
you’re feeling creative, check out this Pinterest board on how to make a water
wall.
CHALLENGES
According to
Play for All Guidelines,
“without taking risks, children cannot learn to their full potential.” By all
means, that doesn’t mean that the playspace should be hazardous, just that it
should incorporate different levels of challenges to keep your child’s
interest. A tree to climb, plants to jump over, a log to balance on, stepping
stones to hop on, and tunnels to crawl through are some playspace features that
will keep your child challenged. We just made a tunnel from a leftover culvert
and can report that it is getting used heavily.
Tunnels! |
ANIMALS
Children are
instinctively fascinated by bugs, birds and other critters, and regardless of
where you live there are ways of attracting them to a playscape. Combine dirt,
rocks, pine cones and some old log pieces in a designated area, then wait and
see who moves in! The kids will love crawling around in the dirt and lifting
the rocks to see what’s hiding underneath. If you want to go all out, check out
these amazing bug hotel designs from Inspiration Green.
To attract birds, help your kids make a simple birdfeeder – Spoonful has several ideas.
LOOSE PARTS
Loose parts are
exactly that: materials that can be moved around, changed and redesigned to
create new games and keep the children’s creative juices flowing. In an outdoor
playscape loose objects could consist of rocks, wooden blocks, tree nuts,
sticks, leaves or other objects that your kids like and are readily available
where you live. Loose parts can also be used to count and categorize different
items. The more materials that are available, the more opportunities for
engaging play and no risk of boredom!
Pieces and Parts! |
SENSORY STIMULATION
I think the
best way for kids to experience the outdoors is with all five senses. Using a
wide range of materials, colors and textures in the outdoor playscape will help
stimulate touch and sight. Add flowers and herbs to bring in
different smells: for example chamomile,
lavender, sage, bulbs, thyme, and native flowers, and plant them in creative
places, like a hollow stump. For taste,
plant some berry bushes and fruit trees – foraging edible fruits and berries
makes for unforgettable childhood memories. For hearing, try creating an outdoor music station; Let the Children
Play has some cheap DIY ideas.
Nature's Senses! |
NOOKS AND CRANNIES
Kids love nooks and crannies where they can hide and make
their own secret places, as well as different levels with views. Boulders and
logs are great for this purpose, and so is vegetation. Use plants that are native,
fast-growing and low-maintenance – bushes and tall grasses planted in clusters
will become hideouts or places to gather in. Sunflowers work well too, since
they’re both cheap and versatile. The Green Education Foundation has good
instructions for how to plant a sunflower house.
Climb! |
___________________________________________
Swedish-born
writer, photographer and mother-of-two Linda McGurk believes that the best
childhood memories are created outside, while jumping in puddles, digging in
dirt, catching frogs and climbing trees. She blogs about restoring the
connection between children and nature at Rain or Shine Mamma, and hopes to inspire other parents to get
outside with their children every day, regardless of the weather.
I always love your guest post series, Jen. These are definitely great points and ideas for play outdoors. I'm a little crazy with it since I'm a first time mom but I've been letting go a little more as my son gets older and more able to balance well from place to place. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brittnei! Don't rush yourself or your little man, you'll get there when you're ready! :)
DeleteI love these ideas. My kids favorite area of the yard is their mud kitchen! Along the same lines as the sunflower house is a "pole bean house" it's a little more work to get started, but the kids loved it and spent so much time playing in it - plus you get homegrown beans from it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Heather! Oh yeah, my little one would be lost without her kitchen! Great beanpole house idea!
DeleteYou (both) know kids well, and this piece is a perfect reminder of the simple things we can offer our children!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Ann!
DeleteThanks for sharing! Great list :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
DeleteI love that you listed dirt first. :) I try to keep our outdoor spaces really kid-friendly for all of our children, with lots of different types of areas to play, create and explore. Climbing areas are especially important to my crew (trees, etc.) and having their own spaces where they can garden is also big. Wonderful list!
ReplyDeleteA culvert pipe! Thank you so much! I have been trying to find the name of those things for 6 months to see where I could buy one for my kiddos. It's a little tough when you don't know the name of it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we just dug a sand pit for our kids. I got a last minute wild hair to make a bike ramp with the extra dirt (kind of like a mini BMX course). My 2.5 yr old went nuts-o over it. She would haul her little trike up there and zoom down, over and over and over. We still have enough dirt left to do 1 or 2 more.
Thank for great post. I really love your home and family blog. So that, i will share it in my facebook. I think you are interested in best pack n play
ReplyDelete