Outdoor play

Climbing Stones and Boulders

Affordable settings and elements, Outdoor play, Stones and boulders
A girl rests in the sun on a large stone.
A stone circle provides a gathering space.

Larger stones and boulders can be used as a kind of climbing equipment.   Climbing stones more than 18 inches above the ground surface should meet standard use zone and safety surface requirements.

Log Seats

Affordable settings and elements, Outdoor play
A log seat circle with a special "storyteller's chair" at one side at Coombes Primary School, UK.
A smaller log seat and table gathering
Here, logs are used both as seats and to define the space for the dress-up clothes at the NC Zoo kidZone.
A group of children gather and listen to stories in a log seat circle at Coombes Primary School, UK.
Here the logs are used to enclose an earth play and digging setting at Wellesley College Child Study Center.
This log bench will last longer than stumps because its footers protect it from weathering at the Atlanta Bontanical Garden.
Logs have been sculpted into seats and tables at Building Blocks Learning Center, Charlotte, NC.

Log seats are one of the easiest and least expensive ways to improve and diversify play affordances in your outdoor learning environment.

Summer Play: Beat the Heat

Outdoor play, Physical Activity
Children enjoy free play with a water hose.
Temporary shade canopy has been installed to priovide temporary shade at Chapel Hill Day Care Center, NC.
Homemade fruit juice popsicles cool children on a hot day at Heron Pond Montessori, Kitty Hawk, NC.
Children enjoy homemade fruit juice popsicles in the shade at Heron Pond Montessori, Kitty Hawk, NC.
Children enjoy a range of water play, from water guns to full body imersion at Heron Pond Montessori, Kitty Hawk, NC.

Summers are hot. Here are some ideas for beating the heat and making the most of our hot summers.

Embankment Slides

Design guidance, Installation, Outdoor play
May 2004: Embankment slide with timber platform, groundcover planting and stone steps at Wellesley College Child Study Center.
Oct. 2005: Evergreen shrubs had been planted on the embankment and the groundcover was filling in at Wellesley College CSC.
Oct. 2009: Shrubs had begun to mature and the embankment slide was well used at Wellesley College CSC. (Photo by Eleanor Luken)

Embankment slides have become popular settings within naturalized outdoor learning environments. If not properly considered and installed, they may not function as intended. Guidance is provided concerning installation, use zones, steepness, plantings and avoiding erosion.

Natural Building

Affordable settings and elements, Outdoor play
An example of a natural building artifact left by a child in this playspace at the NC Zoo's kidZone.
Inside a natural building fort construction.
Using straw bales and bamboo, these boys have built a two-level fort for themselves.
A boy carrying a stick while building at the NC Zoo's kidZone natural construction area.
Three children enjoy their natural construction at the Elizabeth Ann Clune Montessori School of Ithaca.

Natural building play areas are one of the classic affordable free play settings. What might the children create today; will it be a fort, a miniature village, a dragon's nest? Give them the materials in a designated natural building area and see for yourself.

Natural Playhouse

Affordable settings and elements, Outdoor play
This natural playhouse at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum can serve as inspiration at other early childood environments.
This blueberry house at the North Carolina Botanical Garden is one example of a living natural playhouse.
Other ideas for natural playhouse frameworks at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Built from locally sourced logs, branches, and sticks, Natural Playhouses are an affordable and creative alternative to the playhouses one normally purchases from catalogs.

Natural Materials for Play and Learning

Affordable settings and elements, Materials, Outdoor play
This pile of natural loose parts is evidence of exploratory play throughout the outdoor learning environment.
A boy pushes a truck full of collected pinecones along the looped path at Kiddie Kollege ELC, Statesville, NC.
A girl collects dried seed heads from marigolds at Munchkin Academy, Buxton, NC.
The results: A pile of thoroughly-explored marigold seed heads are evidence of play and learning.
Children stir a pot of mud soup, which includes grass, leaves, mulch, water, and, of course, mud at Precious Memories Preschool.

Natural materials afford an array of open-ended play opportunities. Some playscapes are rich with natural materials, while others may need to have natural materials to be gathered and brought in.

Tree Cookies for Play and Learning

Affordable settings and elements, Installation, Materials, Outdoor play
A set of tree cookies, without children in the outdoor learning environment at Intermountain Children's Place, Spruce Pine, NC.
Tree cookies afford picking up and rearranging for this little girl - gross motor and cognitive development.
Now the tree cookies are affording stepping and balancing for her.
A set of small tree cookies, without children in the OLE at Irene Wortham Community Child Care Center, Asheville, NC.
These small tree cookies become pretend food and plates once the children arrive.
Logs and tree cookies in a natural building and digging setting without children at Kids R Us, Liberty, NC.
Evidence of the versatility of tree cookies: cargo to carry and pull around the pathway loops.
Once the children arrive, the tree cookies become plates and surfaces for sorting
They become raw material for building castles - gross motor, imaginative play, social play, and creativity.
A set of small moveable logs and tree cookies inside a log circle, without children in the OLE at Shepherd's Way, Asheville, NC.
The children arrive, building the loose parts into a "campfire", telling stories, adding materials, working together.
A tree cookies and loose parts storage area, before the children arrive in the OLE at YWCA Child Care Center, Asheville, NC.
These large tree cookies are perfect stepping stones to jump between.
With children, this tree cookie becomes a work surface for spontaneous observation and learning about a worm.

Tree cookies are simple, affordable, and effective solutions for defining paths and providing versatile play props in a naturalized outdoor learning environment.

Autumn Children's Books and Outdoor Play

Children's Books, Outdoor play, Programming
Children have gathered autumn loose parts in child-sized carts.
Autumn loose parts gathered by the teachers and placed in the outdoor learning environment for the children to discover.

Autumn is a magical time of year. Leaves change to brilliant yellows, oranges and reds. An abundance of natural loose parts fall to the ground and are now within reach. If inspiration is needed for creative outdoor play ideas, try connecting the stories and themes of children's books to autumn outdoor play.

Winter Play

Outdoor play, Physical Activity, Programming
A boy plays with a truck in the snow at the Wellesley College Child Study Center.
A child shovels snow for fun at the Wellesley College Child Study Center.
Children catch snowflakes on their tongues at the Wellesley College Child Study Center.
As the sun and physical activity warm the children they shed their hats and mittens. A bare fig tree makes a great hat rack.
Water frozen with food coloring make colorful ice blocks that are fun for play.

As temperatures start to drop, so does our motivation to go outside and play. A greater effort is required to prepare children for outdoor play, but with a little planning and the proper clothing it can be well worth the extra effort. As our friends in Sweden say, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.”

Sand Play Areas: Design

Design guidance, Installation, Outdoor play
A timber barrier and ornamental grasses help contain the sand play area at Children's Learning Center, Hillsborough, NC.
A timber bench encloses the sand play area at Bright Horizons at Research Triangle Park.
A timber bench wraps the sand play area at A Child's World, Jamestown, NC.
Boulders surround the sand play area at Wellesley College Child Study Center.

Sand play is one of the most valuable natural behavior settings for children from toddlerhood through the early school years.  However, to stop sand from spreading across other outdoor learning environment settings, follow the simple steps provided.

Grass Mazes

Design guidance, Outdoor play, Physical Activity, Plantings
Grass mazes have come in a variety of forms and sizes. (Building Blocks, Charlotte, NC)
A girl enjoys the sensory experience the grass maze of Miscanthus sinensis 'Adiago' affords at Genesis Academy, Burnsville, NC.
Exploring a dormant grass maze in cooler months.
Calamgrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' (Feather reed grass) contrast with Verbena bonariensis. (Courtesy of Hoffman Nursery)
Beautiful burgundy-red foliage of Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah' (Shenandoah switch grass). (Courtesy of Hoffman Nursery)
Striking pink seed heads of Pennisetum orientale 'Karley Rose' (Karley Rose fountaingrass). (Courtesy of Hoffman Nursery)

Grass mazes are composed of informal arrangements of ornamental "clumping" grasses. Grass mazes support chase games like tag and hide-and-seek, and provide space for intimate conversations, rest, and reflection. Design guidance for grass mazes is provided.

Summer Play: Affordable Misting Station

Affordable settings and elements, Installation, Outdoor play
This simple tent and mist station supplies were purchased for $60.

To beat the summer temperatures and transform nearly any overhead structure into a misting station all you need is about $30, a water spigot, and a little time to hook up the system. Setting up the system is simple and should only take a few hours to purchase materials and install the parts.

Affordable Shade Options

Affordable settings and elements, Design guidance, Outdoor play
Grape vines cover an arbor providing shade and edible fruit.
A large live oak tree casts shade over a log gathering area.
Grape vines cover an inexpensive wire armature creating an intimate, shady place.
Temporary shad is provided by a bed sheets on tent poles.

Adequate protection from the sun is essential for the health and comfort of young children outdoors. Shade can be provided in various ways, including vegetation, structures, and temporary shade.

Spring Outdoor Play: Making the Most of the Season

Latest, Outdoor play, Physical Activity, Programming
Spring Outdoor Play: Making the Most of the Season
Loose parts play with flowers
Playing with collected rainwater after a morning rain
Ribbons to play with the wind
Watering a spring vegetable garden with lettuce and greens

Springtime is ideal for outdoor play. After a cold, gray winter, the blue skies, new leaves, and warm breezes beckon everyone to come out and play for a while. In the excitement of a new season of growth, here are some activities to make the most of all that spring has to offer.