Living in Alaska, I do miss the big trees of my childhood that you could climb and hang a swing on. And it would be nice to have a small grassy area on our property, but everything else it has to offer makes this place fanciful, inviting to the imagination, open-ended and the epitome of natural.
In summer there is still the trail system and spruce forts. Out back there is a spot where the ground is leveled off and this has become our “playgarden”. For a few years it was a just a firepit and squeaky crappy swing set. The kids in the hood used it a bit, but…well you know how it goes with those old swings with the legs bouncing out of the ground as soon as the kids get a good swing-on!! The playgarden was blahsville but we didn’t have a lot of scratch to put into one of those serious wooden fortresses with the tower, swirling slides, rock-climbing wall, rollercoaster and personal chef. Last spring I found out that a kid doesn’t really need all that noise.
As I was delving into Waldorf education I decided to enroll Lo and I in the Parent/Tot class at the Waldorf school. *I highly recommend these programs for anyone interested to exploring this type of education*. I learned so much in this once a week 3 hour class. Toward the end of each class we would go outside for some fresh air and rambunctious play. The first time we stepped into the play yard out the back of the school I was …disheartened. There were no swings, slides, climbing structures, tetherballs, or 4-square plots…just MUD. And a small strip of icy snow down a sloping part of the yard. It was break-up and everything was grey. The trees were dirty and lifeless, rotting leaves blanketed the ground, bleh. The only redeeming factors were a big sandbox and a little wood cabin. I felt sorry for the kids attending the school. While the inside was warm and inviting and beautifully decorated, this play yard was enough to put me back on Prozac. “Depressing!”, I thought. As I stood and watched the kids, it didn’t take long at all for me to see that those kids were having a blast out there! They made due with what was there: tree stumps and logs to roll around and make into a bus or a wagon caravan, a long wide plank of wood that could turn into a see-saw by placing it over a log. Placed over 2 upright logs, it became a bench or a bridge or a dragon to ride on. There were large rocks for lugging around, little gemstones and sea shells hidden in the sandbox to be unearthed by a delighted child, and a fallen tree that became a balance beam or a mountainous cliff to jump off of. There were plenty of buckets and rakes and shovels for making mud pies and soups. The trees in the yard had amazing above ground root systems and made for great fairy houses. And the kids delighted in that quickly disappearing strip of ice-using the big shovel to sit on and slide. I was amazed, impressed , and inspired with the vast imaginations of those children. Had the play yard been more mainstream, I don’t think I would have see the variety and intensity of creative play. This little place was a wonderland to those kids. Over the past year I’ve seen that play yard’s potential change with the seasons and combined with the burning imaginations of the children remain a wonderland of opportunity.
Dea and I planned to create something similar with what our property had to offer. I love the idea of using all natural recyclable materials as much as I can. No more metal and plastic stuff! We had tons of long branches in the back yard and with them we created a cool stick fort. Once we had the basic support branches set up, we filled it in with smaller branches. Whenever we’re out there, we’ll pick up a couple branches to add to it.
March
YesturdayWe gathered big attractive rocks from the French drains on the sides of our road. On the drive home one day, we passed a property with a felled cottonwood tree that someone had started to buck up. There were nice fat squat logs and thinly sliced disks strewn all over. Perfect for making mushrooms to play on! I stuck a note asking if we could have just a few logs and disks for our playgarden in their mailbox. The guy called to let us know we could have whatever we wanted! We loaded to back of the Buru up and now have a toadstool table and chairs,
various mushroom seats and a “structure” that resembles a dragon, all made out of logs! We also found an old long and sturdy board behind the shed and mounted it onto a big round log to make a see-saw. Dea helped make a bridge out of a half round of thick tree bark to go over our “river” made with pebbles. It started to turn into a pretty whimsical place to play!
March
Yesturday
This year we plan to build a big sandbox. I found some free railroad ties on craigslist and I’ll start searching for some good sand.
I came upon this idea at Joy in the Journey! Looks like FUN, but where to get a whiskey barrel?!?!? I also found these amazing mushroom seats!
I came upon this idea at Joy in the Journey! Looks like FUN, but where to get a whiskey barrel?!?!? I also found these amazing mushroom seats!
And these, too!
Very pricey, but man, aren’t they COOL! I've only seen them sold in the UK though.
I love being a kid again!
Let us know what’s up in your backyard!!!!!
Let us know what’s up in your backyard!!!!!
4 comments:
Great post...when you mentioned those roots that stick out of the ground, it brought back good memories. I love your yard, it looks like a lot of fun. My kids have a favorite area in our yard that is under a big fir tree- it's like a little "room". They have so much fun under there with a couple of sawhorses, some scrap lumber, large rocks, and ropes. We have a swing set also but they seem to prefer the area under the tree.
Those mushrooms are cool!
We want a big natural play yard too - ripping out grass slowly, doing the garden, planting trees, and we plan to add nooks and crannies and holes and rocks and vine forts and benches, wood balance beam, and all the good stuff as we go. We want it to be inviting for adults, provide food/garden areas, and also be a little wonderland for our kids.
A book I love is ::
A Child's Garden: 60 Ideas to Make Any Garden Come Alive for Children…by Molly Dannenmaier
It is very natural playspace oriented. Many photos and interesting ideas. :)
I wish YOUR backyard was in MY backyard! lol
I agree, though....the best play areas have stuff kids can use their imaginations with....and that doesn't mean the yucky plastic stuff. :)
Sounds like you have an amazing space already. As you discovered in the pre-K group, it's all about simple, natural materials (though a swing is a great thing to have as well).
Our yard has a bunch of stumps from a maple that was cut down this spring, the brook, the forest, grassy lawn, a garden hose, a picnic bench, a (plastic--it was free from a neighbor)) play kitchen with bowls and stuff, and lots of shovels, trowels, buckets, etc. And in winter we have a hill for sliding and sledding.
We also have string (bows and arrows, fishing poles, earth art, etc.), sidewalk chalk (they use this both on pavement and on rocks and wood), lots of stones including heavy ones for good physical/sensory experiences, some gardening tools like clippers that require supervision (stretching those boundaries), sprinklers for the summer, and a big red wagon.
I'd like to put in some sand and/or gravel for digging, if only to keep my son from making holes in the semipublic gravel path going through the middle of the yard! There's some sand for digging down by the brook, but not enough and not good for colder days. And I would really love to have a little play house. But since we're renting and probably moving away soon, no major projects for us.
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