Right now, two of the local preschools I work with are in the process of installing natural playgrounds and they are taking two very different approaches. One school hired a well-known company to plan and build the playground. The other is taking more of a grass roots approach. Teachers are planing the landscape and parents are providing much of the labor.
Professionally designed and installed natural playground
Another view
The first program is a nonprofit that recently moved into a new building. Rather than installing a traditional playground, they chose to install a natural playground. When the workmen finish their job, the children will have a complete, professionally designed natural playground with new sod, shrubbery, and custom-designed play elements. The project broke ground in early September and it’s nearly complete. Watching the men at work has been fun for the kids, though I’m sure they miss having access to the playground. The space looks beautiful and very inviting.
Expanded view of home-made playground
Teacher and kid made natural playground slide
The second program is a small private preschool and kindergarten that has a good sized outdoor play area set up with traditional playground equipment near the school building and then flat, wooded grounds that extend further back. Slowly, guided by the vision of the directress and the labor of teachers and parent volunteers, this traditional set up is morphing into a natural playground. Some of the old, traditional playground equipment has been moved and transformed. The swing set has been broken up and individual swings hang from tree branches. Dirt was piled up in one area to create a small hill and the old slide sits on top. The donation of a large plastic conduit of some sort enabled the teachers to create a tunnel that now goes through that hill. The project began last May and still has a long way to go, but the children are clearly enjoying the new space and it has already changed the way they use the playground.
The first approach is obviously well planned, while the second is continually evolving, shaped by donations and the input of the children as they use the new space. I’m curious to see how the children and staff will use each over time.
I love the idea of a playground conceived by the imagination of the teachers, built by hands of the community and further shaped by the children in the way that they use it. But one playground designer I spoke with commented to me that in his experience, programs who hire someone to create the design, but plan to do the work themselves rarely complete the project, and more often than not, don’t get far beyond creating a traditional playground.
Do you have experience with natural playgrounds? How did yours come to be? I’m curious to hear the experiences of others.
Follow the development of these playgrounds here:
Watching 2 Natural Playgrounds Part II
Watching 2 Natural Playgrounds Part III
Filed under: Health, Importance of Play, Preschool, School Tagged: | Early Childhood, Importance of Play, sensory experiences
What a great idea comparing a professional designed natural playground and a volunteer/ staff planned and built playground. I have been toying around with the question when and where professional design is a good idea and when it is not. My firm LandCurrent designs natural play environments so I am certainly not against professional involvement and I do see that professional input helps schools and daycare centers to envision the grounds beyond what they could imagine themselves. It also helps them literally to make things fit. On the other hand I also love the idea of a slowly evolving natural play setting designed by staff and kids. That is why LandCurrent also offers a slide lecture where we show “Do It Yourself” ideas along side an overview of the benefits of Nature Play. I am very interested in knowing more about the two playgrounds you are comparing. Where are they located, what are the budgets etc. and maybe you can also post some photos of these two natural play environments.
Both of these play environments are in New Hampshire. I am only peripherally involved with both schools and don’t have access to budget information. Stay tuned for photos.
Thanks for the photos, it would be great if you can keep following these two playgrounds and see if one holds up better then the other and if one seems to be liked or used better then he other.
I will absolutely do that. Check in periodically for new posts!
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