Natural Playspaces

Lately, I've been really interested in natural playspaces.  The Let the Children Play blog sums it up best: "When given the opportunity, children choose, and enjoy playing in natural environments and/or with natural elements.  They do so because of the overwhelming play potential of such spaces." Basically kids don't need a fancy swing set, club house, etc. For example when I took my kids to Candy Cane Park last week, instead of playing on the dinosaur slide, etc., the girls and their two guy friends spent all their time playing under some large fir trees. They climbed branches, swept dirt, and gathered sticks. 

I've been thinking about how I can add elements in our yard to make it more inviting for the kids. I decided to place a leftover piece of wood over the previous owner's not-quite finished pond for the girls to walk across. This ultra simple "bridge" has been a hit with the girls and all child visitors. I told Neil we should plant a bunch of flowers in the area under the bridge. Neil thought we should plant a bunch of cactus plants to make things more interesting.

A hammock was added in the same general location as the bridge. This hammock is amazingly comfortable. I added streamers to the lower tree branches. I can't tell if they are whimsical or trashy. Recently one of my friends saw them and asked if we had been toilet papered. The girls like them and I am too lazy to take them down.

Braving the tree limbs, Neil added a wooden swing to the tree just outside our sliding doors. No kid goes outside without trying it out.....some are more successful than others.

Neil dug a fire pit in the northwest corner of the yard. We were going to cement some rocks around it, but after a friend started piling them up, we figured we didn't need any cement.

Obviously, the girls love it!