Both the classroom and the playground provide critical developmental opportunities for our preschoolers. We want to encourage and elevate playground design that provides a creative outdoor environment for learning and play.
Too often, traditional playgrounds are prefabricated play structures on rubber mats. Let’s re-imagine the traditional static play structure into something more innovative with imaginative uses. The entire yard could be a play-based learning environment designed to connect our preschoolers with nature and being outdoors, enhancing learning, creativity and adventure. Boulders and tree stumps to climb; learning science by doing science—exploring the life cycle of bugs and worms in the dirt; tree flowers becoming fruit; caterpillars evolving into butterflies; watching flowers attract those butterflies and hummingbirds; experiencing the scent and tastes of herbs and plants; planting seeds and nurturing them into plants and vegetables for snack time; touching and playing with diverse tactile textures like sand, water, mud, polished pebbles, rocks and dirt; elevating kids’ auditory senses with musical elements; creative building with boards, pipes, bricks, banana leaves and bamboo. Adventure is in the air! More than just a playground, we can create an integrated experiential environment for the senses; play-based learning that fosters young children’s physical and executive function development by extending indoor classroom activities into a dynamic, flexible outdoor play space.
Each play space includes a berm as a central element, which provides a raised area accessed by different ways of climbing: a gradual slope, steep stairs and scrambling over rocks and logs. The view from up top for our preschoolers is fabulous! Then down the slide. Surrounding the berm are play areas and even a tricycle path. Common design features may include a farmer’s pump, monkey bars, sand, mud and water play areas, more intimate individual play areas (such as a playhouse or fort or a tunnel or quiet area), rain water collection for our plants, music making elements, a group gathering area and lots of plants and textures. The play space is easily tailored so each preschool can develop their own unique environment that, like nature itself, is dynamic and always evolving and changing. Our play spaces are both ADA-compliant and inclusive. Green building techniques and permaculture principles are used in every aspect of the design.
The individual design elements are sized to be age-appropriate for preschoolers. Although risk assessment (such as falling heights or scrapes and bruises) should be carefully considered in the design to ensure a safe environment, we recognize risky play is crucial to the development of executive functioning in young children. Please visit the Resources page for more information on considering risk in playground design.
We look forward to helping more preschools create successful outdoor experiential environments that promote play based learning by integrating outdoor play, nature and adventure with the indoor classroom.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can assist you with creating your outdoor learning playground.
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