Children's gardens, natural play areas

A&J

We are in the process of doing a complete overhaul on a large part of our wild yard. We are thinking ahead to how to best use this portion of our yard. Anyway, do any of you have a garden area just for your kids or maybe something fun or neat that you've created for them that they really enjoy? I'm all for a swing set, slide and all of that good stuff, but I think kids really enjoy dirt, rocks, plants, bugs, etc. So, I'm trying to get ideas and inspiration.

K&H

My guess is that hunting through waldorf play and education outdoor space, etc, websites would give you ideas. Try magiccabin.com as a start, there are some cute wooded space/fairy play things that might inspire you!

Shanny

I have 3 areas in my yard that have been in different states of improvement over the last 18 months and are pretty much just beds with rocks and dirt and a few plants in certain spots. I kept one of them specifically for Kate and her cousin to dig in. And they have - a few times. Part of that is personality - Kate isn't a huge fan of just digging in the dirt to have fun (yes, I know where she gets it from). But also as she has gotten older that has had less appeal and she needs more of a purpose in her "gardening". She enjoyed the work of trying to help me rid the beds of rocks but even that only lasted so long before she got bored. Within the next year one spot will be turned in to a place for wildflowers while the other 2 will be for growing fruits and vegetables. Is that something you would be interested in? Obviously the benefits are endless but if it isn't something you have an interest in working on with her it probably won't be very beneficial. You could do herbs or flowers as well. Friends of mine also had their landscaping company put a small hill in their very flat yard, with a small wall built in it. Hard to explain but the kids love it and have found all kinds of use for it! At Kate's old Montessori school they used the landscape in very creative ways for the playgroung like using a hill as the steps to a slide versus putting in actual steps. maybe google using words like organic, natural and montessori to try and see photos of ideas? Also, I think a nice wooden play house would be great if you have the option, room, money etc.

mommylove

We just put in a sand pit (covered so that the neighborhood cats don't use it as a litter box). Sebastian loves it! He also has a kiddie pool (for summer) and a specific area where all of his outdoor toys, etc. are kept. We are planning to build a small sun roof type thing over that kids play area this coming spring so that it will be sheltered for play in all weather conditions. In that same corner we have a flower bed that now has more hardy plants in it so that he can dig and play around them as well...he'll have a ball planting a mini herb/veggie garden there in spring that he can water and eventually harvest on his own. He has all of his own miniature garden tools and a hose in that area, so it really is his own garden...we've even decorated it with rocks that we painted by hand. So fun! I look forward to many more creative ways to spruce it up as time goes on. :-)

While more "traditional" kids outdoor spaces may include swing sets and slides, I also believe kids often prefer to mimick our activities such as gardening and would much rather a place they can "work" in. We do also plan to add a little play house next summer sometime. As you know, Sebastian attends a Waldorf school for a Mommy and me program and much of the inspiration for his garden and outdoor space came from the school yard. I like K&H's idea of researching ideas through that method.

charcoaleyes

We have a small backyard since we live in a big city, but we have some "natural" areas for Max. We have three little garden areas. One has fruit. One has vegetables. And, one has flowers that Max picked out. He helps us water the plants with his little watering can. He digs in the dirt, sometimes (he hates having dirtiness on his hands). We have also "decorated" the flower area with pink flamingos and old bath toys (read ones that are too gross for the bath). Max picks the vegetables and fruits and shows everyone his flowers. He loves to rearrange the old toys. Its is really simple, but it works. His favorite thing is to help us and he can do that with what we have. My only word of caution is, if you have a "more wild" area, be aware of all the plants that grow there. We have a small area that is not planted, and Max found the one poisonous plant there. Had no idea our urban backyard would have such a plant.

A&J

Thanks everyone. Everyone's comments and suggestions were right on for what we have started and the direction we are hopefully headed in. I'm looking forward to these ongoing projects!

K&H

I'm reading a book right now that has a whole chapter devoted to creating a natural outdoor play space for kids. It's called Heaven on Earth, by Sharifa Oppenheimer.
Might be just what you're looking for!

old mama

I agree with the sandbox area(and covered) my kids spent hours in ours. We made it large with built in tiny seating...my kids also loved an areas of the yard that was "their" garden...we mostly did flowers. They dug it up and planted and cared for the flowers themselves. It was always a highlight of the spring...until they were teens and no longer interested.