How To Create a Natural Playground at Home

What is a Natural Playground?

Naturalized or natural playgrounds look vastly different from one to the next. However, they all have key characteristics that make them "naturalized."

Bespoke Design in Natural Playgrounds

No two yards are identical. Naturalized playgrounds are bespoke, each designed for its own unique yard. They might highlight a hill, making use of large rocks, weave around a garden, or even build up into tall trees.

If you're considering building a new natural play area, start by observing your yard and the features that make it unique.

Multisensory Experiences in Natural Playgrounds

Natural play areas aren't just a place to run off a case of the wiggles. They are designed to stimulate the senses to teach and challenge kids while they play.

A naturalized playground should offer a wide range of sensory opportunities and experiences. Leaning into the environment, you might build a play space into a fragrant flowerbed, mirror the colors in your yard, or hang wooden wind chimes.

Multipurpose & Evolving Natural Playgrounds

Kids change their interests by the minute. Naturalized playgrounds are more likely to grow with children when they are built with a broad sense of opportunity. For example, a swath of curved, sloped concrete could be used as a canvas for chalking, a skateboarding ramp, or a place to sit and relax on any given day. As children become teenagers, playgrounds can evolve into space to practice a curveball or serve as an outdoor gym.

Risky Opportunities in Natural Playgrounds

As a parent, risk may be the last thing you want to build into your kid's playground. But, children will take risks with or without your blessing. Why not create safe opportunities for them to take risks?  Ropes courses, swinging bridges, and climbing walls are all excellent challenges to overcome at any age. Spongy moss planted underneath is also a fantastic, natural way to soften accidental tumbles.

Why Should I Build a Natural Playground at Home?

If you're thinking about building a playground, chances are you have an active kiddo. Naturalized playgrounds use environmental features like a down log or a grassy hill to encourage children to move. While it might not feel like exercise, all that careful balancing on log rails and climbing over hills can be quite a workout. Multisensory physical play will likely leave your kids worn out and ready for a good night's sleep.

Free, unstructured play is also an excellent opportunity to let the imagination run wild, and kids have a lot of ideas. Through creative expression and trial and error, children will learn about themselves, the world, and develop valuable personal responsibility.

But natural play areas are far more than just playgrounds. They're built to showcase your yard's natural beauty and may even cut down on regular yard maintenance.

Many homeowners try to hide unsightly features like protruding rocks and lumpy hills. Naturalized playgrounds embrace those features and build them into the landscape. Instead, those rocks become a jungle gym and that hill, a secret hideout.

To decrease regular yard maintenance, you might even plant a self-serving groundcover, like clover, and leave grass and wildflowers long to increase sensory play.

How Big Does My Natural Playground Need to Be?

Your natural play area can take up a small corner of your yard, or the whole thing. It's up to you! Spend some time looking at your yard. Walk around different features and look at it from all angles. Pay attention to where your kids play now and what kinds of activities they enjoy.

As you observe, you should begin to see your new naturalized playground take shape. And, remember, a natural play area is meant to fit into your yard. It absolutely can wind around your garden, incorporate the patio, and even gradually transition to open space bordering your property line.

Ideas for Building Your Own Natural Playground

There is no right or wrong way to build a naturalized playground. Let your natural landscape, your materials, and your kids guide its design and layout. Below are just a few ideas to get your creative wheels spinning.

Play into Your Kid's Interests in your Natural Playground

The beauty of a naturalized playground is each one is built for the kids who will use it. Each child has their own way of playing and things that interest them. In fact, there are 15 different kinds of play, ranging from quiet and inquisitive to loud and active. What do your kids enjoy?

Don't forget to look around your sheds, outbuildings, attic, basement, and garage for hidden treasures like these:

• Tires can be reused as swings, climbing towers, and pieces to an obstacle course.
• Rowboats and canoes that are no longer water-safe make great sandboxes and play gardens.
• Pipe pieces from past home improvement projects can be used as tunnels or portal windows.
• Metal and plastic containers from the recycling bin can be used as mud buckets, noisemakers, and organization bins.
• Down logs and stumps make excellent teeter-totters, chairs, rails, and climbing equipment.
• Old furniture such as entertainment centers, tables, and desks can be reclaimed and transformed into mud kitchens, workbenches, and potting stations.
• Rope can be used for climbing, pulleys, handles, ladders, and railings. If you plan to repurpose rope, be sure each length is strong and durable and plan to inspect it for safety often.

Of course, if you'd rather buy ready-made natural play equipment, there are dozens of options for all ages. Nature's Instruments, the Natural Playground Company, and White Hutchinson all have naturalized playground equipment available for purchase.

Tips and Tricks for Lasting Use as Children Mature

It may be hard to imagine it now, but your little one will eventually grow up, and the way he plays will change. Unstructured playgrounds facilitate free play, regardless of age and are more likely to mature with your child.

Naturalized playgrounds also leave room for adding new features to challenge growing minds. For example, today's mud kitchen might evolve into a chemist station down the line.