Natural play spaces...

On Pinterest I pinned a blog post from one of my favorite blogs and I have had SO many people repin it, that I thought I'd share it here with you. You know, in case you aren't on Pinterest! It's a series on creating natural play spaces outdoors. You can find it here. Now, I grew up in the country and so there wasn't really a need to "create" natural play spaces. I mean, we just went out our door and into the fields or the woods or the pig pen or whatever:) There was an abundance of sticks and rocks and fort making materials and trees to climb and stinging nettle to step on (man that stuff hurt!). Sam and Amelia don't have that. They do have access to beautiful mountains and Red Butte Gardens and great parks and have gone hiking and exploring more in their little lives than I ever did in my 26 years before having them! I'm thankful for that, so very thankful. However, we don't go to those places every day and I want home to have it's own places to explore. When we moved to this house their was literally one small shrub in the back yard and, I'm not kidding, they would sit back there by that shrub for hours looking at bugs and playing with their toy animals in it! That is when I began earnestly seeking out ideas on backyard play space ideas. Not a swing set (though those are great), but ideas on using natural materials to provide them things to build with, explore with, use their senses, etc.

Grandpa Jim came to the rescue and built them a great sandbox that they have spent many, many, many hours in. We also rescued some tree trunk pieces that were being thrown out and put them back there for seating, etc. I also make sure they have lots of digging tools their size and they have a fleet of construction vehicles gathered from yard sales to fill and dump and transport with, etc.

In the Summer they help Joel with the garden, which is wonderful, but I'm inspired to do more! This website, and others, have given me many ideas and I just need to put them in action. Mainly I'm thinking more tree stumps to jump off of, get an ivy tee pee going so they have a shady space, figure out how to organize loose materials for them to build and play with. Those are my starters.

One day, maybe we'll live in the country with them where they can live a more "free range" life:) Until then, we will keep enjoying the awesome outdoor experiences SLC does provide, and keep trying to make our little back yard a haven of it's own.

All for now, Jen