Why Nature Play?
build
creativity, imagination, and problem solving
Poster--Check out Wilder Child's Nature Play poster!
Why Temporary or Mobile Play Spaces?
Nature Play Days, community programming, parties, after
school events
Podcast Episode: Find it here!
Tips:
Define
spaces and materials as needed.
Consider
the affordances of your space. How can you use this optimally?
Invitations
should not be limitations of children’s play, but rather starting points. Keep
it open ended.
Use
bags, totes, baskets or crates to make it portable/grab and go.
Have
a few “floater” volunteers/staff for supervision.
Review
playwork principles for how adults might interact during play sessions.
Consider
ages and stages, though nature play allows for developmentally appropriate
experiences.
Have
a question or sign describing what might happen in the space, if not apparent.
Cultivate
a variety of approaches to nature play to meet the needs of many participants.
Consider
setting up a temporary outdoor classroom with spaces for art, movement,
building, etc.
Use
folding tables (shorter if for young children) as needed for workspaces.
Bienenstock Play—Logs,
soil, hay bales, sticks, burlap, tree cookies, etc. Set up a temporary
adventure play spot.
Book Extensions—Use a variety of nature/loose
parts related books as a starting point for play. Suggestions: Not a Stick,
Leaf Man, Salad Pie, etc. See link below.
Dramatic Play—Bring a bag of scarves,
fabrics, feather boas, ribbons, costumes, and other dramatic play items outside
for storytelling and open-ended dramatic play.
Fairy and Gnome
Gardens—I keep a basket of “fairy” stuff we have made over time, though I
find most children just love creating their huts and such while in the woods.
We like making fairies and gnomes with clothespins, fabric, nature, etc. and
hot glue.
Fort Building—Use clamps, rope, bungee
cords, tarps, fabrics, sheets, etc. to make forts amongst the trees.
Mud Play/Mud Kitchen—Bring a crate full of cast
off dishes, pans, utensils, etc.
Music and Movement—Collect musical instruments,
ribbons, scarves, etc. in a basket for use outside.
Nature Art—Small to large frames, bring
a basket of nature/found objects or let participants scavenge for stuff. Use
examples such as Andy Goldsworthy, Marc Pouyet, Chelsey Bahe, Patrick
Dougherty, etc. Find books about this at Nature Art Inspiration.
Nature Exploration
Kit—Magnifying glasses, bug jars, nets, field guides, etc. Explore nature!
Natural Weaving—Lots of ways to do this!
Create cardboard and yarn frames, nature into frame on hike. Use large frames.
Use a portable outdoor weaving frame. Weave found objects in nature into these.
Obstacle Courses—Using an open space, bring
tubs/crates of cones, wooden planks, rope, expandable tunnels, tires, ladders,
pool noodles, hula hoops, etc. Add in
stumps, logs, mud patches, hay bales, and more. Allow participants to change up
the course to their hearts content. Honestly, they usually make it better than
I can create.
Painting in Nature—String
a clear shower curtain up between trees and paint surrounded by nature.
Pop-Up Adventure Play—Gather a variety of boxes,
fabrics, rope, duct tape, paint, recyclables and let participants create! See
link below.
Pulleys, Rope and
Buckets/Baskets—Drape a rope over a branch and/or attach a pulley to a tree
branch. Use a basket to transport items. Seriously, kids love this.
Ramps and Balls—Use
ramps (wood planks, gutters, PVC pipes cut in half, etc.), crates or stumps,
and a variety of balls and natural spheres, to explore physics.
Seed Dispersal—Cattails
and milkweed pods can be great fun to explore!
Scavenger Hunts—Participants
create their own, use Fundanas, or use printables.
Sticks and Pipecleaners—Bamboo poles or thinner tall branches work well,
build structures with pipecleaners, twine, and/or Sticklets.
Tools in Nature—Garden clippers, vegetable
peelers, microplaners tree cookies, branches. Teach safety explicitly. Have
direct supervision. Establish a small zone for this type of play, at least when
introducing.
Water Walls—Attach to existing chain
link fence, use funnels, water tubing, L and T connectors, zip ties, pipe cleaners,
recyclable plastics, pitchers, water, tools (scissors, hand drill, knife,
etc.)—create pathways for water exploration. Add scent and color to water as
desired.
Quote:
“Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water bugs,
tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns,
chestnuts, trees to climb. Brooks to wade, water lilies, woodchucks, bats,
bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pinecones, rocks to roll,
sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets. And any child who has been deprived of
these has been deprived of the best part of education.”
— Luther Burbank
(American horticulturalist and botanist, 1849 – 1926)
Additional Resources:
Tinkergarten activities: https://tinkergarten.com/activities
Interested in becoming a Tinkergarten leader? Find out more at: http://bit.ly/LoosePartsTG
Interested in becoming a Tinkergarten leader? Find out more at: http://bit.ly/LoosePartsTG
NaturePlay Poster: https://wilderchild.com/nature-play-poster/
http://www.playscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/Documents/playwork-principles.pdf
https://popupadventureplaygrounds.wordpress.com/welcome/free-resources/
Children’s Books for Outdoor Loose Parts Play https://naturalstart.org/sites/default/files/journal/9._loose_parts_book_reviews.pdf
52 Things to Do Outside Before You Grow Up: www.52thingsoutside.org
https://cdn-communityplaythings.azureedge.net/-/media/files/cpus/library/training-resources/booklets/wisdom-of-nature.pdf?d=20180819T175256Z
Books:
Balanced and Barefoot
by Angela Hanscom
Children’s Special Places by David Sobel
Deep Nature Play
by Joseph Bharat Cornell
Go Wild!: 101 Thingsto Do Outdoors Before You Grow Up by Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield
Learning is in Bloom:Cultivating Outdoor Explorations by Ruth Wilson
Loose Parts Books
1-3 by Lisa Daly and Miriam Beglosvky
Nature and Young Children: Encouraging Creative Play and Learning
Natural Environments by Ruth Wilson
Playing It Up with Loose Parts, Playpods, and Adventure Playgrounds
Joan Almon, Editor
Play the Forest SchoolWay by Jane Worroll and Peter Houghton
Seasons of Play: Natural Environments of Wonder by Rusty Keeler
