Need some natural playground ideas? Natural play spaces are all the rage right now, with good reason. So many benefits to having one! Wanting to create a fun area in your yard that will keep your kids outdoors all summer? Me too!  Here’s some ideas I’m loving for creating outdoor play spaces on the cheap!

1. Shop your own backyard for natural materials like branches, logs and rocks.

You could create a no-sew teepee with fallen branches. I wonder if you could
do this with strips of plastic tablecloths from the dollar store?

Create opportunities for storytelling by leaving toys like dinosaurs, farm animals, trucks or even fairies in your landscape for your kids to discover. This is an awesome way to use what you have in a new way!

The only thing missing is a sign that says “Never-Never Land.”

2. Take advantage of yard sale finds.

Watch yard sales for xylophones you can take apart to create an outdoor music garden for your outdoor playscapes.

How fun is this old boat-turned sand box?

You know those old salad bowls you see at yard sales and thrift stores? Turn them into toadstools!

Watch for old pots, pants, spoons and sinks to create a mud kitchen.

3. Give them opportunities to get creative in their outdoor space.

Kids get bored with toys. Give them opportunities to create and the landscape changes daily.

This paint-free activity lets them create pictures with water on framed slate.

Ditch the coloring books! Use sticks or even landscaping materials to create large scale
pictures that they can “color” with leaves, flowers and more.

4. Just add water!

You don’t need fancy toys or playground equipment. Water will keep em’ busy for hours.

Mount a gutter on your fence for a fun place to float boats.

Recycle bottles for a fun water wall.

5. Provide the materials and let them build their own space.

Half the fun of a natural playground is imagining what could be so let them take the lead!

Collect wood, stones and building materials and let their imaginations run wild. There are so many ways to create a space that will keep your kids busy all summer and can change as often as you and the kids need.

6. Plant herbs and other plants with vivid colors or soft textures for a sensory garden.

You can always have fun growing herbs with the kids as a project in itself. Starting with seeds is always cheaper — nurturing and watching them grow is a great experience for kids.

7. Create a place for sensory play.

Sensory play is THE MOST FUN and relatively cheap to make. If you’re looking for natural playground ideas, this one is a must-have! Take any shallow plastic bin and fill it with water (add food coloring to add a little more fun!). Use cups, colanders, scoops, little plastic sea creatures, bugs. You can switch out whatever is in your sensory bin so it never gets old. Click here for more ideas for sensory bins. You can also create a sensory garden or sensory path with a little time and effort.

 

8. Sensory bottles

Sensory bottles are great because you’re repurposing water bottles and sensory bottles are portable, so they can easy be used indoors or outside. My preschool friends got creative and use them in the chain link fence that surrounds the playground.

Have you created your own outdoor playscape? Do you have any natural playground ideas? Tell us about it!