We don’t always have the option of scrapping an existing playground and starting from scratch. With budget, time and space restraints it can be difficult to work within the confines we are given. Natural playgrounds are all the rage because they have so many benefits. There are ways to easily add natural playground elements to an existing playground, whether it’s at home or at a school or church.

Climbing Wall
Making a climbing wall CAN be relatively easy and inexpensive. You can purchase the climbing holds on Amazon and and depending on the kind of wall you want to build, you’ll need lumber to build the actual structure. I found a pretty good tutorial online and you may have to adjust it based on age of the children using the equipment and available space.

 

You may not want your wall as steep or perhaps you want a tent-like structure underneath the climbing wall. This tutorial is probably for someone with some basic carpentry skills, but you can also check out Pinterest for some ideas that might not be so complex.

 

Outdoor Kitchen/Mud Kitchen
The outdoor or mud kitchen is probably one of my favorite elements in a natural playground. If I were designing my very own natural playground, it would be a must-have. They are pretty easy to design and assemble, even without directions and you can add all kinds of neat features to them, like a sink, large work spaces, pots and pans, tools to plant and transplant — all kinds of things. It’s limitless!!! I plan on making one of these for our playground at preschool, and I will post that project as soon as possible.

 

Tree Bark Slices
There are a variety of things you can use tree bark slices for. If you use larger slices, you can use them to make a trail or a path that leads to another activity. With small tree bark slices you can make fun, larger versions of games like checkers and tic-tac-toe.

We’ll be posting a lot more on natural playgrounds and items to make and build for your own natural playground. In the meantime, enjoy your planning and designing!