Let's Go Out and Play

May 9, 2010
Let’s Go Out and Play

Any season creates a wonderful opportunity for parents, grandparents, caregivers, and preschool teachers to make sure children have time to go outside and engage in nature play.

What do you remember about your childhood nature play? Most adults of my generation fondly recall playing outdoors in natural settings. Building tree houses; catching frogs and fireflies; splashing in creeks; digging holes; or just daydreaming in a special hiding place, were common activities.

These activities are all nature play: unstructured play in “wild” areas, whether it’s part of your backyard, the local neighborhood park, or the woods at the end of the street. At its very best, nature play isn’t scheduled, planned, or confined by grown-ups’ rules. It is spontaneous, open-ended exploration and recreation. For many of us, this sort of nature play virtually defined our childhoods.

The right kind of places:
Little patches of nature that are readily available to kids and that are not tightly controlled or restricted. No great natural preserves are needed, just small places where kids can still dig holes, collect specimens, climb trees, and skip rocks. Ideally these should be places, reachable by walking or biking, where children can truly play with nature, not just in it.

The right kind of activities:
Unplanned, free-form, creative play in natural settings — play that kids make up as they go, and that engages them directly with nature. As parents and care givers safety is very important. Ideally, the adult role should be that of lifeguard rather than supervisor. Life guarding (interfering only if safety is involved) is the best way to supervise all play.

The right kind of frequency:
This is the most difficult aspect to achieve. Historically, children’s outside play was almost a daily occurrence. Kids would come home from school, grab a snack, and go outside to play. On Saturdays they’d go out in the morning, and return home when its time for dinner.

These three aspects set a very high bar for nature play — one that may not be realistic for some kids, it is, however, vital to recognize its importance. My hope is that parents are up to the challenge and begin identifying and designing child activities that simultaneously reflect all three aspects of nature play. Amidst the pressures and restrictions of modern childhood, this will not be easy — but our children will be the better for it.

Here are a few easy, low-cost “kidscaping” suggestions that could fit in most backyards:



Rough Ground:
Choose a corner or out-of-the-way area in your backyard, stop mowing and let it grow tall to create a little patch of wild. Interesting new plants will soon “move in” followed by expanded variety of bugs, beetles, earthworms, fireflies, toads, and crickets. All of these are time tested child delights — not to mention the new flowers and seed pods that will also appear.

Digging Pit:
This area can be a portion of, or an addition to, your rough ground. This is simply an area of 5-10 square feet that you strip of vegetation. Simply loosen up the dirt and mix in some sand to help it drain better. Kids love to dig. By adding some water by bucket or hose, the magic of mud is added to the mix.


Other backyard elements that kids love to experience are: Rocks, boulders, logs, and, stepping stones. Suggested tools and toys: Insect net, bug house, firefly jar, magnifying glass, binoculars, lots of different types of shovels buckets/containers, and access to water.

Thanks to Ken Finch, the President/Founder of Green Hearts Institute for Nature in Childhood, www.greenheartsinc.org, for providing information on nature play.
Article written by Jay Ritchie.