My children adore a heritage preserve located a half-hour away from our home. The journey includes a winding drive followed by a challenging descent down a steep, slippery hillside. Eventually, we arrive at a clearing featuring a modest waterfall, a small creek, logs, rocks, and a sandstone wall brimming with tube worm fossils. The moment my kids spot the waterfall, they erupt with joy, and I settle down under the shade of a tree for a good couple of hours while they explore.
They dash around, leap over obstacles, shout with delight, dig for acorns, float objects in the creek, and examine pebbles. They climb the rocks—carefully checking for snakes first—and hunt for crawfish and minnows, though they rarely find any. By the time we make our way back home, we’re all muddy, tired, and gulping water from our Nalgenes.
This heritage preserve is the only place resembling a natural playground in our entire state, and it’s no surprise that my kids are enchanted by it.
According to PDX Parent, a natural playground swaps out the traditional metal and plastic play equipment for “sticks, stones, water, sand, logs, and stumps.” These playgrounds have long been a hit in Europe and are now emerging across the United States. Although it’s hard to quantify how many natural playgrounds exist nationwide, the trend is clearly on the rise.
Playtime often looks like this: USA Today describes a 4-year-old named Mia who fills a bucket with sand, mixes in some water from a nearby spigot, and adds wood chips, exclaiming, “I’m making soup!”
My children love digging in dirt with sticks and attempting to scale trees. They make mud and use it as paint. They would fit right in with the kids surveyed by Natural Playgrounds, where the top outdoor activity was “Being Quiet,” which included drawing and stick carving. The second favorite was “Building/Inventing Things,” which encompassed constructing forts, treehouses, and other creative projects. “Climbing” followed closely, featuring climbing trees and rocks. Exploring, digging, and water play also scored high, while not a single child mentioned monkey bars or swings.
This absence suggests that traditional playground equipment simply doesn’t cut it. According to the Child Care Information Exchange, children thrive on constructive play—activities that involve manipulating materials to create something new. This includes making mud pies, digging, collecting rocks, and building forts. Such play is essential for developing critical cognitive skills and producing flexible problem-solvers, yet it’s often the least available type of play in conventional playgrounds.
Experts mentioned by USA Today highlight that children cultivate creativity and independence when they interact with loose materials found in nature. In essence, outdoor play in natural environments is crucial for healthy brain development.
Research from Nature Play WA indicates that natural playgrounds offer more opportunities for kids to enhance their gross-motor skills than traditional swing-and-slide parks. Furthermore, studies from the University of Washington have linked nature exposure to various health benefits for children, including improved cognitive function, heightened creativity, better adult interactions, reduced ADHD symptoms, and lower aggression levels.
Nature Play WA also notes additional advantages of outdoor play. Kids who spend more time outside are less prone to sickness, depression, and anxiety. They tend to exhibit better behavior, engage in more physical activity, and share positive feelings with their peers, leading to decreased bullying.
Clearly, it’s beneficial for children to spend as much time outdoors as possible.
However, some critics exist. A senior landscape architect from Seattle Parks and Recreation voiced that sand piles and gentle hills might not be sufficient for children’s play needs. He noted that some parents prefer traditional play structures. Joe Hart, a retired education professor and member of the International Playground Equipment Manufacturers Association, argues that certain physical skills are best acquired through built equipment rather than natural materials, suggesting a need for climbing structures. While I understand the allure of traditional playgrounds, nature provides countless opportunities for climbing—like trees!
Natural playgrounds extend the advantages of nature-based play to urban areas and schoolyards, eliminating the need for families to trek to distant parks. However, many are making the journey. Westmoreland Park in Portland has transformed into a popular destination for families seeking a unique park experience. These playgrounds are not only enjoyable and beneficial but also maintain comparable costs to traditional parks.
In short, natural playgrounds are fantastic for families, and we certainly need more of them.
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Summary
Natural playgrounds are emerging as vital spaces for children’s development, offering unique opportunities for creative and constructive play. With numerous benefits for physical and mental health, these natural spaces provide an enriching alternative to traditional playgrounds. Families crave more accessible natural play areas, making the case for expanding these environments.