Natural Elements

wooden boards in the sandbox

Natural Elements are so easy to incorporate into daily play.  They’re all around us; rocks, stones, sticks, acorns, pinecones…  We’ve collected most of our items from our yard and neighbourhood.

a collection of assorted materials for the sandbox and outdoor kitchen

Fill a box of chocolates with stones for imaginary play and sorting

Because there isn’t a pre-established use or purpose like there is with is with a factory-made toy, kids are more creative, more inventive, more industrious when playing with bits and pieces of nature.

We’ve always embraced simple play here, but I don’t think I ever realized there was a name for it, or a real movement toward it.  I’d never heard of Reggio Emilia or the Waldorf-Steiner approach to learning.  I thought we were just having good-old-fashioned fun.

mud and bricks

Then, I was introduced to and fell in-love with these deliciously inspiring play-spaces that Jenny shared recently with her readers.  I could probably often sit and drool over them for hours.

little ones can learn to spell, or grab a piece of chalk and play hangman in the drive-way

I made my own domino stones, but my friend Joanne, over at Ordinary Normal makes and sells these.

beach rock tic-tc-toe

outdoor soup kitchen

I seriously fantasize about having a yard that I could convert into an outdoor classroom like Teacher Tom’s, with a studio that I could transform into a magical place of playing and learning.  I don’t think my hubby and my own two big Hooligans would appreciate me transforming our yard or home, so I’m dealing with that, and for now I’m just working on collecting and adding as many natural elements as I can into the space that I have.