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Here are five simple projects to start you on your waytoward a multi-sensory natural playscape. They’re notdifficult or complex. They just take a little bit ofcreativity and time. Alter them to suit your own needsand licensing requirements. Do you have any parentswho could help you? Spirited staff? Don’t forget toinclude children in the process.

1. Sunflower House — This project is about plantingsunflowers in a square, circle, or any other shape you’dlike, to create a living playhouse for hiding and hangingout. A true ‘living’ room. Beautiful! You can use plantsother than sunflowers, of course. Rows of corn wouldmake a nice set of walls, too. If this year’s sunflowerexperiment works out well and the children love it, youcould create a permanent living room by planting treesor shrubs in the same layout. An apple tree houseperhaps?

2. Willow Dome — Here’s a permanent ‘living’ room,made from willow. Willow structures have been grownfor centuries all over the world. They are remarkablyeasy and rewarding to plant; I can’t think of a betterthing to put on a playscape or backyard. The trick is toplant it in WINTER so that when spring rolls around thewillow will start sprouting new roots and leaves. As yourWillow Dome grows, take cuttings and plant anotherdome, tunnel, chair, or fence. Wow!

3. Mow a Meadow Maze — This project may be theeasiest of all. The biggest step: do nothing. Let your lawngrow. Think about this: your lawn has a beautiful life

cycle that gets chopped short every time it gets mowed.Now you have a chance to not only celebrate the lifeof your lawn, but also create a fun, natural play spacefor your children in the process. With your very ownlawnmower as a creative tool, you can carve out a maze,playhouse, village, or zigzaggy paths. You may even wantto plant wildflowers or add native plants and grasses.Plants will grow, flowers will bloom, wildlife will appear,and children will play and learn about the natural worldin an exciting new environment.

4. Plant Some Bulbs — Planting bulbs is a strange andmysterious experience, especially for children. It soundscrazy, but you take muddy onion/potato-looking thingsand stick them in the ground at the end of the growingseason. Then you wait or forget about them and hunkerdown for winter. Tick tock tick tock, spring comes alongand so does a pleasant surprise. Green shoots push outof the ground and then, before you know it: flowers! Be sure to plant the bulbs in strategic, fun ways that act as colorful accents to your playscape features andpathways.

5. Boom Drums — This project is a bit more nuts-and–boltsy, but not too bad. And the results are boom-ing! Take a few plastic barrels. Wash them. Trim them towhatever size you want (experiment with size andsound) and mount legs to the bottoms (or not — theywill still sound interesting). You could also mount thempermanently in the ground or bolt them to a fence. Oryou could build a wooden stage and attach them aspermanent features. Boom boom.

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Willow Hut

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Fun with Flower Bulbs

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