Outdoor Play Spaces

The early stages of this year's mud pit development

I'm always looking for activities that will capture the interest of my girls and allow them to explore and investigate nature at the same time. This is our second year designing a mud play area into the yard, and without a doubt it will be a permanent fixture for years to come. As you can see, the garden area is fairly spread out, or maybe it just feels that way because I have a three year old?

The girls' play space is in the center of our garden area.

As this photo demonstrates, she is enthusiastic, energetic and totally in the throes of three :)

Welcome to my mud kitchen!

Throughout the summer, the girls never seem to get tired of the mud play. We include buckets, shovels, sand toys and any random things that catch their interest such as pine ones and rocks. They make mud pies, fancy restaurant meals, develop games, and capture insects and toads. It entertains them after they lose interest in weeding and picking vegetables, exercises their imaginative muscles and gets them in touch (literally) with nature. Win, win, win!!

Interested in other excellent outdoor play spaces? This is an excellent resource for outdoor play ideas. I love this link on the importance and challenge of undirected outdoor play. What have you been doing outside lately? I'd love to hear your successes!