A Playscape for All Seasons

Otherwise titled, "Why We LOVE our Playscape so much"!!

In the SPRING of last year we got to reap the benefit of our hard work the previous nine months and frolic on grass so green under lilacs so purple.  The kids found so many interesting and unexpected ways to use the willows and the gardens.  Flower hunts were a daily activity, to see what was growing and which ones smelled the best.  Mint from the herb garden was gathered along with lemon balm and lavendar for sun tea or just for smelling.

We successfully disturbed the rest of many a bug under many a rock.

The garden roared full tilt into production, and kids took an immediate liking to strawberry hill.















SUMMERTIME had us all trying to keep cool with lots of water play and shady spots.  Lucky for us, our backyard is shaded a lot of the time during the summer months!

When fall came, the newest addition to the playground was finally complete and ready to be explored.    

The boulders and logs have by far been one of the kids favorite additions.......they make great climbing objects!!

They are also used for contemplation,

Gaining a new perspective,

General gathering and conspiring, 

Obstacle courses, 

Taking turns getting off your stump and letting someone else have a turn, 

Sharing a favorite spot with a friend, 

Or just a comfy place to sit.

Yes, fall was good to us.  WINTER on the other hand was at times challenging given our unusual and sometimes crazy weather.  But we found lots of fun still to be had out in the playscape.  

The willow hut, it turns out, makes an excellent place to run through and through in an endless game of chase.  All you need is a buddy!

The art area is fully operational, no matter the weather!  

We kept the sensory tables up and running all winter with leaves, sticks, rocks and various stirring/measuring devices.  Elm Tree kids enjoyed carrying materials back and forth from sandbox, pea gravel and sensory tables (or wherever they got tired of carrying it).

 It never fails to impress me how quickly and dramatically I have seen the playscape affect the WAY the children play.  

There is more social and interactive play, the children seem more interested in being outside than anywhere else and engage in play and discovery the whole time.  

The direct interaction with natural materials, usually in a meaningful and joyful manner, has literally skyrocketed.  

Children seem to not only be connecting with nature more as a result of playing in a natural environment, they seem happier and better overall for it.  

Now if that doesn't sell you on the idea, I don't know what will!

Next Steps - Sound and Sensory Garden, Fundraising and More!!!!!

Enjoying the outdoor art area

The Art Area

Our project is nearing completion, though we still have a few key features to install.  Already the yard is looking quite fantastic!  The garden is really taking off and we look forward to getting to use our greenhouse this fall!  If anyone has ideas how to heat it using active or passive solar energy we could even manage to use it through the winter for year-round growing.

We also still need shelving and a drip irrigation system in the greenhouse.  We'd like to get these items second-hand if possible the reduce the overall cost.  Let us know if you have any leads on where to get these last few things!

Tomatoes are ripening

An inviting path

The pumpkins are happy and getting huge!!

Strawberry Hill is cascading into the walkway

Beans galore!!!

Ripe with potential

The next phase will be digging up our pea gravel river and making a hill complete with slide.  We have lined up a fantastic bobcat operator, a grandfather of one of our little ones, who has volunteered his services for a day.  We're also speaking with a local landscaper who is possibly interested in helping us once the excavating has been done.  The slide is probably the most expensive element of this entire project, outdoor play equipment is quite expensive but for safety reasons, it's probably best to purchase this one new.  They cost around $900 to get the size and style that we need!

Checking out one of the new murals!

The layout of the remaining projects will probably look something like this:
Day 1:  Dig up the pea gravel area and make the river, hill and place boulders.
Day 2:  Using clay mixed with a binder, make a circular patio for our group area and install the benches and redwood bridge
Day 3: Put in sprinkler system, lay sod and stepping stones, plant herbs, flowers, grasses and groundcovers
Day 4: Put in the musical instruments and sound installations
Day 5: Create the circular cob structure for our resting area

All of these elements will also come with a price tag.  We've have nearly depleted the playscape funds from the fundraiser we held in April, putting in the garden and building the greenhouse took the majority of the funds with the mosaics using up the rest.

The water play area

Now we have to think of one final way to raise funds for our remaining projects.  Since we have some volunteer help promised and materials that we've already purchased such as the redwood bridge and boulders, we believe that between $2000-$2500 would be all we need to finish this!  Anyone interested in donating funds or materials or volunteer their help please contact us, we won't say no to anyone!  Also, we'd love some creative input for ideas on ways to raise these funds.

Some ideas we've had include:

1) Holding an art show in our backyard and inviting the community to see what we've done and what we plan to do.  Many of our teachers and staff members are artists, and some of our parents too!  Maybe we could collaborate and hold a fun joint artist's show!

2) A carnival or fair in our backyard, this would require a lot of volunteer help, but could be a lot of fun to have games, bouncy castle, face-painting, etc.

3) Yard sale - we typically do hold a yard sale in late August or early September, but this year we don't have as many donations as usual and wonder if the interest in this is waning or if enough people are interested in donating items and helping set this up, it could be exactly what we need to finish.

4) Seeking donations from funds or businesses who support this type of project.  This is made more difficult by the fact that we are not a non-profit, but not impossible.

5) Ask local bands if they would be willing to come play a couple of songs and set up another music-type fundraiser, maybe with grown-up music this time...

Other ideas are welcomed too, and anyone interested in helping with one or more of these please contact Sarah so we can start planning and dreaming!

Willows are leafing out

Soon to be our dirt-digging area, already the kids have started making that happen though!

Everything is looking so beautiful!

Greenhouse and Garden Project continues....

Roughly-framed in

Looking more solid! 

The greenhouse was a bigger-than-anticipated project but it is now nearing completion.  We are using reclaimed lumber, and recycled RTD bus shelter plexiglass to build a small (7 X7) greenhouse.  Perhaps next spring we can start from seed everything that we plan to grow!  We are very much looking forward to the extended growing season!

Once the outside of the greenhouse is finished we will still have much to do to prepare the inside.  Following is a list of elements needed to complete our greenhouse!

• Shelving - waterproof shelves, can be attached to the wood frame of the greenhouse (metal or coated metal would be best)
• Cabinets - a corner and short (4-5ft) section of counter top and cabinets for planting on and storing our supplies and some overhead cabinets would be good to have as well
• Children's planting table - toddler sized and roughly 2ft X 3ft, best if the surface is resistant to water
• Rain-water collection system (barrel, hoses, spout, etc)
• Drip irrigation supplies
• Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer

Many Thanks to Jeremy for
his help building the greenhouse!

It looks really neat inside with the sanded
plexiglass against the blue sky

So close!  Just a few more days and we'll have a
completed garden for the children to explore!

Family Gardening Party

Now here we had this great patch of land with so much potential, time to start from the ground up! 

To get things going, we had a new fence installed with two gates instead of ust one and a much larger footprint!  Then we set about prepping the bare ground to become a beautiful children's garden.  We dug up sod and clods of mud, redirected many a worm into the new garden space. 
We also started on the soon-to-be greenhouse.  (more about that later!!!)

While the greenhouse stood at a roughly framed-in-state, we were able to get several beds installed and filled with dirt.  The weather told us it was time to get the garden going, ready or not! 

On family gardening day, we planted "strawberry hill", where kids get to explore the ups and downs of the path through the many strawberry plants!

We have a crop of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons and strawberries all started thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers! 

Thanks to our many KID volunteers as well!

The fellowship and a shared meal afterwards was lovely!