Reclaiming Advent With Nature

The word “Advent” means “coming” or “arrival.” It is used in the Christian tradition to refer to the four Sundays before Christmas, when people prepare for the birth of the Christ child. However, this seasonal observance has been kept by people around the world from all paths and beliefs; as autumn gives way to winter, we prepare for the return of the sun, the lengthening of days, and for the insights that we can gain from reflection on the year that has been and what we hope to manifest for the future.  -Sarah Logan- City of Lakes Waldorf School

When I was a child we celebrated advent in the traditional Catholic way. My mother brought out the nativity, which seconded as my favorite childhood dollhouse. Next to the nativity went the handmade wreath made from evergreen branches in our backyard. We nestled four candles into the wreath meant to represent the 4 weeks before Christ’s birth. I always found this alter space to be a magic place. It was placed in a darker corner of the living room and was often lit by the Christmas tree lights.

My mother would hide the baby Jesus who would not be placed into his manger until the night of Christmas Eve. Each night of advent we would light one candle per week until all the candles would be lit by the 4^th week. My mother would read us a prayer and that was that. It was a lovely, simple ritual that brought meaning and painted a vivid picture for me of the celebration of darkness turning into light. 

As an adult my views have changed some, I don’t follow the same Catholic path I was raised with and now celebrate the advent season in a different way. I claimed the Winter Solstice as my neutral religious holiday.  I have found the basis beyond most winter holidays, no matter the religion, is the celebration of sunlight coming back to our cold, dark wintery earth. Our family has created our own ritual around Solstice and has also adopted Christmas as our gift giving and family holiday as well as Hanukkah, which we celebrate with Jewish friends. With so much celebration you would think that would be enough, but I continued to experience nostalgia for the simple beauty of the ritual of Advent. 

As an educator with a particular interest in alternative education models, I came across Waldorf Schools (early childhood through high school) and was very intrigued. “Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy. Its pedagogy strives to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical skills in an integrated and holistic manner. The cultivation of pupils' imagination and creativity is a central focus” (www. Wikipedia/waldorf.com).   

I have had many close friends graduate from Waldorf schools and have learned some about their experiences and philosophies. I got my biggest dose of information on this kind of schooling and movement by working in a Waldorf early childhood (Life Way’s) program. I did online courses while working there and immersed myself in the knowledge of mentors who had chosen the Waldorf path. In my studies I learned more about the rituals and celebrations of the school. I love the connection to nature , the four seasons and the focus on making our daily life work magical and important. I also love the Waldorf focus on seasonal celebrations and making each season important, beautiful and full of meaning.

One winter Solstice my family attended a winter celebration at the Waldorf schoolhouse where I worked. We walked through a spiral made of Evergreen branches ending with a burning candle in the middle of the spiral. On the path were objects of significance including bones, seashells, crystals, plants, animals made of clay and other beautiful objects. We were meant to walk the spiral quietly, one at a time with a candle. When we got to the middle of the spiral we were supposed to light our candle from the flame and then walk out of the spiral with our candles lit. It was a wondrous evening, full of warmth and meaning and left me with questions about all that I saw and did.  We went to the space without a guide so the whole thing felt mysterious and new. 

A year or so later, after leaving my position at the Waldorf school, I decided to research the way Solstice was celebrated in the Waldorf tradition. This led to my discovery of how advent was celebrated. “In Waldorf schools, for many years, children of all backgrounds have participated in the month-long observance of the rebirth of the light through songs, stories, craft activities, and the Winter Spiral festival. It is a way for children to experience quiet beauty in a season of busyness.”-Sarah Hogan. There was my childhood holiday steeped in Catholic tradition and belief laid out in a nature based fashion that included all the love of ritual my raised Catholic heart craved. Yes!

This is the prayer of advent in the Waldorf tradition:

 

“The first Light of Advent It is the Light of stones:
The Light that shines in seashells In crystals and our bones.
The second Light of Advent It is the Light of plants:
Plants that reach up to the sun And in the breezes dance.
The third Light of Advent, It is the light of beasts:
The Light of faith that we may see In greatest and in least.
The fourth Light of Advent It is the Light of humankind:
The Light of hope, of thoughts and deeds,
The Light of hand, heart and mind.” -Rudolph Steiner

“It is no accident that so many festivals are planned for these dark days. Celebrations of light, community, and sharing remind us to carry the gifts of summer with us into the quiet of winter. At the time of the longest night, we find joyful celebrations of returning light. The Jewish celebration of Hannukah, the remembrance of the rededication of the Temple and of the miracle of lamps whose oil should have lasted one day and lasted for eight, falls at this time of year. The Hindu festival of lights, Divali, has just passed. Many earth-based traditions honor the winter Solstice with special joy, lighting fires and candles and exchanging gifts.”

 -Sarah Logan- City of Lakes Waldorf School

We have been celebrating Advent this year the Waldorf way. I started in November making watercolor backgrounds and writing out the verses from the prayer above for each night of Advent. My daughter and I collected cedar boughs from a local park and decorated around our candelabra that always lives in the middle of our table.  We put out our good beeswax candle tapers. On the first week of advent I assembled shells from our past travels. I also displayed crystals and dried starfish for bones. Before dinner each night, we lit the candle and said the verse. During dinner we spend some time discussing our favorite mineral or plant or animal, dependent on what week we are on and then spend the rest of dinner chatting as we normally do. Our family altar has been focused on Saint Nicholas and Saint Lucia, two other holidays we like to celebrate*, but will also soon have our nativity scene. Baby Jesus will again be hidden until Christmas Day. Some rituals still live on. J It makes me happy to see my daughters play with the nativity characters with as much enthusiasm as I did.

I am still learning the whole significance of Advent and will have to read more as my new family tradition unfolds, but that is just what it is, an unfolding. I have relieved myself of the pressure of creating the perfect, most researched ritual that mimics exactly what I think a Waldorf celebration should look like. I am taking the things I do know and adding my own twist. I use my children’s input and love of story, ritual and celebration to infuse the way we do Advent and make it truly our own. 

I love to reclaim holidays and pass on the traditions to my dear children. How do you like to bring home the magic of celebrations in your life?  

 * Saint Lucia Day is a holiday celebrated most commonly in Sweden marking the beginning of the Christmas Season celebrated on December 13^th with a procession of girls with candle wreaths on their heads and boys with star crowns. My family celebrates by having a party where the children serve cookies and coffee and make wreaths and crowns, hear the legend of Saint Lucia and process around the backyard.

 * Saint Nicolas Day is the Czech Christmas on December 6^th. We celebrate by telling the story of Saint Nicolas, his life and good deeds and having something special in the children’s stockings as well as eating apples and fish, traditional Czech food. 

Consuming Less Plastic as a Family

Part of caring for the planet and setting a good example for the little ones in my life is noticing how much our daily choices impact the greater good. This does not mean living under a microscope analyzing your every move but taking a moment to access whether your lifestyle choices are contributing to environmental degradation or living in harmony with the planet.  One of the main ways I have figured out to live in connection with the earth is to value my time outdoors and seek a meaningful relationship with the place I live in. I also do this by limiting the amount of plastic my family and I consume. 

Before I became a parent, I was highly aware of what I needed to do to live a sustainable life. I lived in the Pacific Northwest where citywide composting was the norm and in restaurants you could find a recycling bin and compostable flatware. When I started my parenting journey and left that part of the country, I had to start from scratch in my new home of Tulsa. There is a city-wide recycling center and environmental/sustainable focused organizations here but not much else in terms of large scale public engagement around environmental issues.

By virtue of being a parent I had to sacrifice some of my beliefs around living sustainably. For instance I set out to use cloth diapers but soon found that our daughter could easily get diaper rash if left in a cloth diaper too long. We kept her in cloth diapers during the day but had to compromise with disposables at night to keep her from flaring up in a rash every day. I also used to be a bus and bike commuter, which I could still do with children, but would be much harder for me with our spread out and busy family lifestyle, so I made the sacrifice of driving a car each day.

Though I have had to sacrifice some of my eco-lifestyle choices in becoming a parent I realized there is still a lot I can do for the planet and live in a balanced way with my families and my needs. This is where planning ahead will save you. 

My Parent tool kit for reducing your carbon footprint when buying food at the store or restaurant:

By keeping a few items handy in your car or in your backpack it will become a habit to always have them available whenever it is time to get groceries or order take out. These steps require you to spend a little money upfront but will ultimately save you a ton of money in the long run and help the planet, a win, win. 

Empty Tupperware, a few sizes:

Every time you go out to a restaurant or order take out nine times out of ten it will come in a Styrofoam container. This Styrofoam will live on in our landfills for the next 500 years or more. To avoid using Styrofoam use your empty Tupperware instead. Ask that your leftovers are put into the container and or your meal is made in the container. If it is clean, most places will use your container. If you are dining in and they give you a Styrofoam plate tell management you would rather they didn’t use this material anymore. Use your power as a concerned citizen to spread the word that there are much better options for plates then Styrofoam.

A water bottle, thermos and re-usable straws:

I recommend a thermos because these can hold both hot and cold liquid and keep your drink at the temp you want year round. As a person that is often working outside in the heat and cold I cannot live without a thermos! A lot of water bottle companies these days have thermos options in sleek designs.

A set of at least three, sturdy, cloth shopping bags:

These bags can eliminate the use of tons of plastic. I take my bags in every store I go to, some clerks don’t know how to pack them, so I get to show them, it’s a way for us all to learn how to use less plastic. 

A set of re-usable produce sized bags and or bags from products you already bought and twist ties:

The reusable produce bags can be found in health food stores for purchase or buying them online. You can also just save the bags and twist ties from the bread you buy and re-use them to purchase grains, nuts, cereal etc. from bulk bins or put produce in them. Seeing each bag you purchase as a precise object makes you really aware of how much plastic you are consuming and take note of your impact on our planet as a consumer.

These are some of the easiest steps we can take to change our habits as consumers and live a personal green life style. The bigger picture is changing the way our systems are in place now that creates these harmful materials. In other cities I have lived there has been a ban on the plastic bag. Starting a campaign like this is another way to help make our city greener, eliminating the problem in the first place, will make the biggest impact. 

This was originally printed for Tulsa Kids Magazine August 2018

Designing Indoor Natural Play Spaces Part 2

In part 1 of this article I talked about all the concepts to keep in mind for designing your play space. Now I will share with you my tricks to have fun, affordable, natural play spaces and beat the boredom without the use of screens.    

Anything can be Anything: Similar to designing outdoor nature play spaces, using the concept of open ended play objects will get you far in the imaginative play world. These objects are simple and free or cheap. Some of my staple items are a basket of silk scarves,  sets of different sized branches lined up in neat stacks for building fairy shelters, and  good old-fashioned wooden blocks. The sky is the limit with these open-ended play objects. For a long time sweetpeas favorite thing to play with was string or rope. She used it to hoist up blanket forts. Sometimes it was a tail wagging behind her as she galloped like a horse. Sometimes the rope pulled a stuffed pet rhino around the house as she took it for a walk. I thought to myself at first, what is my child going to do with rope? Every time I cleaned up I would find the rope we have for camping out on the floor. I kept putting it back in the closet with the camping gear and next thing I knew it was out again, being happily used. I finally conceded and it has lived in our toy box ever since.  

When In Doubt, Get Boxes Out: Empty boxes are by far our best go-to, imagination, boredom toy. With some scissors, tape and markers and just a few tweaks you can have a whole city laid out before you, complete with crawl spaces and drawbridges. My children regularly make cozy kitchens, tiny dollhouses and pet stores from a stack of old cardboard boxes. I have a small pile I keep in a corner of our sun porch, ready for use at all times. I also keep a few smaller cereal or granola bar boxes to complete all the fine details. I recently kept a clear, to go, dessert box and found it the next day full of painted on brown squares of cardboard. Sweet pea was selling brownies.  If boredom strikes I send them to the recycling bin.

Tiny Nature Treasures: My favorite things to display are tiny nature treasures. My young people are often finding beautiful things to awe over in nature. Displaying their finds is a true value to them and our commitment to a healthy, green planet. A great way to display these finds is in a wooden utensil organizer. These boxes have many small compartments that fit lots of different sized objects. They make everything beautiful and accessible. We found an old wooden toy tray at a thrift store that once housed wooden dolls. It made a perfect nature display tray. I added a magnifier to the tray to get an even closer perspective and a tiny basket to collect things in. Little pickle loves to fill the basket with the shells we collected on the beach from our trip to the coast this summer. I used to look at delicate trays like this and think, that will all end up broken and trashed on the floor by the end of the day. What I have witnessed is that objects lovingly put together often have a certain amount of gentleness associated with them. When the children help find the natural materials they are less inclined to play rough with them. Our nature tray does not get played with in the same ways the baby dolls do but it adds that element of peace, beauty and nature imagery to the play space that we all seem to enjoy.

The 4 Month Rule:  In an effort to only keep what we really play with, every four months I sort through our toys and figure out what they have grown out of and what needs to be retired. Before I give away anything I think my children have grown out of I hide it away in a closet for four months. I give them this long to notice that it has gone and ask about it. If after the four months no one has noticed I decide to give it away. My oldest is particularly sensitive to anything being given away so I started this as a way to purge without having a big argument about it. I also do this with artwork and paperwork. I would like to apply the same method to sorting through my own paperwork and I am slowly getting there. It is hopeful to see my daughter’s neat stacks of paperwork and in time my own will also be organized.

It is totally possible to have a small number of well-loved toys that tend toward the natural and inspire imagination. With a little creativity and organization, you can live in an uncluttered home that shows off your style and meets the needs of adults and children alike. If you want to learn about designing natural outdoor play spaces please check out my other blog post on this.  Good luck and happy designing!

Designing Indoor Natural Play Spaces Part 1

So many parents I know, myself included hate the weird, loud, plastic toys that are so prevalent in childhood toy manufacturing today. So many parents I know also can’t afford to get the eco or wooden versions of toys on the market that cost an arm and a leg. What is a parent to do? I have not completely solved this conundrum but I have set up a playroom in the heart of our home, that is fun, playful, imaginative and a space I want to hang out in as well as the children. A few tips from books and learning from Lifeways, an early childhood program that centers around making homelike, natural spaces for children to be in, has helped me to create both function and order in my kids favorite play-space, the Den. 

Design for you and them: Design a space you like to be in that incorporates your children’s playthings. Your children might be drawn to different activities, try to design the space so that it follows their lead but is also easy to clean and put away at the end of the day. An ideal play space let’s children really get into their play but also is pleasant for you to look at and a place for you to be. 

The young child wants to be close to their parents while they play, they learn through mimicry and often play in a way that imitates the parent’s activity. The more the toys are similar to what you use and things you like to see, the more harmonious your home will feel. Also remember to keep in mind their favorite activities. I accessed what my children were most drawn to playing with. When I saw their biggest interests I narrowed the playing field so I did not have too many options available at once. 

Display is key: If children can’t see the toys they tend to do the “dump everything out” game instead of actually playing with the toys. The way I store toys is by category in baskets, all transportation toys go in an old milk crate that has been labeled and has a picture. We use one of those Ikea book shelves that line the walls with small squares to fill with basket storage or mini displays. The top two rows are dedicated to adult things including a family altar, art books and picture albums as well as a basket filled with our home tools and hardware. The bottom 2 shelves are dedicated to the children’s playthings. Milk crates make great sturdy tubs that are easy to take out and see through. Pretty, square, baskets display things and also make it easy to take out. These can often be found at thrift stores. If you can’t find them used, the new ones are a good investment, they last, have the beauty in your home factor and can be used for dozens of things.

Limit the Screens: It takes a concerted effort to not let screens take over your child’s world these days. Every family is different in what makes sense for them around screen time. What we have figured out for us is we limit the kind of screens, what is seen on them and for how long. Sweetpea and Little Pickle are allowed to watch shows on the TV for up to 2 hours on the weekend, 1 hour on a school night. That is it.  We recently started letting our 7 year old play an educational game on the computer, she can decide if she wants to play the game or watch a show for the allotted time. We don’t do hand held or personal video game devices. Media is public and in view of the parents. We weed out shows for weird messages and incorrect information. I often end screen time by watching the last few minutes of the show with my children, that way we transition together to the next activity. The TV lives in our adult living room away from the children's play things. When its not in use we put the TV to sleep by putting a pretty cloth over it.

Art Table: For Sweetpea, my 7 year old daughter, her art table is the heart of her play. A whole corner of the den is dedicated to all her tinkering. She also has the majority of one closet to collect her supplies.  The base of the art table is a thrift store table and chair covered in an old Mexican oilcloth. I love oilcloth for its beauty and function. It’s so easy for her to make a mess and clean it up while still having a nice space to be creative. I have a few different sized boxes on the table for her to collect all her supplies in and half finished projects. There are several little buckets filled with markers, tape and scissors giving her easy access and clean up for these items. I also bought a set of those little drawers that can live on top of her desk for all the random bits and bobs she collects for collage. Above the desk is two push pins holding up a ribbon with clothespins. This is a way to display some of her recent creations. A collection of various artwork of her choosing goes up on the ribbon and is switched out monthly. The table is often covered in scraps of cardboard and ribbon or a stack of old catalogs waiting to be collaged. This is her artistic spot and part of giving her creative freedom means I try not to control it too much. Still she knows the rule, art always happens at the art table, so no messy painting projects for me to help clean up anywhere but on that table.

Play Kitchen & House: Little Pickle, my 2-year-old daughter, is more random in her interests. A toddler seems to like variety in their play so they need to have a few options readily available. The one thing I see her come back to over and over is playing house and caring for babies. We made an affordable, small kitchen set from an Ikea hack for sweetpea’s second birthday. The kitchen sits nicely in the corner of the playroom with a basket of fake food and dishes that can be used with it. I collected this food over time, selecting the wooden and metal pieces from different consigned sets and getting some of it from friends as presents.

Instead of plastic cribs and gear for her babies we use baskets found at thrift stores. We line them with handkerchief blankets and old swaddle cloths. These make pretty and cozy beds for babies and when she is all done playing it is also easy cleanup.

I have talked about all the concepts to keep in mind for designing your play space and I have started talking about some of the areas we have created. Next post will be even more info on the different sections for play and some tips for beating boredom that doesn’t cost a dime. Stay tuned!

Goal Setting For The New Year

For the past four years I have been doing an exercise in goal setting as the New Year approaches. It has informed what my year has looked like. It has shaped the flow of my work patterns and has ultimately led to some pretty magical things. The formula I use for goal setting is unique and feels different then setting resolutions. Resolutions are wonderful ways to get pumped about the New Year. What I notice though, is they fizzle out with time. It is hard to stick to a new year’s resolution in June. Goal setting however has a different flavor, the goals can consistently be reworked into whatever seasons you are in and are open to re-evaluation at any time.

Sounds good doesn’t it?

Since starting goal setting I moved, had another baby, and got my writing published in an online magazine. While doing back yard nature meditation, one of my goals, I gained perspective on what I truly wanted to do with my career. I left my job to start my own business. I have also prioritized my hobbies and things I want to do just for me, like writing and learning to knit.

Here are some steps to guide you through my ritual of goal setting.

Painting by Liga Lazdina

Find a Friend

The first place to start is by finding a friend. A friend is a way to keep you honest in your goal setting. A friend’s perspective helps you to set realistic goals for your life while also giving you the encouragement you need to pull off big things. Not all friends are great for this so choose wisely. Pick someone you trust that has good listening skills. This friend could be a long distance friend. You can set up online skype goal conversations.  Don’t be limited by requiring that the friend lives in your town or city.

Set a Date and Plan

After finding a buddy interested in doing this with you set aside at least three hours for a  “goal date” in the afternoon sometime after Christmas. If you don’t have three hours to spare in one day stretch the date out over a period of a week. Pick a time when you will not feel rushed.  Items to bring to your goal date include snacks, tea, notebooks, colored pencils or markers, old packing labels or paper to cut up and a hole punch and string. Consider this your big picture thinking time. Before this date I often like to have my initial brainstorm for my goals done. I do this while walking or cleaning. These are my two thinking times where big ideas come out. I often scribble them down in my notebook or put them in the notes in my phone.  When I come to the date I have an idea of what I want to do and it gets me ready for the big brainstorm.

Talk and Listen

At your goal date take turns listening to each other about the things you want to manifest this year. This looks like one person giving their full attention to the other person without interrupting them or offering advice. A timer on your phone should be set to help ensure that each person gets the same amount of time. I often set the timer for 20 minutes each. Decide who goes first and switch when the timer goes off. For the person talking, you can do this however works best for you. Some people like to work back wards and start by discussing where they want to end up by the end of the following year. Some like to use the attention to just brainstorm about the things they want to see in their life. Some like to share the history of the previous year to gain perspective on what they want for this new one. All are valid and most likely you will do a combination of all these things.

Painting by Nora MacPhail

Take a Break

After the first forty minutes take a snack break, bathroom, maybe even go for a short walk around the block if you are feeling extra luxurious around time. Don’t let the break go too long though; twenty minutes should be enough to clear your head.

Writing Brainstorm

The next step is a writing brainstorm. Both goal setters get out their notebooks and write for twenty minutes about the things they want to manifest over the next year. Take from your pre-meeting notes, your time talking to your goal partner and any new thoughts you had during the break. I find it’s best to let your self write it all out and not worry about whether or not its practical or not concise enough, editing comes later. This exercise is about getting the ideas on the page. This can be a magical step as you see your goals lay out before you, each one blossoming into a new perspective or project.

Compare Notes

After your writing brainstorm is complete you can now let the editor in, take ten more minutes by yourself and look over what you have written. Circle the parts that stand out the most, the ones that have the most charge behind them.  In your writing find a hand full of goals that seem doable this year that speak to what you want for your life and help deepen what you have already.

Compare Again

Do another twenty-minute share each. This time when you are listener you can also offer advice or perspective. If the talking person needs some guidance this is a good time to give some words of encouragement. Hopefully at this stage you will be able to easily see where you want to put your energy in the following year. You can write out the goals on a clean sheet of paper during your talking time to be able to easily see them.

Take a Short Break

Take a short break, ten minutes total, than come back together for making goal art. This is the fun part of goal setting and should not be overlooked in importance. Creating goal art gives you a little treat for all your hard work. It’s a reward and it creates something eye catching you want to look at through out your year.

Goal Art

Take twenty minutes and make your art together. The art I make involves taking old packing labels and creating a taggie. This looks like a little book that ties together with small pictures and words describing each goal for the year on each tag. I find keeping the wording simple is best. Choose an image that best describes the goal and gets you exhilarated about it. These taggies can be as simple or complicated as you like just as long as they are eye catching and make you feel excited about your goals. I return to my goal taggie throughout the year. I keep it by my desk as a reminder of all the things I want to do and all that I have already accomplished. The goal taggie keeps you honest and is also cute.  Share your goal taggies at the end of the time. You are now done with your date.

Follow Up

Follow up should happen with your goal buddy throughout the year. I recommend meeting every three months to check in with your goals. Figure out what is hard, what might need tweaking, offer advice to your fellow goal setter. When you get together make it fun, the whole point of goal setting is to feel empowered by life and help each other out. This is not to criticize or make you feel bad or that you don’t do enough. If the goals are not working figure out what could work. Meet at a café, bring your taggies and enjoy your self. You can use the model of taking turns giving each other attention, or be less structured during these meet ups. This is about sharing love, wisdom and perspective and manifesting the world you want to be in.

This year my focus is on living more seasonally so I broke my goal taggie into what I wanted to do in each season. I am also constantly experimenting with how to best focus my energy. Good luck with goal setting and let me know how it goes.

 

Love For December Roses

That sense of delight, of wonder, of joy,

I spot them out of the corner of my eye, chilly winter pale across our ranch style neighborhood, then bright bursts of color as we turn the corner toward home.

Canary yellow, deep scarlet, flamingo pink, a shade of pink I want to call baby’s cheek.

They sprout from the tips of the thorniest out stretched arms of the ancient plants of my 1950’s house. Who planted them? The bottoms of the bushes look like reptile skin. How could something so rough and desert -like produce the most delicate soft balls of scent and surprise?

My memories stretch far back to an old house, crumbling at the edges, held together with duck tape and vines by the name of Terra Down. I awoke on a June morning to dew kissed peach roses tickling my nose. It was the perfect way to be woken to a new year in my early 20’s. This was a dear friend’s surprise, waking me to the world with the romantic, spicy scent of roses.  

Roses belong in June, in my birthday month. I am forever imprinted with this knowledge and memory. Yet, here it is, the bleak brown and white of December, gray is as solid as the air and then, them…

I laugh aloud as I cut the open blossoms to decorate my winter table.  A neighbor walks by with his dog, hears me giggle. I hold up the glass jar filled with blossoms and we both chuckle at the spectacle, the crazy reality of weird Oklahoma winters, the climate change that might have brought about these curiosities. Yet I can’t help but smile at the rare beauty, the mystery and marvel of roses in December.

Designing Natural Outdoors Play Spaces

It is easy to imagine an idyllic kids back yard. I see a huge jungle gym, a trampoline and dreamy playhouse. All of these are awesome things to facilitate environments children will be excited to play outside in. The only problems with these kinds of play structures are they are just what they are. You can play imaginative games on them, but in the end they only provide one kind of play. Designing a space that is more imagination focused requires some strategizing. Investigating the way children play outside happily for hours takes some forethought and consideration for the way humans like to live outside.

You do not necessarily want to recreate an indoor environment outside, though using some of what you learn inside will help in the outdoors. It is about reconnecting with all the elements that make an outdoor play space great, such as having a spot to dig, having different terrain to traverse, and having a combination of wet and dry ingredients available. It is also about thinking like an animal. Finding warm, sheltered places, good spots to hide and good spots to stretch out. You can also plant herbs so that young people run across their fragrances as they play. You can set up whole gardens that attract wildlife and allow opportunities for families to study nature up close and examine butterflies for hours.

Designing a natural play space can look a bit like designing a cozy forest. You want gardens, sweet, village-like home setups, pathways that lead to adventure and take you in a circular fashion around the yard. There must be places to dig and get messy and places to clean up afterward. Below is a list of all the things I have figured out about making a natural play space in my backyard.  

Elements of a Natural Play Space

Loose, open ended materials lying around

A pile of leaves in the corner, trimmed branches from the hedges, a pile of river rocks, these are just three examples of materials that become open ended play opportunities. Bundles of sticks become forest shelter construction, tinder for a fire pit, even a mat for babies to sleep on, or fishing poles for sale. The possibilities for an old pile of branches are endless.

River rock is smooth and easy to fit in you hand. Buckets of river rock become trade objects in imaginary towns and river rock in the sand box makes for great hide and seek games when hidden under piles of sand. Rocks can also become decorative elements on mud/sand chocolate cakes.  

Leaf piles are great hiding spots, a chance to explore bug life and inhale the sweet scent of decaying leaves. A leaf throwing party and a chance to rake it all up and play again is the intentional and resilient work we want to see young people engaged in. Using their bodies, hearts and minds to play.

The Hammock: A hammock immediately brings cozy warmth to a space. It’s a chance to climb in, learn balance and how to steady one’s self. It also gives you the chance to get snuggly with others and have a quiet spot to observe trees and wind. The Hammock is a perfect respite for a long day and once you have one up you will find yourself longing for it and it. It may even become a part of your daily ritual of relaxing.

A deep sand pit: When we were researching what kind of sand pit to make or buy we realized in order to achieve the kind of sand play we wanted to see happen in the yard we definitely had to make our own. Ready made sand boxes do not get very deep. They don’t seem to hold children’s interest as long as big, deep, sand pits. We dug a large hole into the earth and then filled it with concrete. After that dried we lined the hole with bricks to give it some structure. We then filled it up with play sand, about 25 bags full. The sand pit is central to the backyard play, it seems every age of child that has come into our yard loves the sand pit. I have seen complicated sand castles constructed. Whole cities and towns have been built with moats and dinosaur rulers. I have seen vet clinics established and full on scavenger hunts for things buried in the sand. The extra fun play in the sand box happens when I keep the hose near by. The combo of sand and water is irresistible to most children. My Oklahoma backyard becomes a sandy coastal beach as children fill it over and over with a few inches of water. Getting your toes in wet sand is creating another peaceful experience outdoors. Many deep holes have been dug in that sand box, with intentions to reach China, though no one has made it to the bottom so far.   

Pathways

Pathways establish a garden and natural play space. They lead you to the different play areas and lead you away from the more delicate plants that should not be trampled. The key is not to get to controlling with the paths, you want your pathways to be open and able to change. The best paths I have found follow the way people naturally move through a yard. Observing the way adults and children like to be in your yard will help you figure out the best way to route them. Paths can be as simple as grass mowed in curvy directions around garden beds in your yard or as complex as mulch paths lined with stones. Paths are especially helpful in a forested yard where its hard to tell which living things you should not tread on.

Varying Terrain to Transverse, a little hill or slope

Different aspects of terrain in your yard can create all kinds of exploring options.  I have observed that a little hill or rise in the ground can create lots of adventure games, two hills can create a moat to cross when a board or branch is laid across them. Play can involve rolling down the side of a hill, hiding around the corner or just lying on the side of the hill and observing the sky. I have seen many games of king or queen of the mountain and many processions go over the small hill in our yard. If you do not naturally have a hill in your yard you can easily create one by digging a hole and piling the dirt high. You can seed grass on the hill or just let it lay there. We used the extra dirt from digging the sand box for a hill in our yard.

Vegetation, fragrant plants, habitat gardens, butterfly gardens

Imagine a pack of children running around a yard, hiding behind bushes, and rubbing against lavender plants just to smell that delicious scent on their clothing. They stop for a break and grab a handful of ripe black berries growing along the fence and stop to examine a spider web in-between the grape leaves. Gardens are a huge part of creating a harmonious outdoor space. Starting with native shrubs and flowers can start you on the right path. These will provide habitat for your explorers as well as local wildlife. You will also create beauty and sensuous experience for all the people that enter your yard. Planting native vegetation can require little water and can easily be kept pesticide free because the plants already are acclimated to the place you live.  Once you get hooked on gardening the possibilities are endless, creating butterfly and hummingbird gardens, zen rock gardens, and of course vegetable patches and fruit orchards. Let your imagination run free and let your children help. They often have great ideas and will learn so much from putting life into the earth.

Fairy circles

In our home we have two fairy circles. Our fairy circles are a circular shaped garden bed with a stone in the middle of it for sitting. We also have a circle of stumps we use for fairy tea parties. In the circular garden bed we plant spring and summer flowers, we cut out this part of our yard and lined it with stones, one large flat stone sits in the middle. In the summer sunflowers can surround you. In the spring, poppies of every shade sprout before you.

We also have a set of old stumps we gathered from a friend’s yard. These stumps quickly transform into a fairy tea party. They are a great space for children to have imaginary and real meals and delight in a natural outdoor table area.

Elements of home in the outdoor spaces

My Virgo daughter Sweetpea loves the cozy feeling of home. Taking the comfortable elements of home and putting them outside has made all the difference for her nature connection. When I incorporated the different design elements I describe below it made our backyard a more inviting place for my homebody daughter to play.

Mud Kitchen

This is a fun way of saying an outdoor play kitchen. Old pots and pans, a few make shift burners made from the tops of canning jars screwed into a wooden bench and you have yourselves a perfect beginning to a play kitchen. The most important thing is to not put fancy things in the mud kitchen. Make sure everything is sturdy made from wood, metal or hard plastic and is ok to get dirty. This is not the time to take out the porcelain tea set. Many stews and chocolate cakes topped with dandelion flowers have come out of our mud kitchen.

Pergola and picnic table for outdoor eating

A pergola is a wooden or metal frame that is used to grow vining plants and make a living roof over a part of your garden. Ours grows thick with Wisteria and adds the perfect structure and shade to make outdoor living a year round activity. We have a large enough pergola to house several tables but the one that gets used the most is the wooden picnic bench. Having a big table for everyone to sit or craft brings us outside more. In good weather we eat outside at least once a week. I teach classes at the tables and have used it for cooking projects, painting and many more activities. Having a designated cozy space to work really brings the indoor feeling outside. 

Fort or Tree House

A fort or tree house is a great way to make a home in the outdoors. It is not necessary to making a cozy feeling outside but it is so fun to make, you might find yourself doing it just for the happiness it brings you. My dream when I was young was to have a full playhouse in my back yard. We had a platform my parents constructed. The platform became my home away from home. My friends and I would make house up in the tree. We would construct roofs from old pokeberry branches in summer and fir branches in the winter. The key with constructing a fort is to make it as open ended as possible to not limit the scope of the play. A full on playhouse, while spectacular has trouble becoming an army bunker, or campsite. A raised platform in a tree can really become anything.

The tree house we have now is a raised platform big enough to hold fifteen people at a time. One side sits up against a huge pin oak tree the other three sides are held up with huge posts that have been placed in concrete in the ground. There are two entrances via ladders. I see many rope and pulley systems go up to haul buckets of leaves and materials. Pop up shops selling acorns, herbs and berries and whole bedrooms have been constructed on the platform. Sometimes sweet pea just drags a blanket and pile of books up there for some reading time with her back against the trunk of the big pin oak tree.

Ability to control the temperature

Chiminea’s are little outdoor ovens used to warm up your patio on a cool day or make enough smoke to scare away mosquitoes in the summer. They are easy to start fires in, mostly safe and beautiful to look at. You can buy them at most garden or outdoors stores. We purchased ours from a Mexican pottery import place. 

Big Trees

Not everyone is lucky enough to have big trees around them or in their yard, but if you do take advantage of it. Big trees do a lot to cool the temperature in the summer; they provide the necessary shade to be happy for a long time outside. During my July outdoor summer camp the children were able to survive the heat by staying in the shade of the giant oak trees in my yard. I give thanks for them daily. If you do not have any large trees in your yard consider getting a table set with an umbrella and or making a pergola.

These are just some of the ways I have figured out how to make a dynamic space to be happy outdoors year round. If you are interested in more tips on designing beautiful outdoor nature play spaces stay tuned, check out the Under The Canopy blog for more info in the near future. I would also love to hear what you have figured out on how to make your yard into a natural play space.