Nature Play: Bringing the INDOORS out...

I love to be outdoors. I run a nature-based playgroup because I think being outdoors is wonderful for children and for adults and for the community at large. But the fact of the matter is that not everyone loves to be outdoors. And not all children are intrinsically drawn to nature-based play. Several years ago I had one such child in my class. He loved Lego. He could spend the entire day building and acting out detailed play monologues with Lego people. But when it came to going outside, he just wasn't that into it. It was hard to set aside his indoor play and hard to engage in outdoor play. I did not feel, as a teacher, that it was my job to make him feel differently; some people don't love to be outdoors. But I did wonder if perhaps he just hadn't found his sweet spot there quite yet.

Nature is abundant in play materials and ideas, but for more and more children, it is uncharted territory. Gone for many children are the days of being tossed in the yard to play until dusk. Gone for many neighborhoods are the landscapes of our childhood. And outdoor play experiences in and of themselves have changed from a child-led, open ended experience to more organized and directed activities like sports. For some, the outdoors is what you walk through to get from inside one building to the inside of another. And my own personal mantra is to Think Outside; No Box Needed. But that does not mean that outdoor play and experience must be "one size fits all."

For my little Lego loving friend, life changed the day we first carried a plastic bin of Legos outside with us. At first, it was a stationary activity in which he sat and built and played. Some others joined in as well. But soon, Lego cars and trains took trips around the playground and Lego men were hiding inside plants and behind large leaves and eating found chestnuts or sipping soup from acorn caps. A bit of the indoors being brought outside allowed for the outdoors to infiltrate in.
Even at home, we had a collection of Mega Blocks that S and Y had stopped playing with inside. Hauling some out in a large plastic crate to our backyard gave them new life and purpose.

And although I had already planned and scheduled my remaining summer season playgroup events, I decided to sneak in a Pop-up and Play event today at one of our local sprinkler playgrounds.
 Lego, Duplo and Megablocks are such amazing and versatile tools for play. Our guests ranged in age from a few months old through adulthood. We hauled buckets of Megablocks to the sprinkler area. We set a table with bins of Legos, clipboards with invitations to draw blueprints and sketches. I used some of the materials from Pocket of Preschool's Summer, Beach, Camping & America STEM I Can Build set and even just plain graph paper, markers, colored pencils and crayons. One family arrived with Lego books! On the ground I set out a picnic blanket with a bucket of our Duplos. And then I stood back and watched in wonder as I so often do at these events. (I also chase after my kids, feed them copious snacks, play a bit myself and schmooze a lot.) The incredible thing to see is how children of all ages played and worked together, side by side. And how the building toys were used in novel ways (you can fill up Megablocks and pour them out and utility buckets always make great helmets). And since most of our building toys were purchased secondhand (which I highly recommend with expensive and quality toys like Lego and Duplo and Megablock), they didn't come with particular pieces or instructions. It was incredible to watch imaginations at work. And the level of concentration and focus even very young children utilized in exploring.

Going back to my little Lego loving friend for a bit... I would not have been upset if he never loved playing outside as much as he loved to be indoors with a bin full of Legos. But I also didn't want him to internalize that going outside meant leaving his love behind and potentially miss a chance to engage a child in the wonder of nature. I don't know whatever happened with him after he left my class and whether he ended up traipsing through the forest or heading back inside to build our future skyscrapers and bridges. But I do know that Lego was a tool for connecting him to his experience in our playground and nature space. And similarly, it was a tool today to connect children and adults of all ages. And when it comes to nurturing the powerful role of play in childhood and throughout life, I think it is very important to access all of the tools we can--both inside and outside of the box.

Happy Playing!