| The brook running alongside this beautiful school property presented both problems and opportunities. It was in a designated floodway, so within 50 feet of the streambank, nothing could be installed that would impede water flow during a major flood.
On the other hand, the students loved this area. The sound of flowing water, the ducks and other wildlife, the mud banks, the shade from the few trees, and the outdoor classroom potential were attractive features pulling students (and teachers) to the stream.
The goal of the Natural Playgrounds Company, then, was to create enough interest on other parts of the natural playground, that students would be attracted to those other play and learning elements and leave the edge of the stream to recuperate and stabilize between visits throughout the week.
|
We organized this long, narrow site with a polypavement path, along which many activities occurred: raised bed gardens, a fitness path, a large amphitheater and stage area, a big sledding hill, an embankment slide, a rock climbing area, a large open field, and berms to create visual interest are all outside the 50’ floodway.
Near the building is a large, outdoor classroom arbor, one side of which is a boulder water source that feeds a short play stream that leads to water play decks from which water then flows into a multi-level sand play area.
Within the 50’ floodway are very passive, ground-level elements, which include a fairy village, a rain garden that accommodates any left over water from the sand play area, a Zen garden, a labyrinth, and a beautiful little sitting area. |
