Child Development Experts Share How to Re-Create an Adventure Playground in Your Home

According to Dr. Helen Hadani, director of research for the Center of Childhood Creativity and EAB member at The Goddard School, “Adventure playgrounds encourage risky play with structures, materials, and a variety of surfaces that challenge children to explore and take risks. They have many “loose parts” for children to create and build rather than play on something that someone else built.”

Adventure playgrounds are sometimes even referred to as “junk playgrounds” or “nature playgrounds” because kids can play amongst a hodgepodge of tires, logs, sand pits, mud puddles (bring a change of clothes!), large boxes or blocks, and other untraditional playground elements. This lies in contrast to prefabricated playgrounds, which offer guided play options like swings, slides, and monkey bars, and are built with safety, not creativity, at the forefront.

By utilizing these elements of nature, found objects, and sometimes even tools, adventure playgrounds allow for more self-directed, imaginative, and yes, risky play than most contemporary playgrounds.

Adventure playgrounds challenge children in ways that other playgrounds do not. Dr. Vanessa Lapointe, registered psychologist, parenting educator, and mom of two boys in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, told me, “Because adventure playgrounds have no set paths, activities, or certain way to do things, kids must work to problem solve and risk assess. When play is too structured, those skills don’t become available to them.”

Dr. Lapointe also stressed the importance of “giving kids the opportunity to explore and challenge themselves by stepping out of their comfort zones.” This builds resilience and fosters creativity – two traits that can be dampened when we only present our kids with highly structured, relatively low-risk situations.

Jessica Rolph, cofounder and CEO of Lovevery, a toy subscription service created by child development experts, agreed, adding, “Children are builders, tinkerers, engineers, and problem-solvers, and the more we honor and make space for that, the more they get to play the way they deserve to. When their natural curiosity is supported with materials and opportunities, when their desire to experiment is nurtured, and when they feel emotionally safe, children are remarkably good at playing.”

At first glance, you may look at an adventure playground and think, “Yeah, right! I’m not letting my kid anywhere near that junk pile,” but the experts we spoke with pointed out just how important it is to expose children to these seemingly risky situations. Dr. Hadani shared that there is quite a bit of research proving the benefits of risky play, some of which even show that “engaging in risky play can actually reduce the risk of injury because children push their physical, cognitive, and social boundaries, but in the context of a relatively safe space.”

On the opposite side of this coin are the dangers that can arise when we don’t expose our children to risky play. According to Rolph, “When everything is padded and all risks are removed from a play environment, children get incorrect messages about what safety is (like for instance, that falling on the ground doesn’t hurt) and their learning process isn’t respected. Babies, toddlers, and children of all ages are capable of so much if we meet them at their developmental stage.”

Of course, these activities are still done under your supervision and guidance while children learn, explore, and master new skills.

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The number of adventure playgrounds is growing, but you don’t have to venture far to reap the benefits of this type of unstructured, imaginative play. There are plenty of ways to bring the adventure playground ideology into your home.

Rolph is a big fan of teaching kids how to use tools (we promise it isn’t as scary as it sounds). “Bringing elements of an adventure playground to your own home or backyard can be as simple as teaching your kids to use tools. Hammering, for example, is satisfying, it’s a multisensory experience, and it’s a great combination of fine and gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and perseverance.”

While tools seem dangerous, “teaching children to use them from a very young age starts to instill good safety habits, gives them more years of practice, and supports their innate desire to build with their hands,” she added. When introducing tools, always teach safety first. This includes wearing safety glasses/goggles, checking the area around you, checking your tools and the fit in your hands, and transporting tools properly.

Dr. Lapointe recommended that parents start by “prioritizing exploration over entertainment.” This could be something as simple as letting them loose with a big pile of rocks and sticks or, for cold or rainy days, providing them with sheets, pillows, and blankets to build a massive fort. If you are ready to take on a bigger project, you could add a play area in your backyard that utilizes tires, wood blocks or logs, rock piles, and other elements that allow children to build (and destroy!), transform, and manipulate the world around them/

Dr. Hadani likes to “let a child’s interests (in rocks, bugs, paint, etc.) guide their play. See what they gravitate toward and support those interests from the earliest ages.” She also advised parents to encourage physical play both indoors and outdoors. Whether that be climbing, jumping, or running, kids need opportunities to test their boundaries while simultaneously building self-esteem and self-confidence.

If you’re interested in learning more, the experts I spoke with suggested following the work of Dr. Mariana Brussoni and Teacher Tom for a deep dive into the adventure-playground philosophy.