Nowadays children spend less time outdoors and playing outdoors due to several factors such as the emergence of digital gadgets, games, safety issues and fears, and the most recent one being, COVID-19. According to experts, children are ought to spend at least 3 hours outdoors a day, whereas some children are spending only 4-7 minutes playing outdoors and about over  7 hours in front of a screen according to childmind.org

However, we can’t just blame external factors for the children playing less outside, so let’s try pointing fingers at the playground itself! The regular and most common type of playground is the one we all know with the colorful slide, climbing stairs or wall, presenting an already conquered challenge to the children. This not only makes the playground less interesting, but it also downplays the potentials and creativity of the children and the endless ways a playground can be utilized. 

The benefits of playing outside goes beyond fresh air, it improves social skills, motor skills, and sensory skills of the children as they learn how to play with other children, share the space, and engage in various activities demanding different skills and senses. 

Fortunately, the emergence of natural playground is coming back and is being welcomed by many urban dwellers wanting their children to engage in natural and open-ended play. Studies have shown that with natural playground and unstructured play , children tend to spend twice the time outside than in the regular and structured playground.

So what is a natural playground, what can you expect from a natural playground, and can you have one in your community or neighborhood? Read along to find out !