The Natural Playground Update - Two Years On...

Here it is, as promised, a little update on the Natural Playground.  I haven't really written much since we put it in, but there have been some developments.  We applied for some grants last year and used the money to add some cement culverts as tunnels, which the kids decorated with paint handprints, 

and now this year some musical instruments.  We added an amindala (like a vertical xylophone), a whale drum, and a set of listening tubes.  Griffin was happy to be the first kid to test them out.  Yup, pretty fun.

 And the old perrennial favourites still hold up - among them the sand box,

 and the climbing tree.  This (lucky?) old pine is almost always full of kids.  You can see in the background of the above picture that we also purchased some child-size picnic tables from a local non-profit group, and the plants in the foreground were a donation from a local gardener.

The night after we put the new pieces in, I was putting Holly to bed upstairs and could hear some chiming coming from the direction of the backyard.  It took me a minute to realize what it was, but then it put a big smile on my face.  Apparently the additions are a big hit.
Coming soon, we have big and exciting plans for a large addition, but I'll write more about that as we get started on it.  Until then...

Come to me, O ye children!

For I hear you at your play,

And the questions that perplexed me

Have vanished quite away.

-Henry Wordsworth Longfellow