Nature's Playground

When we first visited Cefn Onn Park last year, The Boy's first question was about the playground. At the time he still had in his head that every 'park' was of the suburban template consisting of various flora, a set of swings, see-saw, slide, climbing frame… you get the picture. It's taken him a while to realise the point I explained to him then; that there's play equipment wherever you go, you just have to work out how to use it.

Nature's Playground

Needing a breath of fresh air and some family time on the weekend, we returned to Cefn Onn to see the bluebells and rhododendron bushes which are flourishing at this time of year. While we were wondering up the pathways and squelching through the mud, we discovered an area of the park where trees had either fallen naturally or been felled. I find it very hard to believe that they weren't laid out in the particular way that they were, because The Boy declared it was an assault course which he needed to try out.

Tentative at first (due to a scooter incident five minutes beforehand), he asked me to help him cross a huge, gaping chasm of a gap, but when he realised he would have to do it himself then I was really impressed with the way he worked it out.

Nature's playground 1

Bolstered by his accomplishing this, there was no stopping him and he was soon charging around the assault course and jumping from tree trunks!

Nature's playground 2The final task was scaling a tree trunk to declare himself the 'King of the Castle', have a guess as to who was the 'dirty rascal'?

Nature's playground 3

I love seeing his confidence grow along with his physical capability, and I love seeing him being a child who takes pleasure in the world around him.

Linking up to Country Kids and Let Kids Be Kids

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Comments

  1. says

    Just love the action shots of him jumping off the logs 🙂 And the last few, you can see exactly what's he's saying! I love this kind of play, we haven't been to the woods for too long, must sort that out… It really is wonderful to watch them gain confidence and try things for themselves x #CountryKids

  2. says

    Natural "playgrounds" are the best. You are so right that they need to figure out how to play with them, but it doesn't take long. You really have caught his expressions perfectly. Lots of fun. #CountryKids

  3. says

    I love the way you tell the story to match your photos, I can almost feel myself there with you on your walk and see you encouraging him and challenging him onward. I think he's going through a growth spirt too, he seems to be getting taller by the day even on the photos! Hope the recent illness soon passes so he can be back out enjoying things that make him smile again.

  4. says

    Beautiful shots.
    Trees make such great playgrounds as you say. N is just discovering he can clamber over them, although he's not confident yet in walking along them yet

  5. says

    That looks like a fantastic natural assault course, perfect for kids to experiment with and have fun. Love the photos.
    Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids

Trackbacks

  1. […] Thank you again to everyone who joined in last week, it was great to read all your posts. There was a fab post from Adventures of Adam, playing in the rain, it's great the way rain doesn't seem to matter when you're 2! I love the idea of this mashed potato sensory play, so simple, via Great British Family and I always enjoy reading about children having fun in nature's playground, like this post via The Boy and me. […]

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