WHY IS NATURE PLAY SO IMPORTANT?
06 Apr 2023
Nature play offers a refreshing contrast from the controlled environments of the modern world, with rigid schedules, standardized testing, and essential organization. It provides a unique opportunity for children to learn through creative play in natural settings. It allows children to explore, take risks, and develop a deeper understanding of the environment around them and their place within it.
One of the key elements of nature play is that the playspace changes each day, allowing for new discoveries and endless exploration, far beyond the limitations of plastic playgrounds designed to be unaffected by the environment. 
Timber Creations, a leading provider of play equipment, creates play pieces from natural timber without any harmful treatments. This means that while its play equipment is durable and long-lasting, it also evolves and develops over time. For instance, the sapwood may peel off and change the shape of the piece, and the colour may transform due to sun exposure or environmental factors like salt in the air. However, this natural transformation is not a drawback but a feature that stimulates observation and play.
Timber Creations play equipment is designed to break down naturally at the end of its life, rather than contributing to landfill waste for hundreds of years. This important lesson about sustainability and the natural life cycle of materials is invaluable for children to learn. 
What is nature play?
Children have an innate inclination to explore the natural world, and nature play is at its best when children are given the freedom to create their own games and activities in an unstructured environment. However, some children may need encouragement to feel more comfortable with nature play, if they are used to more structure. Timber Creations offers various options to boost children's comfort with nature play, such as work benches and mud kitchens, obstacle courses with natural materials, sandpits, and digging patches with loose parts play. For others, encourage more non-prescriptive play, including logs, boulders, and natural landscapes. 
Why is nature play the way of the future?
One of the key trends in play philosophy today is the importance of risky play - which doesn't mean encouraging children to get hurt, but rather allowing them to try new things that may result in failure, as a valuable learning experience. Nature play is the perfect avenue for this type of learning. Nature provides natural variation in textures, uneven surfaces, and different sized gaps and grips, which challenge children in multiple ways and encourage them to push themselves to new limits.
Timber Creations' natural branch climbers feature irregularly shaped and sized branches with different spacings, requiring children to assess their route and choose appropriate grips and reaches to avoid falling. Without the possibility of failure, children cannot develop their self-assessment skills and learn from experience. 
Nature play is crucial for children's holistic development. It offers a refreshing break from the controlled environments of modern life, fosters creativity, curiosity, and risk-taking, and provides opportunities for hands-on learning and environmental awareness. Timber Creations' natural timber play equipment exemplifies the values of nature play, allowing children to explore and appreciate the natural world in a dynamic and exciting way. Nature play is not just a passing trend, but a vital aspect of children's play experiences that nurtures their physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being, and prepares them for a sustainable future. 
To find out from Timber Creations visit the website via the links below.
