With the seasonal shift to cooler days, we’ve had considerably more activity in the building area. For those of you new to the Seed, it’s a portion of the playground that has a variety of materials available to build with, including bricks, rocks, logs, sticks, repurposed polywood (from our previous climbing structure), tree branches, and concrete blocks. It’s an open area in the northeast corner of the playground that includes Gwen’s Castle. The building area is a place where creations are ongoing, often initiated by one group of children, then revised by others. There are a few children who gravitate toward the building area whenever it is an available option for outdoor play, and their enthusiasm for building spreads to others as projects evolve.
One reason the building area is so appealing is that it provides numerous opportunities for kids to do “work.” They haul bricks and logs around, and the heaviness of those materials makes them feel like they are doing important jobs. Children have to work in teams, collaborating on plans and ideas. Sometimes I like to go out to the building area to do some of my work (trimming, raking, pulling weeds) to show the kids the work that needs to happen to keep their play areas safe and appealing.
The spontaneous collaboration that occurs in the building area never fails to amaze and inspire me. One child gets an idea, and it sparks a cascade of possibilities. Most recently, I noticed that a structure of tall branches that was built last spring needed a refresher. With a group of workers, we dismantled the branches, moved rocks, and piled up bricks. Once the different materials were sorted in categories, I assembled a small group of builders to redo the structure. It didn’t take long before my main tasks were supervising for safety and staying out of the way. Over the course of a couple days, the new structure was in place.
The building area needed lots of trimming to maintain optimum visibility when children were playing there. So one morning before school, as I trimmed, a group of students, ages 3-10, began helping. They raked, loaded up cuttings, and hauled the material over to the growing pile near the side gate. One of the second graders, who was in charge of the wheelbarrow, kept the preschool helpers busy for over an hour. It was an exciting time to see students so engaged in working together.
In the last several days, the new log structure has turned into the “Bark House.” Most of the trimmings have been removed from the pile where they were originally dumped for pickup and are now layered over the log structure, turning it into what resembles a forest hut. Pieces of bark are placed around it strategically for aesthetic purposes. During recess, kids of all ages visit the Bark House, taking turns inside with friends. Occasionally a small adjustment is made, but for the most part the Bark House is complete. It will be a part of our students’ imaginative play in months to come, adding to the memories of their Seed childhood. Someday, several years from now, they may even realize the preciousness of having had the opportunity to build, work, and play with friends in the way they have at our school.