Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds worked with the team at Strathalan Maclean Childcare & Preschool to create a sensory-rich outdoor learning environment for their childcare space.

Rich with child development opportunities, the space features a sand & water area complete with a mud kitchen and accessible horizontal log borders Here, children are able to focus on process-based tasks without a prescriptive result; creativity reigns. Our design team made a concerted e ort to include substantial plantings to create shade while providing loose parts and an opportunity for children to interact with nature in their space. Serviceberry plantings and wacky posts allow for fort building and a quiet-contemplative zone, the deciduous plantings provide shade in the spring/summer and loose parts in the fall, while the conifer provide year-round cover. The addition of small hill slide and border elements such as our vertical log clusters provide opportunities for motor-planning and proprioceptive, vestibular and kinaesthic stimulus.