the play yard

The weather has been perfectly wonderful and there has been a lot of playing in the yard.  If I remember right from my Landscape Architecture History courses the first outdoor spaces dedicated to children and play were created in Germany.  They were essentially vacant lots with one of the main attractions being an attendant in a shack whose job was to hand out hammers, saws, nails and wood and collect them at the end of the day.  Kids would come and build forts or create whatever they imagined as well as swing and slide.  This image has always stuck with me and we are implementing some of that old style play in our yard too.  I am insisting that all the wood stay in a particular zone of the yard so that the neighbors don’t think we are a bunch of junky hillbillies, and we haven’t equipped them with hammers and saws yet, but they are still having fun time with some random leftover lumber pieces and sections of tree trunks.  Saturday the boys were clamoring for lunch and jumping all over my feet while I was trying to prepare it, so I told them to go outside and build us a table where we could eat lunch.  They have never obeyed a request so quickly!  And here's their table!