At Big Day Out we encourage children to understand and work with the natural world. Our play spaces have been designed to foster children’s interaction with and enjoyment of outdoor play and discovery. Outdoor play in nature offers children a number of benefits, including:
- Development of physical skills and stamina
- A place to practice social skills, working with others and collaboration on a range of projects and games
- Space to run, be free of concerns, and to make noise and laugh like mad if you wish, or be quiet and thoughtful
- How to think about and manage risks and challenges
- A sense of awe and wonder at nature’s marvels. Children will connect with nature, how the natural world works, our interdependence on it and responsibility to nurture it
- A place to simply run, play and have great fun with friends in a relaxing and safe space.
Our play spaces encourage children to cooperate with friends creating imaginative games, or explore independently. Many life skills are practiced during fun outdoor play time as children engage with friends and the challenges in the space. Children are able to practice being resilient, overcome difficulties, take on new challenges and develop new ideas during group or solo play.
Big Day Out’s play grounds encourage creative thinking and simple enjoyment of nature and the great outdoors. Timber, stone, other natural elements and planting offer children a more natural environment in which to play. We include a combination of irregular layouts, patterns and textures in natural materials, quiet nooks, open spaces and different levels to provide children with interest, challenge and to prompt many play possibilities and ideas for imaginative play.
Children will also develop and care for our flower, vegetable and herb gardens over time – using any produce (hopefully) in our kitchens when they participate in our cooking master classes. We have many areas of interest and fun activity for children to play in our garden, including the BDO Studio where children are able to think creatively.
See the BDO Studio page of this web site for more information about this or read the article about The Importance of Creative Play on our News and Events page.
Part of the Play Space Design
