Family: Amy, Allan and Dane (8)
Location: Marquette, MI
We run a small family home daycare and have been transforming our outdoor space into a great place to learn and play.
We have many fun features including a small swing set and climber, a huge sandbox, a mud pie kitchen, a music area, a sand and water wall, a boat, a couple of playhouses, a hammock, an easel, a portable stage, flower beds, and a lot of loose parts for creative play.
One of our favorites is our music area. We made everything from scrap wood and items from thrift stores (or sometimes found on the side of the road). It is hard to pick a favorite instrument: We have a large wooden xylophone, metal chimes, tambourines,a banging station, a thunder drum, and a large tractor tire drum.
Daily dishes are served up at our wonderful mud pie kitchen. The menu seems to change on a daily basis, but the cakes are divine!
What an inspiring space! Thanks Amy! Readers, see more of this space and find other creative projects at Child Central Station.
(Images: Child Central Station)
(Re-edited from a post originally published 06.13.11 - NM)
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Awesome! Great ideas!
Very cool space - and in Marquette - we LOVE Marquette!
This is so great! What lucky kids at your daycare! I especially love the kitchen and the music area.
I love the mud pie kitchen. When we were little, my sister and I fashioned a similar kitchen at our grandparents' house. LOTS of pies were served up there.
A warning for parents - putting cable reels (that big wooden spool-like thing in the first picture) in your yard can be dangerous. We had these growing up because my dad could get them from work. It's how I managed to break my shoulder. I didn't fall off a big one - I had a small one (the same size as in this picture) turned on its side and would roll it across the yard, standing, with my feet. Keep them held down (like how this one is buried in sand) or don't have them at all.