Watsonia North ELC

Playground Haven for Early Learners: Growing Minds & Gardens

Designing and constructing the ideal playground for this early learning centre involved a meticulous consideration of age-appropriate features across the Kinder, Toddler, and Nursery yards. The playground boasts a water play area for interactive learning, fostering sensory exploration. It also showcases shaded in-ground sandpits enveloped with natural log and boulder edging, providing safe and stimulating spaces for tactile play. A mud kitchen encourages imaginative exploration, while a custom-built open cubby becomes a haven for creative adventures. Active play finds its home in the playground, where a large mulch pit, balance beams, and a variety of play structures stimulate physical development. A yarning circle, adorned with cobbles and log seating, surrounded by natural log edging, offers a serene space for group activities and storytelling. Throughout the play spaces, textural paving of brick, sandstone, and mosaic tiles intertwine with lush gardens. For rainy days, a dedicated play area ensures continuous engagement.

Embracing the client's food garden program, we seamlessly integrated an orchard of fruit trees, a mixed herb garden beneath, vines over a woven tunnel, and an arbour opening leading to raised cypress boxes filled with veggies. This innovative design not only provided a dynamic and educational play space but also nurtures a deeper connection to the environment and the food we consume, aligning with the centre's commitment to holistic early childhood education.