Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds

10/07/2026

Happy International Walk to School Day. What did your child notice on the way to school this morning?
Children who walk to school arrive having already made dozens of small decisions about where to step, when to cross the street, and how fast to go.
Every one of those decisions builds the judgment and confidence children carry into the rest of their lives. Schools can keep that going after the bell by moving part of the day's learning outdoors, where children keep exploring, testing their limits, and working things out together.
Research links regular outdoor learning with better focus and stronger student well-being, which is why we design outdoor classrooms and learning spaces that teachers can use in every season of the year.
Ask your school how much of the day happens outside, and share this post with a teacher or principal who wants children to spend more of it there.

10/06/2026

The day is finally here. This evening, Jill, our Director of Training and Education, is hosting our free one-hour webinar, Favorite Fall Activities Plus Reusing Your Halloween Pumpkins, which is one of the most popular sessions we run each year.

Jill has spent more than 20 years developing activities that engage children's minds and build gross motor skills, and she knows how to make them fun for kids and adults alike. Teachers, early childhood educators, and parents will leave the session with fall activities they can use right away, including practical ideas for reusing Halloween pumpkins.

Join us this evening at 7:00 pm EDT. Registration information is in the link.

In this webinar we will take advantage of all the free pumpkins available after Halloween.

10/06/2026

We’re at the Colorado Open Space Alliance COSA 2026 Conference in Crested Butte, Colorado this week. Our MT, our Senior Landscape Architect Shane Brown and Skyler Rorabaugh of the led a session on Caring for the Commons Through Rough Play and Discovery: Partnerships, Stewardship, and Nature Discovery at Pike's Peak." If you missed it, check out the video about our work at the site affectionately known as ‘America’s Mountain.’
If you’re at COSA, drop by the Bienenstock table in the Plaza Pre-Function area of the Elevation Hotel & Spa. Shane, our CEO, John El-Raheb, and the rest of the team will be there to answer your questions about natural play environments and their importance in parks and public spaces.
And if you didn't get a chance to attend but are curious about our work, drop us a DM!

10/02/2026

Fredericton High School has officially opened its new outdoor classroom! The school won this year's OutClass™ Outdoor Classroom Giveaway, chosen from more than 1,000 entries submitted by schools across North America.

William Milner, who teaches outdoor education and nutrition at Fredericton High School, entered the contest because he wanted his students to have more opportunities to learn outside the traditional classroom. He believes an outdoor classroom encourages other teachers to bring their lessons outside and shows that "this type of learning is valued and valuable enough to invest in."

We designed this space, like every OutClass™ classroom, for use throughout the year, so Fredericton High School students will keep learning outside through the winter months as well as spring and fall.

Congratulations to William, Principal Peter Batt, and the students and staff of Fredericton High School. Thank you for letting us be part of this project.
Is your school ready for its own outdoor classroom? Entries for the 2026-27 OutClass™ Outdoor Classroom Giveaway are open until May 10, 2027, and any school and childcare facility in North America can apply.

Find the details and enter at outdoorclassrooms.com/contestfaq.

09/30/2026

Orange Shirt Day began with the story of Phyllis Webstad, who was six years old in 1973 when staff at the St. Joseph Mission residential school in British Columbia took away the new orange shirt her grandmother had bought for her first day of school.

Her story grew into a national day of remembrance, and since 2021, September 30 has also been the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day that honours residential school survivors, their families, and the children who never came home.

Many families will spend part of today outdoors, and we invite you to use some of that time to learn whose traditional territory you live on. The Native Land map at native-land.ca is a useful starting point, and your local First Nation, Métis or Inuit organization can tell you more about the history of the land in your community.

We have learned through meaningful consultation with First Nations and Métis communities to design outdoor classrooms and natural play spaces around land-based learning, and today our team is wearing orange and learning more about Phyllis's story through the Orange Shirt Society at orangeshirtday.org.

09/27/2026

It's World Rivers Day, so today we're sharing a video of our founder, Adam, talking about how he is inspired by water. We have spent decades watching how water moves across land, and it still shapes how Adam lays out a playground.

If you spend an afternoon at a shoreline, you can see the water working around every root and rock in its way. Our crews build pathways through a schoolyard the same way, twisted and irregular, so children pick their own route.

We are surrounded by beautiful lakes, and each one is a design lesson in the making. Adam and our team never get tired of them, and we hope you find the same joy in yours.

09/25/2026

There is something special about seeing a kid run onto a natural playground. The first time they see it, their heads turn left to right. They don't know what they want to try first. Will they climb the giant sideways tree or run across the log stumps? Will they jump onto the logs or off? Whatever they decide, they never stay there very long. We've watched kids run back and forth until they've tired themselves out. And even then, there's always a giant smile of satisfaction on their faces. That smile is the first thing we think about when we design our natural playgrounds.

09/24/2026

Risky play is here to stay! We're headed to the Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario (COEO) Conference tomorrow, where our very own Darren Barkhouse will lead a session on the importance of risky play.

As parents and educators, it's instinctive to shield our kids from risk, but when we do that, we remove their ability to learn to problem-solve. Climbing trees and jumping off boulders can be risky, but they are also great ways for kids to learn to navigate the world around them.

Darren will share the risk evaluation mechanism we use when we create our natural playgrounds and identify the barriers educators face when allowing risky play opportunities.

If you're also planning to attend COEO, we hope you'll join the session on Saturday at 10 am at Camp Muskoka. If you're not attending and would like to know more about how we create opportunities for risky play, check out our guide: bit.ly/4riARSg

09/24/2026

09/22/2026

Trees or monkey bars? Which would you allow your kids to climb?

What if we told you that statistically, climbing trees can be safer? Monkey bars and jungle gyms are responsible for more childhood fractures and emergency room visits than almost any other type of play equipment. And there are so many other advantages that trees have over manufactured jungle gyms. Adam explains in the video below!
Remember the last time you climbed a tree? That was a good day!