The biggest reward of our work? To witness children playing so differently, more actively, more gender-mixed, much more collaboration in both constructive and fantasy play… ‘I don’t want the rain to stop, so I can play longer outside!’ and many outdoor lessons! Proud to share yet another fully co-designed climate proof schoolyard for the Icaurs in Heemstede. All steps of our process:

1. Climate lessons & lessons on the diversity of play for 70 children.

2. Co-design children: combining their play-dreams & their solutions for climate issues into unique useful ideas.
Co-design teachers: integrating their educational vision into outdoor interventions

> We have interwoven all these ideas into a coherent design, featuring: collecting roof-rainwater in a playful waterplay-wall and open gutter fbonaire(with bridge) towards a willow wadi, we opened up the surrounding bushes by breaking down the wall and creating a look out platform for teachers on the corner, finally a courtyard garden class, and a forestclass.

3. Co-construction & co-planting: children and parents helped painting their schoolyard, in planting season children, parents and teachers will plant all together.

4 Co-maintain: The school embraced the nature-heroes program. And added monthly Green Wednesdays, in which parents and children will help maintaining their green schoolyard

Children directly show different play on their renewed schoolyard.