Children’s play is instinctive and irrepressible – a spontaneous outpouring of their curiosity, creativity and inherent zest for life. Children often find inventive and ingenious ways of playing that cannot always be preconceived or predicted by adults, and a meaningful sense of self-control through play is a key factor in the level of fun and fulfilment. The best value playgrounds offer children a sense of self-discovery as well as ongoing multi-purpose possibilities for play. 

We believe natural habitats – such as woodlands, riversides and beaches – provide the ultimate child-friendly playgrounds, with inherent diversity and flexibility that matches the boundless energy and constant playfulness of children’s natures. In general, the more multifaceted and malleable the physical environment, the more varied children’s playful interactions within it are. At TouchWood we take our inspiration from such natural environments in creating bespoke playgrounds and adventure parks that afford a wide range of diverse and open-ended play behaviours.

Different children of different ages, abilities and interests are able to discover the play opportunities for themselves, in their own way. Rather than fixed equipment we design and build play spaces using a variety of ‘flexible features’. These allow children to encounter playful invitations and follow their own instincts as they unfold naturally.

Through direct, hands-on interactions with the physical environment, as well as social interactions with others, children create new and evolving play frames over time, sustaining their interest and engagement.  Such child-centred, adventure-filled playgrounds offer hours of fun and enjoyment, days filled with adventure and magical moments that may last a lifetime.

A flexible feature such as a fallen tree or rock boulder, for example, provides many different kinaesthetic possibilities for children of different ages in climbing, crawling, balancing, sliding, hanging and dangling – or simply enjoying the sensation of being able to climb up high on their own. These features allow multiple possibilities to achieve the same goals – many routes to the top – and also for children to manage their own risks, which in turn helps build confidence and self-esteem.

Through design interventions, children’s experience can be widened further allowing children to make playful journeys within and between the structures. The possibilities of climbing to height are enhanced through designs that allow them to move around off the ground, find secret spaces, relax and observe the world with a squirrel’s eye view… TouchWood’s approach brings together the best from the natural world with innovative design for accessibility and child-friendly usability. 

We believe the best possible play valuefor children arises when both flexible features and ‘loose parts’ are integrated into the same space. Loose parts are small objects and materials that can be picked up, moved around and played with by children to build and create.

These can include: sand, earth, stones, pebbles, twigs, bark, leaves, branches or blocks of wood. They have no fixed function as such and therefore allow children to use, move and combine them in whatever way their playful interests and imaginations dictate. In a child-friendly playground loose parts can be used with flexible features to adapt and create new playful compositions; for example den-building. Trees and other growing vegetation naturally provide plentiful loose parts for play, which can be enhanced through additional planting schemes, which we offer within our overall playground designs.