Dark Corners and Nooks

 A child uses a dark corner to search for creatures under tree rounds.

materials

None! Just dark corners along fence lines and between plants, filled with bushes, trees, or furniture.

methods

The purpose of dark corners is to allow children to be secretive, peaceful, and for use as a blind from which to observe others.

Allow children to be by themselves if they choose.

These spaces allow for open-ended, creative experiences.

Children read together on a bench under a garden arch that is covered in twining vines.

Child-created pathways lead to a small clearing. On this day, a group of boys were pretending to fish from the waterfall, and brought their invisible fish and fishing lines created with sticks and ropes back to here, their home, to cook. The back-and-forth play took place for well over an hour.

Lesson plan by Heather Taylor, teachoutside@gmail.com. You are welcome to share all materials with credit to her.