To get you started, we have created a sample Fall Playground bucket list. Not everything on this list requires a playground and remember sometimes the simplest activities can be the most memorable. If you're following me on Instagram share your #Fallplaygroundbucketlist adventures! (just remember to make your account or posts public). We'd love to see what you and your kids come up with for their Bucket Lists!

1. Climb a tree
2. Climb a slide
3. Slide into a pile of leaves
4. Swing through a pile of leaves (kick them with your feet)
5. Swing on your stomach
6. Jump into a pile of leaves
7. Make a leaf maze
8. Make leaf art (temporary art to leave behind or bring paper and glue to save it)
9. Make nature rubbings (bring paper and crayons, find pinecones, leaves, and other fun things)
10. Make a skeleton out of sticks
11. Play 'grounder tag' on the playground (rules found here)
12. Play 'sardines' or 'manhunt' in a park or playground (rules found here)
13. Play a traditional game of hide and seek (leaf piles are great for this in the Fall)
14. Find a geocache (Durham Region geocaching resources here)
15. Visit 10 different playgrounds in Durham Region (use the Maps of your local area)
16. Find 10 different playground play features (use the Playground Reviews categories)
17. Create an obstacle course race at a local playground or park and time your friends (use existing playground equipment as a circuit or use loose parts to add your own elements like 'jump over a log'

Remember, do not make the list too long as it may seem impossible to accomplish before you start a Winter Playground Bucket List!

The summer fun and vacations in our household have caused some serious delays on the sandpit turned pirate ship fort plans. There has been absolutely no work, zero, zilch, done to the pit this summer. Elaborate plans have been drawn, discussed and mulled over but no action taken to date.

The pit has now become a loose parts play pit for Eloise. She loves running circles around the tree stump and the logs beside, that were supposed to become borders), have become 'school buses'. So I have thrown in the towel for now and instead threw some extra natural loose parts into her pit to play with. Tree bark, birch sticks, large landscaping rocks and some mulch piles. Maybe if it ever rains long enough we can make mud pies with some tin pie plates.

​Pop-up playgrounds are becoming a popular topic in Canada. They are being run in multiple cities, including a three year program in the GTA (you may have seen some Earth Play links and events shared on my Facebook page this summer). Events are added regularly to the Earth Play Facebook Page.  

​Is there anything you would add to a giant backyard hole for more creative play?
Read more about loose parts play here.

Read more in sandpit part 5.
Back to sandpit part 3.