Summer at Purple Moose! Outside Play Space, Part One

Summer is here in the North Country!

As the temps begin to climb to the upper 80's, we are ready for the warm weather here at Purple Moose Discovery Center! Our outdoor play center is up and running and waiting for children to come enjoy it! Come take a stroll through our new play space and see what the fun is all about!

The first element we added was our music wall. It is a wonderful place to play rhythms, or let your little drummer play away! It is also a place to learn about sound and pitch. Our 2 inch pvc pipes are cut to length with elbows added at either end to make them easier to play. I like to ask the children why they think the sound is higher or lower with the various size pipes. I admit these were a "third times the charm" item. First hung incorrectly from high to low, then needing to be repainted...twice, to match up with the color coded music we already had from our Melissa and Doug piano. But now they play a scale and we have had fun playing songs with double drummers to keep the beat. I am eager to expand our music selections to include some for older kids as well.  Below is a link to the directions we used for the pipes. They were intended for "boomwhackers" (standing small tubes you strike for a tone) but they still seemed to work fairly well for this project. I did end up trimming a little off to alter the pitch slightly. (Make sure you start at the lowest point if you have to do this). Most of the items used for the music wall were purchased at the local Dollar Tree, one of my favorite placed to shop for kids and craft ideas! http://www.amarketplaceofideas.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/All-Homemade-Instrument-Directions.pdf 

Next, I set off to make the ball wall. Two sides, one with gutters cut to size for our balls from the mini ball pit inside, and another with left over pvc pipes. I added the corners from other gutter materials and purposely left enough space to see the balls pass through. This is used with ping pong balls I painted in colors with left over paint
from the pvc pipes. I almost didn't paint them, but I'm glad I did. They really are much more visually engaging when playing with them, The best part is that balls from both runs land in the bucket (another Dollar Tree find). I especially like it when the ping pong balls go along the bottom of the fencing board and go back up the other side before going back to the bucket. I'd like to say I planned that, but it is really just a happy accident!

The boat racers are a fun way to challenge your buddy, sibling, or parent! Made again from plastic gutter material, they work by placing a boat on either side, filling up the pitcher of water from the base and pouring it out on the count of 3! I drilled holes in the back and used wire fasteners to attach them to my back drop. The ends are set on the side of a super-sized bucket (found at your local Walmart or Hardware Store). I used an upside-down smaller bucket on the bottom and a right side up bigger one on the top to put the water in to keep it safer for little ones. I found the boats while food shopping one day and was thrilled that they not only were the perfect size for the activity, but that I could find them when I was ready for them! OK, I admit it took a few tries to find them, but the point is that I did ;)

The last water race boat run underwent several different beginnings. They were originally parallel to the ground with end caps to allow for self-guided play with boats, but the caps did not secure tightly enough to keep the water in, so it was really a bust. I eventually ended up going with the same idea as the ball run and other boat racer combined, but this time making it so that the boats could be launched by one person and one bucket at the same time, but they would go in opposite directions. I had to adjust the lengths a couple times to allow for the force of the water as they went flying past the buckets to catch them on the first few tries. Humorous to be sure, but a quick waste of water! I added a shark over one of the runs to make it more interesting (the boasts have to get past the shark) and that was a big success! I am going to keep my eyes open for additional ones to add on other parts of the run.

The water runs were one of my favorite spaces to put together. I laid out everything in my classroom on the rug and took a picture of it with my phone for me to use when it came time to assemble it. Again drilling holes and attaching with plastic fasteners seemed to work well. As I found when creating the double boat launch, my biggest problem was allowing for the force of the water when lining the items up. It took a few times re-positioning before I was able to get everything to go where I wanted. I really enjoy this part of the wall. I have found myself standing and playing by myself when I am suppose to just be setting it up! Truly fun for ALL ages! ;)