Originally published in TEACH Magazine, January/February 2011 Issue
By Martha Beach
On a warm fall afternoon, a group of children run around McCleary Playground, located in Toronto’s Leslieville. McCleary sits just south of busy Queen Street East, on a quiet residential street. The ground is covered in soft grass and wood chips; logs, boulders, and saplings fill the small, gated area. Children scamper through trees with squirrels. They scramble over boulders and clamber to be the first to climb a pile of logs. Two children play on the logs for 10 minutes before they even notice a bright orange slide. They take a couple slides each, but soon enough they start pretending it is a train.
This leafy playground is part of a new trend. It is a natural playground, made of pathways, trees, shrubs, logs, and boulders from the Canadian Shield. The only piece of traditional equipment is the slide. There are no swings, monkey bars or teeter-totters, and no bright colours—nothing constructed of plastic or metal.
Martha Beach lives and works in Toronto as a freelance fact-checker, editor, and writer for a wide variety of publications. When she’s not working, you’ll find Martha on her yoga mat or hanging out with her daughter and husband.
