Outside Play Setup on a Budget

Montessori at Home, Preschool

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I would love to share with you our patio outside set up for play on a budget. Free open-ended play is one of the most essential aspects of the child’s growth and development. They take control over their discoveries, they learn to transform into reality their thoughts and their dreams through their environment. Everything I do for my child at home is driven by the principles of the Montessori philosophy. I also get an incredible amount of inspiration from Reggio’s pedagogy. I created this outside open-ended play set up with a few goals in mind:

– encourage my child to spend more time outside

– create space that reflects her interests

– nature-driven and centered

– allows messy play

– encourages open-ended play

– easy to set up

The majority of our outside play setup materials are second-hand find. Here is what we’ve got:
– activity table: play-dough, craft, drawing, puzzles, etc.
– reading corner with a reading nook
– blanket for play with LEGO / soft toys/dress-ups
– nature play area
– sensory/sand/water play area with a wooden garden bed transferred into a sandpit area.
– easel for painting and drawing
It is also very important to encourage the child to do gross motor activities. We do that on a budget at a park. To read more about gross motor activities in nature hop here.
I hope you were inspired!

  About Anastasia. Anastasia is a former Early Childhood Teacher and the founder of Montessori Nature, a blog about Montessori - inspired and Nature-based explorations. She taught in a Montessori setting for 10 years and has been practicing the Montessori way of learning and living for the last 20 years. She loves designing engaging educational printables for children. Browse Anastasia's educational resources on Teachers Pay Teachers.

8 thoughts on “Outside Play Setup on a Budget”

  1. Yuliya Fruman

    This is beautiful! I love your setup so much, especially that reading area! It makes me so excited to move to our new home, to set up an area like this 🙂 We have a water/sand table that we got towards the end of summer, but didn't have a chance to use that much yet. I really like how you put yours in a sand pit, too. I'll have to convince my hubby to build us one! We have our easel indoors at the moment, but I'll certainly be bringing that out next summer. Never thought to do that before.

  7. Christin

    This is so beautiful! How do you protect these things from being damaged? Bring the books and easel inside every night? Thanks!

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