Mobirise

Transforming you school grounds

Sadly, many playgrounds and school grounds are full of toxins and carcinogens. At Outdoor Classrooms, we advocate for natural play, in natural spaces, with natural resources.
Healthy Gardens - Healthy Children - Healthy Planet

There is no room in the modern playground for nasty, toxic chemicals. Plastics are an environmental nightmare, especially those made from recycled plastic. Many plastic toys contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs), like Polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and dioxins. Older tanalised timber contains arsenic - a poison that is now banned in domestic wood treatments in the UK and the EU. However, tanalised timber still contains chromium and should NEVER be used for growing food crops.

We provide the ideal alternative, using naturally durable timber that is not only beautiful, but natural and safe too.

Oak, cedar and larch are extremely durable and being untreated, they don't leech nasty chemicals into the soil.

Our beautiful timber is grown in Yorkshire in sustainably managed woodlands; our woodlands are managed for nature and to increase biodiversity, and the timber we use is a byproduct of our woodland management team's selective thinning projects.

Sustainable Timber

Our timber is Yorkshire grown, in
wildlife-centred woodland-management programs. The aim of our team is to increase biodiversity of the woodlands that we manage. We remove poor specimens and plant good, local stock for the future health of the woodland area and health of the wildlife within. Click the icon to see our video.

Unique Design

Our designs are often copied, but never bettered. Our team is made up of artists, carpenters, joiners, wildlife experts and early years practitioners. Another vital part of the team is you. The input from education practitioners is a huge influence over the development and evolution of our range.

Natural Materials

We don't make plastic toys-even recycled plastic can contain nasty chemicals. Neither do we  put your children at risk of toxic  contamination by tanalising/pressure treating our timber, and we never use nasty chemical preservatives. The timber we use - cedar, larch, oak and other hardwoods - is durable,  natural and highly organic.
No Plastic - No Contaminants - No Chemicals

Unique in
every way

We aim to produce resources in a way that will...


       1. ...have little-to-no impact on the planet.
       2. ...provide natural play environments in which children can 'play out' in the security of the school grounds.
       3. ...help you to detoxify your play areas by removing plastic and tanalised timber, and replacing them with healthy, natural resources to enable healthy, natural play.

Denmaking

Playing Out:

Sadly, it is often unsafe to allow children to play out, in the conventional sense of the word. Children tend to visit friends' houses to play or have friends over to play at their own homes. Most children miss out on what we took for granted; den-building, playing games in the woods, going on walking 'adventures', meeting up in the park etc. With our products installed in your play spaces, every break-time and lunch-time offers the opportunity for children to play out in a natural and safe setting.

About Us:

We began life in 1992, as a small group of volunteers with big ideas. We originally made planters from reclaimed timber, to encourage teachers and pupils to grow their own food - herbs, vegetables and fruits - or to grow trees to plant out in the community.
As our product range grew, and demand for our products and services increased, we invested in a workshop and storage yard for our timber.... see more


We are the only outdoor space provision company with a genuine desire to produce nature-based environments in which children can play out - the way we used to; hiding, den-making (see left), world-creation, mud and water play. Our materials are easy to trace to source too.

We use natural materials. We would never put your children at risk by making our products with plastic, and we never risk arsenic contamination by pressure-treating/tanalising our timber. We use naturally durable species of timber, felled as part of our wildlife-centred thinning works in woodlands across Yorkshire. 

Our aim as a company is to make as little impact on the environment as possible. When working in the over-stocked woodlands we manage, our primary aim is the improvement of the woodland. This means thinning out tree cover to let sunlight reach the woodland floor. Opening the canopy encourages the return of wildflowers, which in turn heralds the return of insects, birds and mammals. Within a few months, new trees begin to grow in the spaces we make; natural regeneration that was impossible before.

We know from experience how a school, nursery or children's centre have had their budgets squeezed again and again. We are happy to inform you that our aim is never to make a huge profit. We work to make a huge difference. Once we have an understanding of your ideas, requirements and budget, we will go out of our way to give you as much as we possibly can for your money. The small profit we do make, is ploughed straight back into sourcing and manufacturing. We are constantly striving to lower production costs, reduce our carbon footprint and find more cost effective ways to give you as much as possible for you budget. As we evolve, we never compromise on build, quality or our natural-is-best ethos.

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