A teacher's vision for an interactive and natural playspace on a vacant hillside at Holy Cross Catholic School in Toronto, Ontario, came to life with some creative additions and careful planning, including a winding running loop that undulates up and down the play area, moving through the trees and plantings, marked on one end by a flagpole and a tall upright log at the other.

Land Art Design Landscape Architects (Land Art), a Toronto, Ontario-based design studio, was retained by the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) to transform a previously unusable mulched hillside into an adventure playground for children in kindergarten and first grade along the west side of the Holy Cross Catholic School in Toronto. From beginning to end, the stars aligned to produce an installation that exceeded all expectations.

The project began with the vision of an insightful teacher. After completing a butterfly garden in the corner of the playground area, she saw the possibility for an interactive creative play space built from the vacant hillside remaining. She presented the idea to the principal, who was fully supportive, and together they contacted a school grounds design consultant with Evergreen, a landscape architect working with the TCDSB, to help bring nature and creative play to the school grounds. The team held design meetings with the school's children and asked them what they would like to see in their play area.

At about the same time, Evergreen presented a conference on natural interactive play, attended by local professionals and featuring presentations from German playground specialists who had successfully built numerous natural playgrounds in Germany. The school's proximity to the conference site and the vision for a new playground fit perfectly with the conference objectives. This provided the basis for a design charrette, in which conference attendees synthesized the presented ideas into 3D models of the yard constructed with materials like sticks, stones, sand and logs.

Land Art was tasked with combining the various ideas into a master plan that accommodated the unique hillside site. It was May, and the school board wanted the playground finished by the beginning of the next school year. The tight timeframe meant that the drawings had to be completed quickly to provide sufficient time for the construction. The 3D models were an invaluable resource of data, allowing the firm to move quickly into design and detailed drawings of the site.

The playground was designed with numerous nooks and crannies to accommodate groups ranging in size and age, and generate hours of imaginative, active play. Additional features added to supplement the existing play structure include an outdoor amphitheater and natural materials like stone planting areas filled with mulch and locally-sourced logs.

The original budget only covered the costs of a very basic improvement, so the design was prepared as a phased master plan. Land Art found a source that provided all the logs and stags from the city for free, but the initially donated materials were not enough to engage 100+ children in the area, and much of the hillside would remain unaltered. The supervisor of the capital and renewal team at TDCSB solved this riddle by securing additional funding that brought the full design to fruition within the allotted time.

After six months of construction that began at the end of the 2011 school year, the new play area featured meandering walks edged with giant natural logs that lead the children north from the amphitheatre to the main promontory, now called "The Fort' by the kids. Steps on two ends and a double slide run up and down the hillsides. Its central location provides views over the entire play area and is large enough for 20 children, holding multiple small groups simultaneously in an enclosure.

A wobble log completes the installation along the north end, and a small collection of tree stumps form a second classroom along the east.

A large evergreen tree adjacent to The Fort was preserved, and mulch added to the base absorbs compaction from foot traffic. The first of two spring-mounted wobble logs was placed under the tree. The renovated playground easily accommodates more than 100 children without being crowded. At the official opening, speeches were made by the young and the young at heart, followed by a blessing and more than 100 five-year-olds singing, "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine."

The growth of active play environments that eschew traditional playground elements in favor of natural components might be the beginning of a new trend, in which children are once again allowed to exercise their bodies and their imaginations beyond one-dimensional playground themes.