Rachel Isherwood

Product Design BSc (Hons)

How can we encourage younger children to play outdoors with natural materials through imaginative play?

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‘Your back garden’ is a kit that encourages younger children to play outdoors with natural materials through imaginative play. This kit follows the theme of an outdoor chef. The kit consists of a wooden chef figure, a storybook, 'A Day in the Life of a Chef', dress up with an apron and chef hat, wooden recipe cards and an extra element of natural dyeing instructions with samples.


Today many young children spend most of their time indoors on screens, which is seen as a nature deficit disorder. This is now starting to have a negative impact on their mental health as they grow up. There are many health benefits that have been scientifically proven, that being outdoors helps with decreasing heart rate and lowering blood pressure. Other health benefits include reducing stress and fatigue, helping with different stimulations, getting the kids moving etc. With all this in mind, there need to be more products out there to try and encourage younger children to play outdoors.


Introducing children to playing outdoors at a young age can help them to want to continue this love for the outdoors as they grow up. By creating a fun game in a certain way that motivates children, there is a bigger chance that they will be more self-inclined to play outdoors. 
What I have designed will be able to encourage younger children to play outdoors with natural material through imaginative play, also with it being a parent/guardian supported box that it might reflect on the parents as well.

Packaging of your back garden box
your back garden in use
your back garden in use

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