A simple hill is a great way to add lots of play value to your yard or playground.  Climbing up a hill, even a small hill, gives a child a new and different view of the world.  Hills are fun for rolling down…

lying on your back and watching the clouds,

or hanging out with friends.  A hill is a wonderful place to experiment with gravity.

A hill can be as simple as a pile of dirt or mulch or gravel

and all of those materials offer the opportunity for creative digging, tunneling, and engineering. A hill can be embellished with unique plants, boulders or even a slide. In this toddler playground we added steps made of “tree cookies” and a great little slide that is wide enough for two.

This hill, in a playground for older kids, has boulder steps and it’s planted with fragrant herbs—thyme, lavender and mint.

And this little hill (with a BIG hill in the background) which I called “the ant hill” has PVC pipe “tunnels” woven throughout.   It’s easy to drop balls down the pipes… and more challenging to predict where they will come out.

Finally, I couldn’t resist sharing this one of my dear friend Elaine Tholen enjoying this “lawn chair” hill during the recent Children’s Garden Symposium at AHS’s Riverfarm. 

If you think a hill might be just what your children need, get in touch!  I’d love to help you create the hill…and landscape of your dreams.