Playing with wood chips at playground

[Anonymous]

My 3 year old is obsessed with wood chips at the playground. She doesn’t play on the playground equipment and would rather spend most of her time scooping up the wood chips with her hands and putting them on slides, benches, and swings. I don’t see other kids at the playground who do this? Is this normal? Do you let your kids play with the wood chips? I’m worried about her getting splinters and sometimes she throws the wood chips on herself and kids that pass by. I always stop her once she starts throwing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 3 year old is obsessed with wood chips at the playground. She doesn’t play on the playground equipment and would rather spend most of her time scooping up the wood chips with her hands and putting them on slides, benches, and swings. I don’t see other kids at the playground who do this? Is this normal? Do you let your kids play with the wood chips? I’m worried about her getting splinters and sometimes she throws the wood chips on herself and kids that pass by. I always stop her once she starts throwing.

My DS did this too- he ended up in the gifted program at his school, so there's that.

[Anonymous]

It’s completely normal. Tons of kids play with mulch.

[Anonymous]

It’s fine, bring buckets and a shovel

[Anonymous]

Throwing woood chips is fine as long as it’s not directly at other kids

[Anonymous]

Sounds like sensory play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 3 year old is obsessed with wood chips at the playground. She doesn’t play on the playground equipment and would rather spend most of her time scooping up the wood chips with her hands and putting them on slides, benches, and swings. I don’t see other kids at the playground who do this? Is this normal? Do you let your kids play with the wood chips? I’m worried about her getting splinters and sometimes she throws the wood chips on herself and kids that pass by. I always stop her once she starts throwing.

yeah kids have always liked putting dirt or sand or rocks on the slide and sliding through them. Get her a small shovel. She could help you garden.

[Anonymous]

Just make sure she doesn’t throw on or around other kids. Scooping and sliding is normal.

[Anonymous]

Just take her to a different playground that doesn't have them.

[Anonymous]

My kid does it so much that in the spring we are planning on putting down wood chips in a section of the yard that’s hard to grow grass. Too lazy to fight nature and he loves the chips!

[Anonymous]

We got our 3 year old a fleece jacket. It’s basically a mulch pile at this point.

[Anonymous]

My kid did this, too! She was also in GT program and academically very successful. The fresh air was good for her, although at the time I figured why take her to the park if she just wanted to sit in the mulch? It’s normal.

[Anonymous]

My 3 year old has never had any interest at all in climbing on play structures. She likes wood chip and pebble play or wandering off into the grass to pick up acorns and stuff. We got the hint and sent her to a 100% outdoors forest preschool, and she loves it. I understand your reaction that it’s weird; I was also not like this as a child, and it can be hard to see all the other kids running and playing on the equipment while yours digs in the wood chips. But I’ve gotten used to it and always try to lean into parenting the kid I’ve got.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s fine, bring buckets and a shovel

+1

[Anonymous]

I remember once taking my 3-yo to a playground, and he asked “what should we play with: swings, slide or wood chips?”!