Oak Tree Primary School and Nursery, Mansfield

Oak Tree’s early years outdoor setting required a makeover to provide interaction, stimulation and a variety of imaginative play opportunities for its users. A physical experience was an essential requirement along with numerous resources to develop the communication skills of the children. Hand Made Places were excited to be asked to create this outdoor learning and play area for the school.

The area was quite awkward in its size and layout; there were also existing features which needed to be retained for safety and structural purposes. All of which needed to be considered when manufacturing and locating the chosen equipment.

After a number of variations to determine the final layout of the area, some bespoke elements were introduced into the scheme to maximise the potential of the area.

We provided numerous items including sand and water pits, talking tubes, a stage, interactive panels, a trim trail, ‘amazing’ seating, play units, a sail canopy and a large story house; along with artificial grass, safety surfacing, playground markings and timber pencil fencing to create a fun, safe environment for outdoor learning and play.