There will be something new in the playground at Southwood School in Steinbach when children return for the start of classes next week. Rod Kehler, principal of the Kindergarten to Grade 4 school, says they have been busy in recent weeks building a nature playground.

"The idea of a nature playground is that it creates more opportunities for kids to be creative in their play. Naturally, when kids are playing in the back yard, they do things like climb rocks as opposed to man made structures. So the idea of a nature playground is that we bring that element of creativity back to play."

Kehler says the school accumulated donations of dirt over the last year which became a weed-covered mound in an area of the playground next to Grace Mennonite Church. Over recent weeks, it has been transformed. The nature playground includes a small hill with a concrete tunnel running through it. Kehler says it will also have some sand areas as well as trees and rocks to climb on. He adds the project was not inexpensive.

"We were very lucky that our Parent Advisory Council was very passionate about this and so there have been multiple fundraisers that have gone on. Our school community, as far as our parents of the the kids here, have been very generous. And then we've been lucky enough to get some money from the Hanover School Division, we received a Community Places Grant (Manitoba Government), we received a small grant from the Educational Sustainability Fund and so there have been multiple contributors. The project will end up being about $60,000 in the end."