Adventure in Nature: Building an Educational Playground in Vrhovčak’s Forest
As we near the end of our three-week volunteer project in Vrhovčak, Croatia, our team has been working hard to complete the final touches on an interactive educational playground for children. This last week was dedicated to bringing everything together, ensuring that the outdoor space is ready for young explorers to enjoy learning through play. Our project blends adventure with education, using the natural beauty of the forest as both a playground and a classroom.
Our mission has been to create a place where children can engage with nature in a fun and educational way. Through a treasure hunt filled with tasks that challenge them to discover the environment, we’ve designed a learning experience that encourages curiosity and exploration. Now, in this final week, we’re focused on putting the finishing touches on both the playground and the treasure hunt to ensure everything is ready for the community.
At the start of this last week, we continued working on the final elements for the outdoor playground. In our base camp, we dedicated time to painting the remaining wooden pieces and signs that would guide the children through the forest. These hand-painted elements—featuring designs of leaves, animal tracks, and forest themes—play a crucial role in leading participants from one station to the next while adding a playful, artistic touch to the environment.
We also finalized the educational tasks that accompany each station of the treasure hunt. The tasks had to be simple enough for children to understand but still informative, connecting them with the forest around them. By this point, most of the groundwork had already been done in previous weeks, so it was a matter of preparing the last few pieces. With the last few wooden elements painted and dried, we headed back into the forest to complete the playground and set up the final treasure hunt checkpoints. This week has been about tying up loose ends and ensuring that everything we’ve built over the past weeks is safe, stable, and engaging.
We worked on securing the last few climbing frames, balance beams, and rope bridges, all made from natural materials like logs and branches. The playground structures were tested for durability, and our colorful painted wood elements were placed strategically throughout the area. These vibrant designs now stand out against the greenery of the forest, inviting children to come and play.Also we placed the last of the painted signs and clues along the treasure hunt trail. The stations were designed to blend learning with adventure, as children would have to use the painted wood clues to identify trees, animals, and other natural elements in the forest.
This stage was about perfecting the experience—making sure that the treasure hunt flowed smoothly, that the clues were clear, and that the educational aspect of the trail was fully integrated into the adventure. As we approach the end of the project, the last two days have been spent testing everything one final time. We walked through the treasure hunt ourselves, checking each station, adjusting signs, and making sure the activities were engaging for children of all ages. The playground structures have also been checked again for safety, ensuring they’re ready for energetic play.
Our hand-painted wood pieces have added a special touch to the playground, making it feel both welcoming and vibrant. The treasure hunt, with its painted clues and educational tasks, now offers an immersive way for children to connect with the environment and learn about the forest around them. With just a few final touches left to be completed, we are nearly finished with our work. The educational playground is now ready to welcome the local community, providing children with a space where they can play, learn, and explore. It’s been a rewarding journey watching the project come together over the past few weeks, and we’re proud to leave behind something that will inspire curiosity and a love for nature in the years to come.
In the end, this project has left us with more than just memories—it’s given us a sense of fulfillment knowing that we’ve created something meaningful and lasting. The educational playground in Vrhovčak’s forest stands as a testament to what a group of passionate volunteers can achieve when they come together for a shared cause. And as we leave this beautiful place, we do so with hearts full of joy, knowing we’ve made a difference.