Children need to play outside, for their own good. Now imagine a playground that could fit into the urban green planning scheme. Not a metal tower, but the natural twist of a growing tree. Think of ...

Colorful slides and metal monkey bars are the mainstay of local playgrounds. But look around and you'll notice a growing trend for natural elements ... with typical play equipment such as slides ...

which opened in October on the lawn that Olm­sted and Vaux originally dubbed the Children’s Playground in 1868. Today, all of the “equipment”—structures created from trunks and branches ...