My kids school has done some of this. Next to his kindergarten class is a little patio where they eat snacks and spend a lot of the day. It used to be concrete, but now it’s all wood chips and little logs for stools. The shade is lacking, but it has trees, they’re just a bit young. When they fill out, it’ll be amazing.

My old school didn’t understand why none of us wanted to use the shiny new dark green playground equipment on the large flat freshly sealed blacktop.

Never mind the fact that it’s too hot on the pavement, the tar sealant smells horrible, and the color choice of the equipment guarantees 2nd degree burns…

We wanted the grass and wooden equipment back. But the school though wood was too much maintenance, And grass grows too much.

I’m not gonna go check to see if kids are even using it anymore, but satellite imagery shows the playground is still just as gross.

I remember having a playground and a big field during recess. At least half the time, most of us played in the big field.

Kids are great at making fun from nothing, so this is a great move.