07/24/2026
🌱 Help Us Create an Outdoor Learning & Play Area for Local Children 🌱
Over the past year, our family has been blessed with the opportunity to serve children and families throughout Rockbridge County through Lulu’s Child Care. We are now working toward a new goal — transforming part of our property into a safe, engaging outdoor learning environment where children can play, explore, and grow.
Our vision is to create a dedicated outdoor play space designed to encourage movement, creativity, and hands-on learning. This area will include:
🌿 A child-friendly walking/play track
🏃 Age-appropriate play areas for different ages
🏡 A covered pavilion for shade, activities, and a central supervision area
🪨 A rock exploration area
🌱 Raised garden beds for hands-on learning
🕳️ An underground crawl tunnel and nature exploration features
Adjacent to the play area, we are also creating an agricultural and animal learning area where children can experience hands-on learning opportunities with animals and nature.
This area will include:
🐐 A secure goat enclosure requiring approximately 628 feet of additional fencing so children can safely and appropriately interact with our goats under supervision.
🐓 Three 10x20 chicken paddocks that will allow children to learn about the chicken life cycle, incubation, animal care, and responsibility. The chickens will continue to free-range during the day while having safe, dedicated areas for raising and educational activities.
We believe these experiences provide children with opportunities to learn compassion, responsibility, agriculture, and where food comes from — lessons that are becoming increasingly rare for many children.
We want to be completely transparent with our community about this project and where support would go. We have already received professional quotes for the major portions of the project:
🔹 Site preparation and excavation — approximately $8,000
CB Welding
🔹 Secure fencing for play areas and animal areas — approximately $28,000
Superior Fence Company
🔹 Covered pavilion structure — approximately $71,000
Fifthroom
(Photos of the quotes are included so everyone can see the plans and costs directly.)
These quotes cover the major structures. Additional costs will include landscaping materials, garden supplies, rock pit materials, chicken paddock materials, play features, tunnel materials, and other items needed to complete the learning environment.
We are reaching out to our community because we believe projects like this are built through partnerships. We are looking for:
❤️ Businesses interested in sponsoring a specific part of the project
❤️ Donations toward materials or supplies
❤️ Local companies willing to donate services or offer discounts
❤️ Skilled volunteers who may be able to help with landscaping, assembly, or finishing work
❤️ Organizations that may have grant or community support opportunities
Our goal is not simply to build a playground. We want to create a place where children can explore nature, learn responsibility, interact with animals, grow food, and build memories.
This project is an investment in the children and families of our community and in the future of quality child care in Rockbridge County.
Thank you to everyone who has supported Lulu’s Child Care and believed in what we are building. We are incredibly grateful for this community.
— Lance & Lauren
Lulu’s Child Care
