Clever Japanese Preschool Was Designed to Collect Rain Water So Kids Can Play in the Puddles

Like your local Chuck E. Cheese's, this inventive new preschool in Kumamoto City, Japan is where a kid can be a kid. Instead of enticing ticket games or pizza parties, toddler students get something even better: the freedom to play and jump around in rain puddles to their heart's content. The new Dai-ichi Yochien school, conceived by Japanese architecture firm Hibino Sekkei, features a courtyard that accumulates rain water during a storm to create a pool of sorts where kids can play afterwards. According to Spoon + Tomago, the space can transform into a badminton or softball court on dry days and an ice skating ring during the winter.

The rest of the facility is pretty cool, too, adopting the very en vogue concept of "open plan" interiors where classes are loosely partitioned by furniture— this look is faithfully and adorably adapted in the restroom as well.

· A New Preschool in Japan Designed to Accumulate Large Puddles When it Rains [Spoon & Tomago]
· This Japanese Kindergarten is Way Cooler Than Yours Was [Curbed]
· This Nursery School in Japan is Basically a Glassy 'Treehouse' [Curbed]