utahrd:

“When we look at the kind of places children choose to play in when it is possible to choose, these places tend to have an appearance of being forgotten or vacated by adults. They look somewhat unkempt. They may be places that have just grown up with little or no help from a landscape designer. Children seem to like places that look un-designed. That children choose these places is not to suggest that children prefer environments with a lower quality of material or that they have a preference for nature. Children also love to play in garbage dumps if they are allowed to do so. What they like is the non-predictability of these non-designed landscapes.”

Barbara Hendricks