When my husband was growing up in a new suburb of West York, Pa., he and his friends habitually visited the latest construction site with their wagon. They would load long, ungainly pieces of lumber, then pull it many blocks to the edge of the development, where their backyards ended and the woods began. There they built a fort.
(“That’s stealing!” my kids chime in, but I’m guessing the workers probably knew and looked the other way).
It taught them many things – about problem solving, working together and thinking creatively. But more importantly, it got them outdoors and gave them a sense of wonder.