Last weekend the boys helped me knock on neighbors' doors. A group of parents and neighbors are trying to survey the community on what they would like to see happen with the local school's playground and field. One question asked about whether people wanted to see the playground become more naturalized. Several people requested more information on naturalized playgrounds. Here is an article I am working on:
Our survey asked what was your favorite outdoor/ playground memories? Many people responded that they remember wandering in wild areas, playing on tree roots or next to streams.
These days many children do not get the opportunity to play in natural areas. National park attendance is down. Unstructured playtime for children has fallen. “University of Maryland Researchers have found that outdoor and nature based activities- from walking to camping now comprise less than one half hour per week of a child’s time.” (Christopher pg. 2, 2010)
A naturalized playground is a place for children to get to experience nature in their own neighborhoods and school yards. These environments provide opportunities for child directed, complex, extended play. They create a place for children to rehearse and refine social competencies in the the tactile and imagined worlds that the natural objects take on.
Natural play areas also provide an area for quiet play and even curricular integration.
When Orca was at the Columbia building, the few trees in the corners of the concrete pad drew a myriad of activities from running games, to imagined worlds, to quiet conversations. The well beaten path around those trees tells the story of many children's footsteps.
Richard Louv writes that " surprisingly green play areas can be designed to survive thousands of feet. During the past two decades, natural-play-area designers have become skilled at creating living landscapes that use specialized soil and plants as well as irrigation technologies; they design slopes to resist erosion, and cover walls with hanging gardens." (Louv, pg. 209, 2011)
There is a company called Playcore that works on developing natural playgrounds that has summarized the benefits on their website at naturegrounds.org. These include:
“Innovative projects generate positive press and new funding streams
“Mixed” play environments are more attractive and comfortable for adults, encouraging caregivers to spend more time outdoors with their children
Well-designed playgrounds are a primary attraction for families using neighborhood and community parks
Naturalization adds visual interest, shade, and comfort — resulting in sustained repeat visits, a relaxed and playful social atmosphere, and growth of community social capital
Users of all abilities discover a wider range of play opportunities
Curvy pathways provide attractive, accessible, active settings for children, and social strolling by adults
Naturalization provides new opportunities for nature-based professionals to offer rich outdoor educational and recreation programs for a wide range of children”
In a article written about the Thatcher Brook Elementary School in Vermont where the firm who designed their playground says, "It's important for kids to physically touch the earth," says Teri Hendy, whose Cincinnati-based firm, Site Masters Inc., helps design playgrounds and evaluate their safety. "When kids play on manufactured equipment, what they do is predictable. Nature isn't. Kids will spend five times as much time playing in a natural area as they do on a traditional playground. "
Naturalization of playgrounds also helps weave together the green spaces and parks we already have in the area. It creates habitat for wildlife and a place for community to gather. Additionally Outdoor/ Nature based play also has been shown to reduce the effects of ADHD, myopia, and childhood obesity. (NEEFUSA, 2009).
Check some of the following resources out:
Examples:
There are quite a few models of naturalized play areas, here in Washington you can find:
Methow Valley: http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2010/sep/16/methow-valley-playground-goes-the-natural-way/?print
Kirkland: http://kirkland.patch.com/articles/floral-final-touches-put-on-sandburg-elementary-natural-playground
There is a nature based play area that can be found in Cincinnati. http://www.cincynature.org/playscape.html
And there are organizations and private companies as well that will help develop them
The North Carolina Natural Learning Initiative links to many examples at http://www.naturalearning.org
Natural Playground Company at Landcurrent, Nature play, Discovery and learning at http://naturalplaygrounds.info/
There may also be some resources in the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative and Report
http://americasgreatoutdoors.gov/
References:
Books and Online-Articles that focus on the importance of Getting Kids in Nature
Christoper, Todd, The Green Hour: A Daily Dose of Nature for Happier, Healthier, Smarter Kids , Trumpeter Books, Boston, MA, 2010
Louv, Richard, The Nature Principle, Alonguin Books, Chapel Hill, 2011
White, Randy (2004) Young Children’s Relationship with Nature: Its Importance to Children’s Development and the Earths Future, White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group http://www.whitehutchinson.com/children/articles/childrennature.shtml
Fact Sheet Children’s Health and Nature, Health & Environment A National Environmental Education Foundation Program the National Environmental Education Foundation, Health and Environment Program (2009). www.neefusa.org/assets/files/NIFactSheet.pdf
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