It has been four years that my children and I have been regularly going to the nearby adventure playground. Four years of connecting to the beautiful cedar, maple, and fir trees composing a patch of forest on nearby Mercer Island. Four years of learning how to hammer nails, remove nails, measure boards, and use a level and other tool while participating in and witnessing remarkable creativity.
The trees are marked with memories. They have witnessed so much, even in just these few years, these few visits, my kids can point to different parts of the forest and explain what they had built there: They remember building with parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends old and new. They have heard numerous language spoken in the forest around them. They remember the nails, the challenges, the mistakes and successes in each tree, even while new structures are taking their place.
The rules are simple. No open toed shoes. Do not take down structures ( they will come down in September when it closes for the year). Have fun.
Each summer the forest starts out a blank slate. Each year kids, some the same and many new, move in to build with donated lumber, nails, and imaginations gone wild: forts galore.
My children at age eight are still learning how to build structures. Nonetheless they have a feeling of confidence as they approach their work. They are learning to judge what is a safe situation and what is dangerous. They know how to make a platform for themselves in the woods. They can work with friends to solve problems and then share cookies and snacks.
I hope these lessons and memories follow them through life. This is place based hands on learning at its best. I am so thankful for the Mercer Island Parks and Recreation and their donors for sustaining this program. I am so thankful for these trees that stand tall and strong withstanding the new structures each year.
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