A LIVING ROOM IN THE WOODS: Six Great Ways Parks Connect Kids to Nature
A park manager from Five Rivers MetroParks in Dayton, OH, Todd Catchpole, recently told me about finding a secret nature place built by kids in one of their parks. This charming and unexpected construction, literally a little living room in the woods, was located near a stream, out of view, and known only to the neighborhood children who played there till it was accidentally discovered by the park staff.
The tableau was constructed from grape vines, stones, and other natural materials gathered from the nearby stream and populated by small dolls and toy furniture and decorated with fresh daffodils.
It was a delightful place, full of the imagination of children at play.
Far from being an unauthorized use of the park, the ‘Living Room in the Woods’ was exactly the kind of nature discovery play the park staff had hoped would take place in this recently designated Nature Play Area.
Five Rivers MetroParks has designated a number of Nature Play Areas in their parks, and this one is just about ideal–a wooded finger of parkland that extends into a residential neighborhood which surrounds the parkland on three sides. It is so suitable for children’s play that the mother of one of the kids who built the living room recently contacted the park staff and expressed her appreciation that there was such a place in the park that her kids could safely play, and in a way that she felt was so important for their development.
The Living Room in the Woods highlights an important truth—the immense value of parks to kids. Simply said, parks are one of the primary places that kids—and parents—can connect to nature and the outdoors. We take them for granted, but they may just be essential if a generation of kids who have lost their connection to nature are to re-connect.
So, why are parks so important to kids?
- Parks are safe places for kids to go. Whether it is reality or just the perception of reality, many parents are fearful of letting their kids play unsupervised outdoors except in very controlled circumstances. Stranger-danger, fear of poisonous plants, fear of stinging and clinging insects—all of these are reasons why nature for some is a place to be feared not embraced. Parks are one of the few places that are very safe for kids to go. They are secure, free from most hazards, and watched over by staff and the public. Park visitors promptly report unsafe conditions or hazards. Many eyes on the park make for a safe place for kids to play.
- Parks are one of the best places for discovery and play. Think back on your own childhood. The life of your imagination was a fertile place. Playing king-of-the-hill on a pile of dirt, building a fort or a clubhouse in the woods, flipping rocks over in a stream, exploring in uncharted territory—all were hugely enriching experiences. Natural parks are places for kids to discover the eggs of a frog in the water collected in a tire t rack and to see squirrels running through the tops of trees, jumping from tree to tree. Kids will load their pockets with natural objects to later marvel at how interesting the things found in nature really are. Parks are places for kids to discover nature and exercise their imagination.
- Parks are places for families to connect –with nature, and to each other. Perhaps more than ever, families need places to connect with each other. Parks are all-purpose places for kids to connect with nature and with families to connect with each other. They are one of the few places that families can go where there are no barriers to communication—no amplified loudspeakers, no big screen TVs, nothing other than the sounds and sights of nature. Parks enable connections between people as well as to nature.
- Parks are close-to-home nature places. One of the great blessings of our national birthright is the heritage of our parks and public lands. Acquiring and developing parks is a uniquely American tradition at all levels of government, one that is all the more cherished as open spaces are rapidly disappearing from communities. And the power of local parks to connect kids with nature is not to be underestimated. A long-standing observation about parks, recently articulated by Joe Elton, Virginia state park director, is that “you visit your local parks daily, your state parks a few times a year, and your national parks perhaps but once in a lifetime.” Nature is available in almost every park, and there are parks close to where you live.
- Parks provide a sense of adventure for kids. Parks have the unique ability to provide kids with a sense of adventure. Every hike in the woods brings new things to see, and around every turn there is something new to discover. Kids gain a sense of accomplishment from challenges met outdoors, which leads to greater self-confidence and self-worth. Parks are a great place for kids to take risks, within acceptable limits, and to discover that the fears they have about the unknown are conquerable. The snake they encountered in the woods didn’t fall out of a tree and try to bite them. They didn’t get covered with ticks after taking a hike in the woods. Every successful adventure in the park contributes to their maturity and to kids developing a sense of stewardship for wildlife, natural resources, and open spaces.
- Parks are a place to remember. Some of our earliest and most special memories were formed in parks—lifetime experiences that we remember with great satisfaction. Parks were special places where we forged friendships, had adventures, and learned new things about life and ourselves. Parks still provide these kinds of experiences to kids, and they produce powerful positive memories, affecting kids in ways we cannot always easily perceive. These park experiences influence their ethics, their career choices, and even how they will be as parents.
Parks connect kids to nature in all the right ways. Find out where your close-to-home local parks are and get to know the park personnel who supervise them. Enable your kids to play there—they will be grateful for the rest of their lives.
Richard J. Dolesh is Vice President for Conservation and Parks, National Recreation and Park Association
Photo of the Living Room in the Woods by Debra L. Hensley, Five Rivers MetroParks
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Further reading on C&NN:
How Prospect Park Shaped a Man
Saving the Fields of Dreams: Building ‘Natural Cultural Capacity’ to Enrich Our Parks and Cities
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I really enjoyed your article and firmly believe in the points that you make in your blog article. As a representative of Friends of Wisconsin State Parks, I would like to ask your permission to feature your blog article with full credits to you on our website as a feature. Wisconsin State Parks has a new initiative start creating “Go Play Zones” in many of the state parks that are made up of natural play areas so that children can experience nature and play in the parks in a natural setting with natural materials that make up the play area….not plastic and metal swings and slides. I am working at increasing awareness and understanding of this “new” concept and would love to use your article to further this initiative with the many great points that you make.
Patty
A Living Room in the Woods is compelling. Every parks and recreation agency in the country should have the “ways parks connect kids to nature” prominently posted for all to read and respond. Thanks to Rich Dolesh and Five Rivers Metro Parks in Ohio.
Oh, how I wish we had parks with “designated Nature Play Areas” near us. We have many, many wonderful parks in the Bay Area, but I haven’t heard of anything quite like this. My son would love it! I’ll ask one of the East Bay Regional Parks naturalists if this is something the district would consider.
Rich,
Your blog is right on and eloquently written. It really does speak to “the immense value of parks to kids. Simply said, parks are one of the primary places that kids—and parents—can connect to nature and the outdoors.”
I fondly remember as a kid, my brother and I riding our bikes to the mountain preserve near our home and spending days on end exploring and watching rabbits and coyotes…. it was even a little scary. That was long before our mountain preserves have become the City’s nature playground for Phoenix.
We need to get back to those basics of letter kids explore and wonder about nature. Those days spent in the park and Friday evenings at the nearby mountain park where my mom would fry up chicken under the shade ramada while we played are what intrigued me into what has become a 30-year career in parks and recreation, working in the same place I grew up playing.
Thanks for all that you and NRPA are doing to promote the value of parks to kids and their families.
Great job, Rich!
Well said Rich! You really captured many of the ways our parks are critical to our lives.
Another amazing benefit of spending time in nature and parks is the ability for those places to give us a “low-stakes” opportunity to explore and develop our “self” aspects…self-confidence, self-esteem, self-efficacy, etc. Growing up as an only child, the woods was my place to trip and recover without someone laughing at me, to learn tree climbing without being told there was a better way, and a place to run into stinging nettles without being embarrassed of my blunder. I was incredibly lucky to have this place near my rural home.
The majority of kids today, however, don’t have this same access, and it is our parks that provide such a place for them – local, regional & national. Parks are a place where we can make our mistakes, learn to resolve them, and discover skills we didn’t even realize we had.
Thanks for all that you’re doing to keep our parks in the spotlight. And, thanks to ALL of the amazing park professionals who are supporting our nation’s health by continually striving to keep our parks open and accessible!
This article brings back so many childhood memories of us four children spending time with our parents hiking, discovering, learning, and having a ton of fun! As a family we picked apples and berries, making jellies, apple sauce, baking pies, etc. as a result of the fruits of our labor (no pun intended). We built bird houses and tried to identify species on our walks. I grew up in a poverty stricken region and never understood because we were so extremely active spending time outdoors; I never had time to ask for money to go to the movies or mall or buy items. And, as an adult looking back, I grew up extremely blessed. I lost my Father recently and cherish ALL the time spent and what I’ve learned from him and laugh about the times we’ve gotten lost in the woods! We had QUALITY and QUANTITY time!
Rich,
What a richly worded and heartfelt statement of the value of our parks to our communities. We have a wooded area near our home that my kids played in and that I still enjoy. Why? Because there were folks like you who saw that value and made sure the developers left that area natural for the benefit of folks like me. Thank you for your dedication and service to our industry.
That was me. Missing dinner because I was out playing and engrossed in some discovery. But somewhere along the line, the open space with the little creek where I used to catch pollywogs behind my house when I grew up, became a federally-protected wetland with endangered red-legged frogs and ticks with deadly lyme disease. Language is important. How are we talking to kids about parks and open spaces? With fear and lots of rules, or with an excitement about discovery?
One of my favorite things in the Univ. of Michigan’s Arb(oretum) in Ann Arbor is an area under some pine trees where kids are encouraged to make “fairy houses” out of the material on the ground there: http://www.flickr.com/photos/megofbrien/4750765756/
[...] Another article, published to the Children and Nature Network blog, shows the importance of unstructured outdoor play and how parks can promote this. [...]
Very nice piece. I would like to offer it to the many municipalities we work with in our Audubon Bird Town program (many of whom are Park Board members). Please email ssaffier at audubon dot org with usage restrictions or permission. Thanks.
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