This week the City of Boulder hosted a free 2-day symposium
on Nature Play. What is nature play?
Well, pretty much what it sounds like: being outside, interacting with the
natural world and playing. Research shows that in children and adults, it reduces stress, decreases
symptoms of ADHD, increases levels of concentration and can boost immune
systems. As a gardener, I feel lucky to be someone that gets to play
in nature pretty regularly but, a lot of people these days just don’t. The national
average for children is 7 minutes per day spent outside playing. Recognizing the benefits I
gain from time spent outside, I can confidently say, that is not enough!!
There
is a national movement happening to try to get children back outside and experiencing
the natural world more regularly, whether it’s while they’re in school or on the
weekends with friends and family. Boulder’s current effort is to redesign part
of the Civic Area downtown into a nature play space for children of all ages.
By most accounts, Boulder, CO is one of the most outdoorsy places in the country,
but even there, with people’s busy schedules sometimes it still takes considerable effort
to get outside and play! I think it’s great that the City is responding to the
community’s recommendation to enhance these public spaces and create places for
kids to have opportunities within an urban context to be “in nature”.
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| Ideas generated by symposium participants |
The first evening was a gathering of community members, City
employees and two invited guests,nationally recognized nature play experts Robin Moore and Louise
Chawla. The evening was designed to
provide guidance and direction to the department as they work to enhance
connections to the natural environment within urban park system. We went
through different exercises reflecting on our favorite moments spent in nature and
then a huge brainstorming session on what we would like to see be included in
the final design.The results of the evening were documented and will be considered as the team moves forward.
The following images are some of the ideas generated by the symposium participants. What elements they would like to see implemented and some of their favorite memories of time spent in nature as children.
The second
evening was a more formal presentation by Mr. Moore and Ms. Chawla on their research and
how we can all work to provide opportunities for children and adults to get
outside. The panel discussion that followed included area representatives who
are working to create these opportunities through their work in design and with
local children. One of the important messages I heard was not only that children benefit by interacting with nature, but that the natural world benefits too. When children learn to appreciate and respect nature, it promotes stewardship later in life.
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| Panel discussion |
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