Child’s Play: Rediscover the Great Outdoors
By Karen Shadrach
It’s not your imagination; children today spend less time outside than any other generation. That’s the word from the National Recreation and Park Association.
With unstructured playtime down and technical use up, the time kids spend outdoors drops every year. It’s important that we, as grandparents, make the most of our time together and spend as much time as possible doing activities outside. After all, nature is the best playground.
The natural playground is a play area with elements that are integrated with the outdoor landscape, such as treehouses, streams and rope bridges, downed trees to jump on and tunnel logs to crawl through.
Natural playgrounds offer a wide range of options that encourage creative and imaginative play and allow children to choose how they interact with the nature around them.
Studies show that children who play in a natural environment have a greater attention span, better physical fitness and less stress. Plus, it’s good for developing gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
Good Natured
Cleveland Metroparks and Cuyahoga Valley National Park offer abundant opportunities to explore and learn about the habitats surrounding us. Discover something new outdoors this season with your grandchildren, and take in all the new life (plant and animal) emerging as the world turns green and colorful again.
Cleveland Metroparks comprises 18 separate reservations and over 25,000 acres in Northeast Ohio that make up our Emerald Necklace. CVNP in nearby Peninsula has 33,000 acres that include ledges, waterfalls, a river and hiking trails.
In addition to natural play areas, the Metroparks system has free nature centers, open year-round. They are great places to view and learn about local wildlife with native live-animal exhibits and naturalist-led programs. All offer special programs and camps for different age groups throughout the summer, something to remember if you want to attend one with your grandchild or provide a ride and cover the cost (if any) for participating.
Over the last few years, Cleveland Metroparks has added interesting nature-themed playgrounds.
Andrew’s Nature Play Area is across from Brecksville Nature Center on Chippewa Road. It has a large pavilion with picnic tables, balance equipment, swings, a slide, a tunnel, a climbing tree and a great layout with lots of room to run around. Brecksville Nature Center is at a trailhead for several surrounding trails. A tallgrass prairie is adjacent to the building. The trailside program center hosts educational programs and sponsors hiking for tykes and outdoor adventures.
Karen’s Way Play Space at Huntington Reservation in Bay Village is the newest park addition, located within the historic lakefront park. Nearly one acre in size, this children’s play space has an expansive nature-based design that highlights log tables/chairs, climbing equipment, an interactive water play area, a willow tunnel and a slide. Huntington Reservation is also the home to the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center.
Nature Play at Penitentiary Glen Reservation in Kirtland is a part of Lake Metroparks. It offers interactive sites designed to engage children in creative and imaginative play. Let the kids explore the playground that has logs to climb on, hillsides to roll down, a large sand pit and tunnels to crawl through. There is also a play campsite, a play garden center and a shallow pond. Kids can chart their course of adventure through this outdoor play maze. It is completely fenced in so parents can observe from a distance. Their Wildlife Center, adjacent to the nature center, is a mini-zoo featuring special presentations and baby wildlife demonstrations.
The Lindsey Family Play Space is at Edgewater Park near the Upper Edgewater Picnic Shelter. It has a wide range of nature play opportunities such as water, sand, boulders and natural climbing structures. It is a part of the Lakefront Reservation.
Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River Nature Center hosts a Nature Arts and Craft Series for kids 12 and older. The program runs throughout the year with registration open the month before the event. This may be something you can participate in together with an older grandchild.
Other favorite Nature Centers are in Shaker Lakes, Creekside in Parma and CanalWay in Cuyahoga Heights.
Find more outdoor play spots, both manmade and natural at clevelandmetroparks.com. What’s great is that if it is a rainy day, you can spend all your time indoors at a nature center and have fun playing while learning about nature.
Photo by Karen Shadrach
