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    Creating places for nature play

    Posted 2016
    Source
    Land Trust Alliance
    Author
    Rose Jenkins
    Two children jumping off of a large log with another child behind them looking shocked with her hands on her face.
    About This Document

    Children learn to love nature by playing in it. To nurture that connection, a number of land trusts and conservation groups in Pennsylvania have created nature play areas within their preserves.

    Rose Jenkins is a frequent contributor to Saving Land, the Alliance’s quarterly magazine.

    © 2026 Land Trust Alliance, Inc. All rights reserved.

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    For accreditation-related materials, please also consult the Land Trust Accreditation Commission website.

    Children at the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania’s DiscoverGround

    Children learn to love nature by playing in it. To nurture that connection, a number of land trusts and conservation groups in Pennsylvania have created nature play areas within their preserves.

    The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania offers a one-acre nature play area, called DiscoverGround, on its Beechwood Farms Nature Preserve. Set among woodlands and a wildflower meadow, the play area features a sandpit, a tree house, a climbing trunk, tunnels and serpentine walls. Operations Director Brian Shema says, “Time spent in this unstructured space enables children to build confidence, use their imagination and appreciate what nature can offer.”

    Tips from Nature Play: Nurturing Children and Strengthening Conservation Through Connections to the Land, by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association:

    • It can be simple! You just need natural elements that kids can interact with, like dirt, sand, water, flowers, sticks, trees, logs, berry bushes or leaf piles.

    • Attract wildlife with butterfly gardens, birdhouses or boards that kids can lift to find bugs.

    • Encourage kids to play with nature — not just outdoors.

    • Let children invent their own play.

    • Offer quiet spaces for peaceful, reflective activities.

    • Relax your rules. Kids may do some damage — like trampling plants or muddying a stream — but it’s minor in perspective.

    • Check for safety hazards on a regular basis and carry liability insurance.