Homer Lake Natural Playscape: Magic Included at no Extra Cost

For more information, please visit www.ccfpd.org/homerlakeplayscape

What is a Natural Playscape?

A Natural Playscape is a landscape designed for play with the express purpose of connecting people to nature. Unlike a traditional playground made of plastic and metal, Natural Playscapes use natural materials like streams, plants, boulders, logs, earth mounds and more to provide a highly creative, interactive play experience.

These play experiences are akin to those that many kids had a generation ago, and which are becoming increasingly rare today. The Homer Lake Natural Playscape will help bring back the magic of those experiences for today’s kids, and help grow future advocates for the environment while also building healthier bodies and minds.

What are the Benefits of Nature Play?

The benefits are many and varied, and have been demonstrated through research. They include:

• A foundation for environmental stewardship
• More creative play
• Improved motor coordination
• Enhanced emotional coping and reduced stress
• Increased concentration and impulse control
• Reduced symptoms of ADD and ADHD

For more details about these benefits, along with the research cited, please see: peecworks.org

Perhaps the most significant outcome is stewardship. As Ken Finch, President of Green Hearts Institute for Nature in Childhood, says, “Among conservationists, the experience of childhood nature play is nearly ubiquitous.” Research has shown that “… participation with “wild” nature before age 11 is a particularly potent pathway toward shaping both environmental attitudes and behaviors in adulthood . . . the experience is likely to stay with them in a powerful way—shaping their subsequent environmental path.”

Source: Nature and the Life Course: Pathways from Childhood Nature Experiences, Nancy M. Wells and Kristi S. Lekies, Cornell University, in Children, Youth and Environments, 2006

See the Plan

Curious to know what the playscape will include? Please visit www.ccfpd.org/homerlakeplayscape

The playscape will be located just north of the Walnut Hill parking lot at Homer Lake Forest Preserve.

It will include ADA-accessible pathways, a sand play area, a tumbling creek, hill slide, log, boulder and stump jumping area, human-sized bird house, a large horizontal climbing tree, tallgrass maze, spider web climber and more!

The Homer Lake Natural Playscape will be a place for all to enjoy. The playscape team has worked to solicit feedback from the public and various user groups. These have included parents, grandparents, those passionate about nature play, kids of all ages, Girl and Boy Scout Troops, and members of the disabled community.You will see their ideas reflected in the plans below.

See Photos of Our Progress

October 2010 - We have flagged the site! Click here for a virtual tour

Please come back later for photos of the stream under construction (slated to start winter of 2010-2011)

Partners and Donors

We have been very fortunate to have already received tremendous community support for this project, including excited interest, creative ideas and donations.

Community Partners to date include:

• C-U Fit Families - click here to visit their blog
• Cub Scout Pack 42 (Homer)
• Girl Scout Troop 2335 (St Joseph)
• Recreation, Sport and Tourism Department at the Univ. of Illinois
• Article in News Gazette on October 14 - click here

Grants and Donations have been received so far from:

• Izaak Walton League
• Kohl’s Department Stores
• The Marajen Stevick Foundation
• The North Face—Explore Fund
• Private Donations

 

For more information, please visit www.ccfpd.org/homerlakeplayscape