Four Factors of Responsible
Nature Play
by Peter Dargatz THE SOUNDS of children playing filled the air. Besides an occasional trip home for a snack or bathroom break, their entire day was spent outside. Climbing trees. Catching critters. Living life. And without an adult in sight. Adults often look back on these days of nature play as some of the best days of their lives. Sadly, those days of nature play are few and far between for most of today's generation. Many questions exist. Who is to blame for the loss of these opportunities? Is it our reliance (and often over-reliance) on being constantly en-
tertained through some type of screen? Are adult caregivers worried about the appearance of looking apathetic or irresponsible when it comes to supervising their children? Is “unstructured” a scary term? Does the fear of litigation, a loss of control, or societal dangers (perceived or legitimate) hold play back? Have these days of nature play disappeared forever? Is there any way to bring them back to the world we live in today? In a word. Yes. Under one condition.
Let the kids lead.
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But how? Put away the bubble wrap. Provide clear expectations. Let the children explore, get dirty, and take risks. We survived. They will too. In fact, taking away the opportunity to lead nature play and experience nature is stunting children’s creativity, hindering their problem-solving capabilities, and ignoring necessary skills important to their physical, social, and emotional development. Responsible nature play provides countless benefits. But before jumping into some serious nature play, four factors need to be considered.
“Unstructured” Fallacy
The word ”unstructured” is misleading. Nature play is not uncontrollable chaos. In fact, it is quite the opposite. When led by children, nature play has intense flexibility and organization, even though the untrained adult eye might initially see it as a free for all. Rather than use the erroneous term of “unstructured,” try emergent or child-led. A tweak in terminology can go a long way. Similar to scaffolding in a traditional classroom, parents can experience nature play right alongside their children. As a child becomes more experienced with their environment, the adults will be able to lead less and observe more. Eventually, a child with an array of nature play experiences will earn the trust of their caregiver and should be given the freedom and right to be the director of their own play. Observant adults will appreciate the structure that exists in “unstructured” play. www.playgroundprofessionals.com/magazine
