Will Lyon, a baker extraordinaire, serves up some freshly made mud pies in the Marge & Charles Schott Nature PlayScape’s new Mud Zone at Cincinnati Nature Center in Milford.
When the Marge & Charles Schott Nature PlayScape at Cincinnati Nature Center opened its rustic wooden gates in the spring of 2011, it was an unprecedented and forward-thinking move on the part of the Nature Center to connect a new generation with nature. Spurred by Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods, and with a committed desire to encourage children to spend more time outdoors, Cincinnati Nature Center invested in creating one of the largest natural play areas in the country, designed as an environment to intentionally engage children in the natural world.

Loving the Land

Five years and 150,000 visits later, the Nature PlayScape is inspiring, teaching, and charming both children and adults alike. The play area encompasses 1.6 fenced-in acres and with a secure entry/exit way, allows caregivers to relax while children roam free and interact with nature in ways that are, in many instances, not possible in our contemporary lives, or even throughout other areas of the Nature Center. While digging in the soil, running through the woods, making mud pies, building forts and floating leaves down the stream, children make a connection with nature that helps foster a life-long love, respect and desire to care for our world. According to Cincinnati Nature Center Executive Director Bill Hopple, “We could not have imagined a more welcoming reception and appreciation of the intent of the Nature PlayScape from so many factions of our community. It is incumbent upon us that we share and instill a love of nature in those who will someday be keepers of the land. Children are the future – and their experiences outdoors are essential for the development of a conservative ethic.”

Getting Healthy

There is so much more to spending time in nature than once thought. Studies indicate that unstructured play in nature is critical for healthy childhood development, actually increasing self-esteem, creativity, motor skills, fitness and academic performance.

The Nature PlayScape is designed to offer children ages 3 to 11 a variety of elements and features to engage with including winding trails through tall grassy areas, a wetland brimming with pollinator-friendly shrubs and a lush grass-topped hill that is perfect for rolling down. Alongside natural growth over the past five years, many improvements have been made to support the thousands who enjoy the Nature PlayScape annually. Recently, in celebration of its fifth anniversary, the addition of the Mud Zone feature has opened up yet another fun learning environment, nurturing individual and group creativity and exploration. Complete with a water pump, soil, tables and tools, the space provides children freedom to dig, sculpt, bake and frolic with mud.

Playing Dirty

Mud is not just for mud cakes! Studies suggest that playing in soil actually helps children build stronger immune systems. Researchers believe that when children are too clean and their exposure to parasites, bacteria, and viruses is limited early in life, they face a greater chance of having allergies, asthma, and other autoimmune diseases. One bacteria found in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, has been shown to stimulate the production of the brain chemical serotonin, a feel-good, mood enhancer. Hence, there is definitive credence to the notion… being in nature just makes us feel good!

For an upcoming calendar of events that are taking place in the Nature PlayScape please visit www.cincynature.org/events-and-programs/nature-playscape-events-and-programs/. Nature PlayScape programming is sponsored by our good friend Jungle Jim’s International Market. The new Mud Zone is sponsored by Park National Bank.

Cincinnati Nature Center preserves over 1,600 acres of protected and managed forests, grasslands, ponds and streams for the purpose of visitor experience and education.

With twenty miles of award winning trails on two picturesque properties in Milford and Goshen, the Nature Center provides spectacular experiences for people of all ages in all seasons.