September 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 44

more and more disconnected from nature and the outdoors, park and recreation agencies are increasingly looking
to provide high-quality, interesting and
interactive places designed with nature
in mind that are accessible to kids of
all ages and abilities, " says Dolesh.
NRPA CEO Barbara Tulipane, a longtime supporter of connecting kids to
nature, says, " These guidelines will be
immensely helpful in providing practical knowledge that will give park and
recreation agencies the confidence on
how to design, build and manage successful nature play areas. "
" It is more important than ever that
we work in every community to reconnect people with wildlife and nature, "
says NWF CEO Collin O'Mara.
" NWF and NRPA have a great partnership to connect 10 million kids
with nature, and I am pleased that
NWF, the Natural Learning Initiative,
NRPA and all of our partners can
offer this tool to park and recreation
professionals across the country. "
The guidelines focus on design and
management of settings that facilitate hands-on engagement with nature in the everyday life of children
and families. We define a nature play
and learning area as:
A designated, managed place in an existing or modified outdoor environment
where children of all ages and abilities play
and learn by engaging with and manipulating diverse natural elements, materials,
organisms and habitats, through sensory,
fine motor and gross motor experiences.
Nature Play & Learning Places is a tool
for those working in the field including
advocates, policymakers, system managers, site managers, educators, program developers, design professionals,
urban planners and developers. Three
key topics are addressed in depth:
'HVLJQLQJ QDWXUH SOD\ DQG OHDUQLQJDUHDVAn effective nature play

and learning area includes multiple activity settings offering varied
play and activity opportunities, and
makes full use of the designated
area. The guidelines explain how
to design a nature play and learning
area and provide detailed descriptions of activity setting designs.
0DQDJLQJ QDWXUH SOD\ DQG OHDUQLQJ DUHDV Effective management is
a balance between the needs of children to engage in exuberant play and
the need to protect natural resources
from excessive wear and tear. Management should be guided by ecosystem thinking that focuses attention on
the quality of water, soil and plants.
Effective management strategies will
vary depending on the level of supervision, age of intended users, intensity of use and resiliency of plants, soils
and other natural resources.
5LVN PDQDJHPHQW Nature play
areas present a challenge to risk
managers because, while generally
speaking there are no design standards for nature play features, the
standard of care for risk management purposes is the same as any
other setting modified and intended for children's play.
" In NRPA's playground safety
training program, we regularly get
questions about risk management of
natural play areas, and uncertainty
about that issue has kept some agencies from developing them, " says
Caroline Smith, NRPA's former playground safety manager and current
online learning manager, as well as
a Nature Play & Learning Places steering
committee member.
The guidelines offer a risk management protocol for nature play and
learning areas that accomplishes the
dual goals of providing a stimulating
nature play environment while ensuring that children are not exposed to

an unreasonable risk of harm. The
guidelines recommend an eight-step
risk management assessment protocol that includes determination of
applicable design and liability standards, engagement of risk managers
and insurers, implementation of an
inspection routine, elimination of
hazards that may cause serious injury, documentation and evaluation of
all incidents, maintaining records of
inspections and incident reports, regular staff evaluations and systematic
records of responses, and effective
communication with users.
" The guidelines offer a thoughtful
and innovative approach to risk management, which is based on assessment of actual risk. We plan to draw
from these guidelines in our treatment of nature play areas in future
training offerings, " says Smith.
To learn more and for download
of the full text of the guidelines, visit
www.naturalearning.org.
Join Robin Moore and Allen Cooper to
learn firsthand about the Nature Play &
Learning Places guidelines during NRPA's 2014 Congress, held October 14-16 in
Charlotte, North Carolina. The pair will
host an education session titled, " National
Guidelines for Nature Play and Learning
Areas " from 8:30-9:45 a.m. on Thursday,
October 16, in room 207A. The workshop
will also be live-streamed at www.nrpa.
org/Congress2014/Live-Streaming. For
information on Moore and Cooper's session, as well as other education sessions
at 2014 Congress, visit www.nrpa.org/
Congress2014.
Robin Moore is a Professor of Landscape
Architecture at North Carolina State
University and Director of The Natural
Learning Initiative (rcm@ncsu.edu). Allen
Cooper is the Director of State and Local
Education Advocacy at the National Wildlife
Federation (coopera@nwf.org).

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September 2014 - Parks & Recreation

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