Design Principles for Nature Play Spaces （设计原则对自然空间）.pdfVIP

Design Principles for Nature Play Spaces in Nature Centers and Other Natural Areas In recent years the conservation field has come to understand that children’s unstructured, nature- based play is a powerful influence on the development of life-long conservation values — especially when such “nature play” occurs frequently. Simultaneously, research has clearly shown that such frequent, spontaneous outdoor play has largely vanished from American culture. The convergence of these factors is leading many nature centers and other conservation groups to make concerted efforts to restore nature play to childhood. To date, one of the most common strategies for these efforts is the creation of specific areas for nature play — either by designating existing habitat for that role, by creating sometimes-elaborate “nature playgrounds,” or through a combination of the two. Green Hearts believes this is a valuable effort, but we think conservationists are still several years away from having a well-tuned set of best practices for the creation of nature play spaces that are effective in bonding children to the natural world. Many nature playground efforts are underway across the country — some truly unique, while others are proliferating in more of a “cookie-cutter” format. As we have observed and analyzed many of these spaces, and helped design others, Green Hearts has begun developing a set of principles and practices to guide our work. These are not scientifically proven, absolute, or etched in stone. Rather, they represent Green Hearts’ best judgment and analysis, based on our experience. We share them here to help our conservation colleagues to similarly think through core principles and key design issues for spaces intended to recreate the wonderful, nature-based play that so many of us enjoyed during our youth. Part 1: Core Principles ♥ Trust in the inherent play val