Playgrounds Go Wild at Metro!

The Tipping Point?

Natural Play Areas are spreading! The popularity is increasing in all sectors of our work; schools, childhood centers, recreation spaces and parks. Metro’s new issue of Our Big Backyard was just released. It includes a great article about Metro supported nature play projects including existing projects and ones planned for the future. The nature play article includes quotes from Learning Landscapes own Michelle Mathis!

Who is Metro?

Metro works with communities, businesses and residents in the Portland metropolitan area to chart a wise course for the future while protecting the things we love about this place. They are the ones that help create our urban growth boundary and provide a lot of the services that make Portland the gem that it is.

What is happening at Oxbow Regional Park?

Learning Landscapes has been working closely with Metro staff to design engaging areas at Oxbow regional park for kids to engage with nature. The site is rich with interesting plants and animals as well as an active history. But, often these stories are lost on park visitors. The Oxbow Adventure concept that Learning Landscapes developed provides base camps where kids can choose an adventure to go on.

Kids find the base camp and choose an adventure that excites them, putting them in charge of their experience. Their adventure includes a map to a location on site, investigation suggestions and further information. The tacking adventure beings young ones to the waters edge to look for evidence of animal life on the sandy shore, it provides example tracks and tells a bit about the animals that they may find. They can hunt for tracks as they enjoy the Sandy River and explore the park.

Here are the concepts behind the first six adventures. The adventures offered at any time could change depending on the season, site changes or new stories that arise. For example there were nesting eagles in the park last year!

Visitors can also enjoy nature in a more controlled environment in one of the nature themed play areas; a sand and water flood play zone and an animal hide and seek area. Both of these play areas introduce kids to themes and ideas they might find throughout the rest of the site. Keep an eye out in the next few years for this project to come alive on site.