With a global resurgence in the work of valuing outdoor play in nature, many schools are thinking about adding new natural play areas or transitioning existing play environments. Even before Playcosystem opens to the public Bernheim has hosted a number of groups interested in seeing how we are putting our philosophy of play in nature into practice.
On Thursday, April 22nd we hosted a group from Kentucky Country Day school. It was a fitting way to spend Earth Day – chatting about strategies to engage more children with nature through play. Here’s what Lower School Director, Amy Torok Mendel wrote to us after their visit…
“Kentucky Country Day School is eager to turn its 80 acre campus into a greater outdoor learning space, and some of our faculty wanted to be sure that our vision of natural play was possible Enter Claude Stephens. We had a fantastic visit with Claude at Bernheim to see the new Placosystem. WOW! The space shows extraordinary vision and contains many of the components we were hoping to incorporate into our space: loose parts, sand, mud, natural water, and more. We are excited to begin to reimagine our space to include time for more outdoor play, in which children learn by freely creating and doing without adult direction.”
Here’s a few photos they gathered on their Playcosystem outing…
