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Program wants to bring natural play space to the Battlefords

Jun 13, 2017 | 12:00 PM

The Battlefords Early Childhood Intervention Program (BECIP) is looking to develop a “natural play space” in Central Park to encourage young kids to get out of the classroom and learn amongst nature.

 At Monday’s city council meeting, BECIP executive director Coleen Sabraw approached members asking for their support in creating the natural learning space in North Battleford. She said getting kids out of the classroom and into nature can be beneficial for their learning process.

“Natural play spaces offer a wide range of open ended play options that allow people to be creative and use their imagination,” Sabraw said. “They offer a wide range of developmental benefits to children.”

Sabraw defined “natural play spaces” as a place with as little man made components as possible. Instead, the spaces have hills, trees, native plants, and other natural materials. The idea of a natural play space is to connect kids to nature. Central Park was chosen as a location because it is easily accessible by foot for most people in the community but Sabraw said she is willing to consider other locations.

Coun. Kelly Hawtin found the idea nostalgic.

“I came from a small town and grew up before all these plastic playgrounds were made,” Hawtin said. “I remember playing with sticks and rocks and mud. It is interesting to see the progression to those plastic playgrounds and now somewhat backwards to just playing in nature.”

Sabraw added some of the benefits of these outdoor learning spaces for kids are social skills, increased imagination and gets them active.

“We aim to increase the quantity, quality, and benefit of outdoor experiences for young children in our community spaces,” Sabraw said. “We also strive to educate all members of our community on the value of outdoor environments and experiences, and then assist them by provisioning spaces in our community to support this.”

Sabraw added many other communities across the country, like Calgary, are shifting to natural play spaces.

The executive director asked council to approve the concept, co-lead the planning process and for assistance where possible in the future. Council asked administration to do a bit more research into whether Central Park was suitable for the project and will put the approval to a vote next meeting.

 

Greg.higgins@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @realgreghiggins.