Grand Opening: Acorn Acres
Where Children and Nature Connect
Sunday, September 21, 2008

Acorn Acres is a one-acre natural playscape that offers children a unique place for unstructured play and outdoor learning.  Located within the Riverview Boardwalk at Fontenelle Forest Nature Center,
Acorn Acres offers children a chance to be delightfully boisterous, physically active, and wonderfully creative.

Inspiration for Acorn Acres was based upon Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods; Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Louv emphasizes that children in our society are becoming more disconnected from nature due to a loss of green space, increasing urbanization of our population, and an ever-increasing use of electronic media.

Each area in Acorn Acres is designed to foster the development of observation skills, fine and/or gross motor skills, and problem solving abilities; the areas also offer opportunities for cooperative play as well as sensory experiences. Whether you are a parent, grandparent or caregiver of children, we truly look forward to seeing you enjoy and explore Acorn Acres .

Playscape Activity Areas

Music & Dance – dance to music made from natural materials including marimbas, rain sticks & seed pods

Water Element – float sticks and leaves down a miniature waterfall

Art Area – create projects from natural materials; this area includes a barrier-free work/play table

Butterfly Garden – see the fluttering of hundreds of butterflies

Exploration Area – build with branches, logs, tree cookies, and piles of leaves

Secret Hideaway – pretend to be a small animal burrowing into its home

Digging Area – get dirty in this place that includes a raised barrier-free table and a ground level area on the forest floor

Climbing & Crawl-through Log – hop from stump to stump and crawl through hollow logs