Acorn Acres: Where Families & Nature Connect
Fontenelle Forest Nature Center
Open daily 8am-5pm year round

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.

Map of Acorn Acres

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

	Turkey Trot Music and Dance Area – dance to music made from natural materials including marimbas, rain sticks & seed pods
	Dragonfly Pond – float sticks and leaves down a miniature waterfall
	Nature’s Nook 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
	Beaver Building Area – build with branches, logs, tree cookies, and piles of leaves
	Fox’s Secret Hideaway – pretend to be a small animal burrowing into its home
	Mole Digging Area – get dirty in this place that includes a raised barrier-free table and a ground level area on the forest floor
	Squirrel Climb and Crawl Area – hop from stump to stump and crawl through hollow logs
	Tom's Treehouse - climb the rope ladder and watch the birds through binoculars

We would like to extend our gratitude to the many donors and volunteers who made Acorn Acres a reality.
        · asd Stanley J. How Architects, Inc.
        · Boulevard Gardens
        · Dillon Foundation
        · FNA Volunteers
        · Friends of Kate Murphy
        · Guild of Fontenelle Nature Association
        · Tom and Gerry Morrow family
        · Offutt AFB Volunteers
        · Omaha Community Foundation
        · Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
        · Peter Kiewit Foundation
        · Rick Schmid and Margie Reed-Schmid
        · Sarpy County Probation Office Volunteers
        · Valmont
        · Webster Family Foundation
        · William R. Patrick Foundation