Jester Park Natural Playscape

About the Program

Category: Parks and Recreation (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

Polk County Conservation recently completed one of the most creative and innovative projects in its 50 years of history, the creation of a Natural Playscape at Jester Park in Des Moines. This Natural Playscape is not a run of the mill playground. It is a play area constructed using natural materials such as boulders, earth mounds, and water features, avoiding plastics, metals, concrete, and signs explaining how to play. Children that roll down hills, scramble up rocks, and dam up water experience natural play. This type of play frees the child’s imagination for limitless learning opportunities. A play area designed using natural materials is a new concept in Iowa. In parks where manufactured play structures are adjacent to a pile of dirt or boulders, children will play as much or more on the natural elements. The Jester Park Natural Playscape’s approach to playground design nurtures and inspires natural play and has raised the bar for future playground designs.