Fort Wild at the Charlotte Nature Museum
When you’re having one of those days when you just want to let the kids go wild, venture to Fort Wild at the Charlotte Nature Museum.
The natural outdoor habitat may bring back childhood memories for parents who spent afternoons in their own backyards building forts, climbing trees, and exploring nearby woods and streams.
The National Wildlife Federation, which provided the funding for the project, selected Charlotte Nature Museum as the site of its first backyard play habitat with the goal of encouraging imaginative play while also showing families how easy it can be to create outdoor play spaces from natural elements.
There’s something for all ages at Fort Wild, including an infant sensory garden that incorporates a variety of textures, smells and colors; a toddler-tangled setting with development structures, such as logs for balancing and boulders for climbing; and a Fairy Stump Village with a teepee for building with natural materials and burgeoning imaginations.
An open lawn for running, deconstructed wind chimes for musical instruments, a small stage for dramatic play and planting beds create endless play opportunities. There’s also a vegetable garden nurtured and cared for by children that encourages healthy eating while teaching about plant life cycles, pollination, beneficial insects and more.
Be inspired to let them climb, dig and collect, hide and build, and discover why nature is a wonderful place to play. charlottenaturemuseum.org.
Celebrate Earth Day at Fort Wild!
Kids can connect to the great outdoors with demos on backyard gardening and creating backyard wildlife habitats, or just get messy in the mud at mud cafe at the Earth Day Play Date on April 20 at Fort Wild.
