Coming Soon: Why the Forest Park Playscape, Opening This Year, Will Be Much More Than a Playground

A couple of years ago a dear friend shared with me some valuable advice: Every morning on the way to school she told her children exactly what she expected of them that day. She found her kids responded very well to this, and almost always rose to the expectation. Instantly I began using this almost everywhere we would go.

Since breaking ground on the child-inspired Nature Playscape in Forest Park last summer, Forest Park Forever, the City of St. Louis and their team of partners have been pushing forward on this much-anticipated project at full speed, constructing eight activity areas where your kids will soon splash, climb, build, and learn. Already halfway completed, this one-of-a-kind play area in the heart of the park is destined to grow children’s interest in the natural world around them.

Once upon a time, well before we had children, I sat down to have a conversation with my husband. Looking back now, it was a magical twenty minutes. Perhaps we talked about something somewhat important, like our monthly financial spreadsheet, or something extremely important, like what restaurant we were going to for dinner. The point isn’t what the conversation was about. The point is that once upon a time we were able to have an entire uninterrupted conversation.

The key to successfully going from one, to two, to three kids is really just learning how to determine whose immediate need is more life-threatening. Plus, you stop judging parents who put their kids on leashes.