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Imagination always in play with outdoors

"I'm bored," is a statement I rarely hear a child say during the Audubon summer camp season. In part, this is because we have a plethora of engaging activities for children, but most importantly, we allow children to fully enter a state of imagination in play.

When children are bored, they are hinting that their body and mind need stimulation. Give a child a tablet, they will sit quietly, away from the world around them. Sure, this gives a child entertainment, but it only fills their mind instead of strengthening it. Give a child a forest and a stick; they will run wild, leap and bound to adventures only known to them. When a child enters a state of imaginative play, I see the enthusiasm and engagement they have for a world that is entirely designed in their minds.

One place that acts as the gateway to imagination is an area at Audubon that campers know as Red Pine Forest. The magic that happens in Red Pine during the summer season is one I've come to love, respect, and cherish. Over the eight weeks of day camp here at Audubon, groups of children transform this quiet forest into some incredible places; only using their imagination in play (and a stick or two).

I've seen children team up to build forts out of fallen trees and then transform these simple piles of sticks and branches into storefronts, prisons, castles, and more. The forest is filled with children working side by side, fully immersed in their imagination. A good stick wielded by a child becomes a sword, a telescope to spot potential invaders, or a gate to protect their creations. I fondly recall one child who found a branch that grew into a curve, proudly showing off his 'archery bow,' complete with 'arrows' made from pinecones.

With Spatterdock Bridge nearby, children this past summer put themselves in charge of planning a safe way to harvest growing cattails. These furry plant stalks quickly became the most important currency in their made-up economy. When harvested, these plants were used in their 'corn dog business,' where the children hire each other as collectors, storefront owners, and all the way up to CEOs of the business. Each day and week we return to Red Pine, with their imagined world well-underway, children pick up right where they left off. Whether that be holding a prisoner who 'stole' their corn dogs or setting out to the marsh to harvest more.

There is a sense of ownership and confidence when children oversee their own play. They take great pride in the worlds they create, eagerly filling in any counselors or adults who walk by with immense detail of their grand adventures. These campers radiate pride, and I am quite proud of them. The creativity they express is one seldomly seen in a world filled with short-term entertainment from our surroundings of screens.

Not all playtime has to be structured for children to receive the benefits. Unstructured play, although it looks chaotic from the outside, is imperative for childhood development. From an onlooker's perspective, children climbing trees, chasing one another with sticks, and wrestling on the soft forest ground may seem concerning. However, this is where the most beneficial development happens. In these moments, children learn to balance, how to assess risk-taking, all while listening to their body and how it moves.

When imagined territorial warfare breaks out, I watch in real-time as children monitor each other's expressions, analyzing their opponent's movements and develop their reaction time. Core strength and skills such as hand-eye coordination and balance are all intertwined during these moments spent in unstructured play. If by chance someone gets hurt, empathy is learned as campers immediately pause to check on their opponent. Most times, the injured wipe off their knees and continue playing. A true connection of resilience is being formed in these moments.

Mentally, children are creating worlds outside of what is seen in Red Pine. Using imagination connects parts of the mind and develops neuroplasticity, which encourages neural connections between physical, cognitive skills, and artistic skills. Most of all, children work on developing their social skills by interacting with kids their own age. Unstructured play creates opportunities for teamwork, turn-taking, and problem solving on their own for how to build structures or which roles someone might play in their world. Children work on adapting their storyline to include other players, which reflects real-life scenarios where adaptation is needed.

The next time you hear a child say they're bored, let them be bored. Give them time, and their creativity and resourcefulness will come to play as their imagination takes over. Entering a state of play takes time. Research shows that giving children roughly 20 minutes to become adequately comfortable in their environment helps build their imaginative world.

Children do not need much to engage with imagination in play. They need space to roam and run, friends alongside them, and any objects in their surroundings can become whatever they wish for. All just by using the world created inside their minds.

Audubon Community Nature Center builds and nurtures connections between people and nature. ACNC is located just east of Route 62 between Warren and Jamestown. The trails are open from dawn to dusk and birds of prey can be viewed anytime the trails are open. The Nature Center is open from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. daily except Sunday when it opens at 1 p.m. More information can be found online at auduboncnc.org or by calling (716) 569-2345.