In the park of Hex Castle, you will find safely designed play nature for the children. A first play forest for toddlers and children up to 6 years old is located by the tents and the terrace of the Landelijke Gilde, at the riding school. A second play forest is slightly more daring – for 6 to 12-year-olds – and is located at the front of the avenue, behind the first exhibitors.
With these play woods, we want to give children the chance to discover things independently in a safe way and to have fun surrounded by greenery – while parents can walk along the avenue or have a drink on the terrace. But there is more: by setting up these play woods, we want to support the current trend of purposefully bringing children back into contact with outdoor life and playing in a natural environment.
After all, nature stimuli are of the utmost importance for the well-being and development of young children. By bringing them into contact with nature from their earliest years, they learn that playing outdoors can be just as exciting and adventurous as their tablet or games console. Numerous studies have already shown that children who spend a lot of time in the fresh air are healthier and happier. Children who have once fallen in love with nature will also take better care of the planet as adults and make more sustainable decisions.
In 2010, children's rights specialist Richard Louv caused a stir with his book ‘Last Child in the Woods’. Using American research, he showed that children nowadays spend dramatically less time outdoors than past generations. Louv also irrefutably demonstrated the direct link between the lack of nature in children's lives – which he terms nature-deficit – and concerning trends among children such as obesity, attention disorders and depression. In his book, Louv makes a plea to restore children's broken relationship with nature.
Providing nature experiences for your children can be done in your own back garden – a small vegetable patch, a flower meadow with some insects, a fruit hedge with tasty berries – or out and about in nature – a stream, a sunken lane, a roe deer crossing your path, .. or on this occasion in the park and gardens of Hex Castle!
Our play forests are arranged in accordance with the advice of the federal government in this matter and in consultation with the association Kinderspel.
Supervision by volunteers is also provided.
The adventure woods are accessible on Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 to 17:00.
