Kids Nature Play Discovery Area

natural materials | school playground | community gathering spaces

Lafayette, Colorado

sticks and stones

We designed the Nature Kids Discovery Zone to launch a new generation from the backyard to the backcountry, to introduce wild wonder to its future stewards. It’s a rich, multi-sensory play environment built entirely of nature play materials: massive boulders, hefty logs, wetlands and cricks, hidden paths in tall grasses, a tree-house platform and a touch of magic.

The process

Nestled at the edge of Alicia Sanchez International Elementary School in Lafayette near Denver, Colorado the Nature Kids Discovery Zone was a multi-year project. We led master planning and feasibility studies through design and construction.

The project, completed in 2019, inhabits two acres of land and includes a mile of trail linking to local neighborhoods and downtown. The trail follows a formerly concrete-lined drainage channel, now reverted to a natural state with meandering banks, native grasses, trees, woody shrubs, bridge crossings and easy access.

fair is fair

The Nature Kids Discovery Zone and Inspire Trail affords a neighborhood of low-income residents in a densely populated, urbanized area access to the same high-quality natural resources found elsewhere in the community. It serves as a natural area and gathering spot for local kids and their families who can now engage with the natural world in their own backyard.

dream big!

With a project of such great complexity, we encouraged our team to dream big every step of the way, to keep the real priorities in mind in the face of deadlines and doubt.

project partners

Funded by Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), Nature Kids Discovery Zone was made possible by a coveted Inspire Grant with additional financial support from many other sources. We were involved early in the grant process, helping with outreach, developing maps and graphics, and visioning with other stakeholders. Project partners included the City of Lafayette, Boulder Valley School District, Thorne Nature Experience, and a local coalition called Nature Kids/Jovenes de Naturaleza formed to support this work. Planning and design involved many broad stakeholders including Mile High Drainage District, Lafayette Public Works, the Lafayette Open Space Advisory Committee, Colorado Department of Transportation, Boulder County and several non-profit entities.