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    Learn Your Park Cbus Hopes to Connect Families with Nature

    Nicole Jackson, local leader for the Natural Leaders Network, wants you to visit a park. To that end, she is coming up on her fourth Learn Your Park Cbus event at Woodward Park, starting at 11 a.m. on May 6. After four years, organizing the event is just as much work as ever.

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    “It’s definitely a labor of love,” said Jackson. “I was not expecting to do second, third or fourth after my first event. But I think what keeps me pushing is that passion for wanting to connect people to nature.”

    After partnering with government agencies, local non-profits and private companies, Jackson expects to have almost 200 people gathering for a day of family park activities involving five themes: natural play, outdoor recreation, health and wellness, conservation and the arts.

    “Based off of those five themes, there’s going to be a few activities for each one,” said Jackson.

    All of the activities at Learn Your Park Cbus are intended to inspire a connection between nature and children, and to reawaken connections between parents and nature that might lay dormant.

    “It’s not only connecting children youth and families, it’s also connecting communities,” said Jackson. “Every park is unique, each space has its own history, the story of why it’s there, but then you can do all these different things in that space.”

    Jackson continued, “It’s not for everybody. I’m not saying it’s for everybody to get their kids outside, but it really does help build and strengthen those relationships in the community.”

    For Jackson, a city park is one of the best places to make those early connections between families and the natural world. City parks are convenient, shared spaces, where all are welcome. Unfortunately, said Jackson, city parks often carry undue reputations. That could change, however, if families make it a point to utilize their local park.

    “People just assume these are just not good places to go with your family,” said Jackson. “If you have the community rallying for their kids or neighbors to get outside then you’re going to have that protection that you need because people are looking out for you.”

    Jackson worries that the fears and biases of adults and parents may prevent kids from taking the opportunities that come with outdoor activities. If a family or a community starts getting outside together, some of the common adult apprehensions about kids playing in the outdoors may be alleviated.

    “If you look at it as a community effort then those fears go away,” said Jackson.

    So natural play for children became one of the new guiding themes that Jackson instituted for this year’s Learn Your Park Cbus event. For the theme of conservation, US Fish and Wildlife Service will be presenting activities on wetlands and pollinators. For the theme of health and wellness, Columbus Public Health will do free blood pressure screenings, and Third Hand Bike Co-Op will do basic bike maintenance for outdoor recreation.

    Jackson hopes that parents will get as much out of the event as their kids.

    “It’s not just a children-oriented event,” said Jackson. “It’s for the whole family. So if you want to go down the slide or make a flower necklace or whatever, you can do that too.”

    Collaborating with different groups, acquiring enough funding and volunteers, and the unpredictability of the weather have all presented challenges for Jackson, but she has found reasons the work is worth it.

    “Everybody has a story of why they’re connected or why they’ve connected to nature,” said Jackson. “I love hearing all of those stories, so that gives me that extra energy.”

    Jackson continued, “I want this to continue, and I want other people to become park advocates, to plan things on their own. Not just be me putting it together, but the communities themselves, because they see the benefit of it.”

    For more information about this event, or if you’d like to volunteer, please send an email to Event Coordinator Nicole Jackson at [email protected] or call ​​(614) 407-9316.

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    Jesse Bethea
    Jesse Betheahttps://columbusunderground.com
    Jesse Bethea is a freelance features writer at Columbus Underground covering neighborhood issues, economics, science, technology and other topics. He is a graduate from Ohio University, a native of Fairfax, Virginia and a fan of movies, politics and baseball. Jesse is the winner of The Great Novel Contest and the author of Fellow Travellers, available now at all major retailers.
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