Free festival attracts children to play

By Lethbridge Herald on June 13, 2023.

Justin Seward
Lethbridge Herald

Attendees got to enjoy over 20 play-based activities during Helen Schuler Nature Centre’s annual Nature Play Fest at Henderson Park on Saturday.

What the Centre deems as “Lethbridge’s largest outdoor children’s festival’ offered activities such as try canoeing, loose parts playground, a mud kitchen, yard games and scavenger hunts to name a new.

New this year were E-bikes from Bike Lane and a passport.

“Just to have fun and being outside,” said Taylor Hecker, Helen Schuler Nature Centre program coordinator.

“I think we can all agree that you know people are spending more time than ever inside on screens, on phones and we just want to showcase the opportunities that there are in Lethbridge for people to get outside and have fun.”

Another new thing is the passport.

“I think it just encourages people to try different things,” said Hecker.

“So the idea is with your passport, you go to the activities, and get stamps from four different activities and then you can enter into a draw for a $300 prize pack from Awesome Adventures.”

“It’s a free outdoor festival and so we just want to promote that outdoor play should be accessible for everybody,” said Hecker.

Sabrina Nesbit is a seasonal instructor with Lethbridge College’s early childhood education program and was one of the people in charge of the college’s loose parts playground at the Play Fest.

“It’s important to be here because we believe in creating a strong foundation for the children across Alberta,” Nesbit.

“And we believe that outdoor play and interactions with nature are imperative to the overall development of the children.”

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