'Natural' playground opens up at Shawnee Park

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Shawnee Park now has another place for kids to play. In addition to the park's splash pad and standard playground, there's now a 'natural' playground for kids to run, jump and climb on.

"There's a lot of research these days about the importance of self-directed play for children," said Matt Spalding with the Olmsted Park Conservancy. "How good it is for brain development, cooperation and imagination."

The natural playground opened up on Tuesday. It consists of logs to balance on, ropes to swing from, stumps, a climbing wall and an obstacle course, plus sand for kids to dig their hands into.

Kayla Ford and her friend brought their kids to the park Tuesday. It took some getting used to, but she said her kids now love the natural playground.

"In the first five minutes, they were like, we're bored. We don't know what to do. But then we ended up staying for like seven hours," Ford said. "Their imaginations just exploded."

On top of sparking creativity in children, the other reason natural playgrounds are being encouraged is their environmentally friendly construct.

"The logs that you see behind me, we all got for free from the parks. I mean, a storm comes through and blows them down, and we're able to take those trunks, mill them down, cut them to size to what we'd like," said Spalding, adding that they're sure to replant more trees in place of the ones lost. "That still helps sequester carbon, and it's a big cost saver for us too."

The Norton Family Foundation helped the Olmsted Park Conservancy fund this playground.

More natural playgrounds are planned to be in the works at parks across Louisville. Next up is Central Park, according to Spalding.