Urchins and mud pies are the stock in trade for the Hands-on-Nature Anarchy Zone.
More than just a playground, the Anarchy Zone offers the kind of adventurous, free-form outdoor play that many people believe today’s highly monitored children are missing.
Kids can get dirty digging for worms, playing with rocks and sticks, building forts, climbing trees, and generally daring to engage in the kind of wild and unsanitized play that was common 70 years ago but would scandalize today’s average helicopter parent.
The goal? To give kids a chance to create their own rules, solve problems, and take risks with as little adult interference as possible.
“We’re starting to make the connection that our children don’t have access to enough free play,” says Erin Marteal, executive director of Ithaca Children’s Garden, which established the Anarchy Zone in 2012. “There’s data to back it up that children are more creative, more active, and they communicate better when they’re engaged in open-ended play that they’re directing.”
The zone is one of a handful of adventure playgrounds in the country that have popped up in recent years as more parents and educators have embraced the concept of unstructured play.
The beauty of a space like the Anarchy Zone, Ms. Marteal says, is that almost nothing is dictated to the kids. There are only three rules: Children in the zone must take care of themselves, each other, and the environment.
Ithaca Children’s Garden attracts about 18,000 visitors a year, and Ms. Marteal says most visit the Anarchy Zone. The group relies on foundation and government grants — the Anarchy Zone was established with initial support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — and gifts from individuals and businesses. It received a total of $174,000 in donations last year.
One of the zone’s most popular days is International Mud Day, on the last Saturday of June. It is a nod to Nepal’s Mud Day, when the end of monsoon season and the beginning of rice planting is celebrated.
Here, Elizabeth Halton, 11, of Ithaca, enjoys the playground.
