Nature play nurtures future conservationists

By Erin Knight, Executive Director of Conestee Nature Preserve

It’s beautifully full-circle for me to write on this topic for the Upstate Advocate.

When I was a senior in college, studying landscape architecture and writing my honors thesis on connecting children with nature, Brad Wyche came to speak to my class. He’d just started a new organization called Upstate Forever that was going to promote sensible growth and protect special places in the Upstate.

As soon as I heard Brad speak, I was inspired. My career goals shifted from land design to land conservation. I wrote him what I’m sure was a ridiculously idealistic, unsolicited letter to that effect and sent it with my resume. With Brad, sharing idealistic passion isn’t a bad approach, and I heard from him six months later when there was an opening.

I spent the next 13 years serving Upstate Forever’s Land Trust Program, ultimately as its Director, collaborating in some of the most meaningful and impactful work of my lifetime. I was there to support the early protection work for Conestee Nature Preserve — which is now permanently protected under a conservation easement with Upstate Forever — and I developed leadership skills that brought me to where I am today.

But that isn’t the first chapter of my conservation story. As a child, I didn’t live in a neighborhood with lots of other kids, or have a community swimming pool like some of my friends, but I had unlimited nature discovery. I had a favorite boulder by the waterfall where I liked to sit and read, and I knew the best spot to wait for deer to walk by in the morning.

Those childhood experiences shaped who I am. The seed of that unique passion is most often planted early in life. My commitment to preserving that opportunity for the children of the Upstate, with all its many benefits, has been the guiding force throughout my professional career.

As access to wild spaces diminishes, creating welcoming, inclusive opportunities for children to explore, imagine, and engage with their environment has become essential.

Through Conestee Nature Preserve's field trips, nature play areas, and community partnerships, we strive to cultivate not only knowledge, but wonder and action — empowering the next generation to protect and restore the natural places that sustain us all.

Connecting kids with nature at Conestee

Children’s access to authentic nature — and unstructured play within it — is vital for their health and development. It sparks curiosity, confidence, and a lasting sense of stewardship. Recent research shows that early childhood
environmental education builds foundational skills — from problem-solving and critical thinking to self-regulation and social interaction — while inspiring children to care for the living world.

Time spent in green spaces is linked to improved academic performance, better sleep, and reduced stress, underscoring the powerful role of nature in physical and mental health.

Additionally, nature experiences early in life tend to predict environmental citizenship and engagement in adulthood, helping nurture a generation ready to protect and restore the places they love.

That’s why, at Conestee Nature Preserve, we believe investing in equitable environmental education and nature access for all benefits not just the individual, but our community as a whole. We remove all possible barriers to engagement, including cost for admission to this 640-acre wildlife sanctuary. And our dedicated Environmental Educators impact almost 6,000 students a year through free experiential field trips.

Since moving to a free field trip model, we have not only doubled the number of total students served (from 3,000 to 6,000), but dramatically increased the number of Title One schools served (now comprising over 20% of our total students).

“I’ve been an environmental educator since 2006, and in that time, I’ve observed a dramatic increase in the number of children that are scared of even entering the Preserve,” said Sarah Whitmire, Education Director at Conestee Nature Preserve.

"We address those fears through play in nature and repeat positive experiences," continued Sarah. "After a recent field trip, a teacher reported that a student began the day terrified of bugs and jumping at every little sound, but by the end of the day, they were fully engaged and smiling. Those are the experiences that make our day and confirm we are making an impact.”

The Playscape: Play. Build. Explore.

In April 2025, Conestee Nature Preserve opened its Nature Playscape, the first of its kind in our region. This unique space is designed to immerse children in direct, joyful nature play.

With structures like the Explorer’s Overlook, Heron’s Nest, beaver lodge, and Curiosity Creek, children are invited to climb, build forts, and observe wildlife — experiences that foster creativity and imagination as well as physical confidence.

These nature-based spaces encourage unplanned, active play and longer engagement, letting kids test boundaries and invent their own stories. Every experience in Conestee’s Playscape asks children to engage with the landscape — they are active participants shaping their relationship to the wild.

For families raising young children, a fenced-in area provides a safe place to get wet and muddy, while older children and adults find plenty of opportunities for contemplation, exploration, and connection.

Partnering to provide nature for kids — today and tomorrow

As children in the Upstate — and everywhere — face shrinking access to wild places, our collective work is more urgent than ever. Upstate Forever, Conestee Nature Preserve, and our partners collaborate to protect land and promote and provide access to nature for children.

We believe learning is most powerful when it is multisensory, inclusive, and place-based — whether through school field trips, family outings, or spontaneous play in the woods.

Conestee’s environmental education programs and Playscape aim to spark lifelong respect, wonder, and responsibility for what grows and thrives right here in the heart of the Upstate.

An invitation to join in wild joy

The real work of environmental education is not just to inform, but to transform — to cultivate hope, responsibility, and joy in young people as they encounter the wonders of their world.

We invite every family, every educator, and every advocate to join us. Bring your children, check out the Playscape, and see firsthand how nature is building a stronger Upstate — one playful explorer at a time.

If you’d like to volunteer or otherwise support environmental education at Conestee, we will equip you with all the training and resources you need! Please reach out to sarah@conesteepreserve.org to learn more.

We believe Richard Louv put it best,

“Every child needs nature. Not just the ones with parents who appreciate nature. Not only those of a certain economic class or culture or set of abilities. Every child.”

And at Conestee Nature Preserve, we work every day to meet that need.

Hero photo by Ranya Alhadrami