Children play well with sand or even a few branches. When a child sits on the ground or crawls after an ant, the parents become furious. I hate to get my clothes dirty, and I wonder if the germs may move. So, these days, kids spend time inside their homes, or at best, play in kids cafes and indoor playgrounds. It is the wish of every parent that a child grows up healthy. If you want your body and mind to be healthy and grow up in nature, you need to let them play in nature, not artificial amusement facilities. Children make play by using all kinds of creative methods even with simple natural objects. Stepping on the soil, smelling wild flowers, and playing in the woods, where you can feel the warmth of the trees, is close by.

In Seoul, an infant forest experience center is being created one by one. In order to create an environment where children can play in the arms of nature and grow up healthy, they made a playground in the forest that fits the eye level of children by using small and large forests in the neighborhood. Since opening the first infant forest experience site in 2012 at Cheongnyongsan Mountain in Gwanak-gu, Ujangsan Mountain in Gangseo-gu, and Maebongsan Mountain in Yongsan-gu, Doksan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, Odong Neighborhood Park in Gangbuk-gu, Baebongsan Mountain in Dongdaemun-gu, Gaeunsan Mountain in Seongbuk-gu, Suwonsan Mountain in Nowon-gu, Nanji Park in Songpa-gu, Namsan Park in Songpa-gu It was opened following the Samcheong Park in Jongno-gu. Currently, it operates the most 41 locations in the country.

Groups come from kindergartens and daycare centers on weekdays and families on weekends. In addition to Seoul, there are a total of 31 infant forest experience centers in Busan, as well as an infant forest experience center under the Forest Service.

Among the children's forest experience centers in Seoul, the program is being actively conducted in Geumcheon-gu's grasshopper. Most of the other places just use space without specialized programs. In addition, the name of the park or mountain was used as the name, but Geumcheon-gu made the name of the infant forest using ‘Bestang’, a pronoun of insects that play with fun. Groups can be booked in kindergartens or daycare centers on weekdays, and on Saturday mornings, individual families can participate in the program. Of course, if you find it on a weekday, you can play at the forest experience place without reservation. Although the contents of the program vary depending on the season, it is common to observe trees, insects, and grass at the Gamrocheon Ecological Park attached to the side, and return to the experience center to finish with various games.

Various experiences are prepared according to the characteristics of the season. In the fall, pine cones and pine cones that fall on the forest road are picked up for viewing, and red ripe cornel berries and hawthorn berries are also tasted. It is easy for children to understand that the plant spreads seeds in a variety of ways, such as feeding on birds and animals with delicious fruits or flying like a leaf and flying in the wind.

Acorns and chestnuts feed small animals such as squirrels and blue-eyed squirrels, but children seem to cry suddenly when they are told that adults can scarcely feed them. At that time, a young snow cap appears and rides the tree. The children are fascinated and look at them as they move around the branches quickly.

When rubbing, the county leaves with a sweet odor are collected and rubbed, and the children slowly become friends with the forest as they directly tickle whether the germ tree is really tickling.

After going around the Gamrocheon and returning to the experience hall, you make a spinning top with an acorn, and play darts with a tokari that sticks well to your clothes. The game of moving the pine cone with two sticks is simple and fun.

Playground in the forest is endless, such as playing house with grass and leaves, jumping over tree stumps, jumping on a rope lined between trees, or swinging.

If you aren't hungry, you can play all day long. There is a place to play with water, so it is good to take extra clothes.

Samcheong Park, which has an old and deep forest, has an infant forest experience area. It features a wider variety of experience spaces than other places. At the entrance to the park, there is a ‘forest of concentric’, and if you go up a little further, ‘the forest of water’ comes out in summer, and ‘forest in the forest’ is on top of it.

Concentric Forest is a playground made of eco-friendly materials such as wood and has swings and slides. The water forest was created along a small valley in the park, but now the water is almost dry.

Interesting is the forest in the woods. Various facilities created using forest terrain and original trees, such as adventure playgrounds, playing houses, and wooden xylophones, are spread all over the forest. A bag hanger made with wooden pillars on the side, a leaf-shaped flat, and a playhouse made by cutting large wooden barrels as they are. Insect models such as dragonflies, stink bugs, and scarab beetles are naturally attached to trees.

Wooden xylophones made of wood cut to length, insect apartments filled with branches or stones, and large blocks of wood are all perfect for curious children.

The forest speed library at the entrance of the park is also a specialty. Through the window, you can feel the freshness of the forest as it is and decorate it with floor-type bookshelves so that children can easily read books. When you come out of the park, you can see Samcheong-dong alley with beautiful cafes and stores.

The Cheongryong Mountain Youth Forest Experience Center, which nestled at the foot of Cheongryong Mountain in Gwanak-gu, is the first infant forest experience center in Seoul. 500 meters from Gwanak-gu Office, it is not difficult to reach by public transportation. Walk past the Gumin Hall and walk along the fence of Cheongnyong Elementary School to the left to reach the entrance to the experience hall. If you go up the forest road, it is an experience field.

It is composed of a variety of spaces depending on the type of play, such as a shelter with tents, a clan that can play with water, a sand playground, a parish playground with lots of wood and wooden poles, and an adventure playground. There are many active activities, such as making wooden dominoes or building pillars in the form of cones to build an Indian house, or grabbing a string tied to a slope.

Climbing on a wooden pole can be frightening, but when you do it, you get a trick. Even a frightened child gradually tastes a proud sense of accomplishment in what he does. The forest is deep and the trees are thick, so the air is refreshing and birds are heard.

It is better to visit and play with the toddler forest experience center as often as possible, rather than experiencing it once or twice.

Grasshopper Infant Forest Experience Center
Address: 102-82, Doksan-ro 54-gil, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul
Inquiries: 02-2627-1657 (Geumcheon-gu Office Park Greening Division)
Program application: Geumcheon-gu integrated reservation system

http://reserve.geumcheon.go.kr/

Samcheong Park Infant Forest Experience Center
Address: 134-3 Bukchon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Inquiries: 02-2148-2843 (Jongno-gu Office, Park and Green Department)

Cheongnyongsan Infant Forest Experience Center
Address: 91-42, Gwanak-ro 5-gil, Gwanak-gu, Seoul
Inquiries: 02-879-6523 (Gwanak-gu Office, Park and Greenery Division)

Restaurants near

Chuncheonok: Bossam / 19, Digital-ro 12-gil, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul / 02-868-9937

Bukchon Son Mandu: Mandu · Bukchon Phi Naengmyeon / 6 Insadong 3-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul / 02-735-1238

http://www.mandoo.so/

Rooms

Valentine Hotel: 8 Siheung-daero 105-gil, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul / 02-895-8880

http://www.hotelvalentine.co.kr/html/kor/wc/index.html

Banana Backpackers: 7, Dutubbawi-ro 25-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul / 02-3672-1973

http://www.bananabackpackers.com/

54th Street Hotel: 19 Gwanak-ro 17-gil, Gwanak-gu, Seoul / 02-871-0701

※ The above information was updated in April 2017, and may be changed later, so please check before you travel.
※ Information, such as text, photos, and videos used in this article, is copyrighted by the Korea Tourism Organization, and unauthorized use of the article is prohibited.