---
title: "Playing In The Woods"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/790f46c4-0e6c-4156-af7e-3827c024e694
published: 2026-10-16T14:00:20.922Z
stack: https://stacklist.com/stack/b95877a4-3089-490b-9f32-178c9751ee17
summary: "Playing in the Woods highlights how children at Serenbe benefit from outdoor exploration and unstructured nature play compared to kids raised in suburban developments. The article emphasizes that direct experience with natural environments helps children develop resilience, responsibility, and problem-solving skills through real-world challenges."
tags: "outdoor-play, child-development, nature, serenbe, community, childhood, environmental-benefits"
key_entities: "Serenbe (location), REI (organization), Black Friday (event), Small Business Saturday (event), #OptOutside (concept), Steve Nygren (person), outdoor-play (concept)"
classification: "snippet"
content_hash: "sha256:e40bd120bbcf197ba9f6c7865a5950ab083f1038ae797a7e49a7b0fa5e653f48"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 482
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# Playing In The Woods

![](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61b043509a8b563978f4e143/61dce665462a683c5b4f050a_Main%20Image%20(8)%20(1).jpg)

Look at how much fun those kids in the picture are having. Many that visit or move to Serenbe mention feeling as though they’ve gone back to a different era, one when kids ran through the woods without a care in the world, just like these four. When they had the freedom to explore without constant supervision.

And yet, many don’t have the opportunity anymore. They’re raised in subdivisions where the homes surround golf courses (fUN!) rather than the trees and trails and waterfalls you find at Serenbe. Plenty of research exists to show how children benefit from playing outside and learning about the world on their own, but maybe it’s important for people to SEE that benefit. So here we have it - the children of two Serenbe families who grew up with a close relationship to nature.

Your mom can tell you not to climb too high up a tree all day long, but you’ll never learn the lesson until you lose your footing on the rickety limb you chose as your next step. Children need room to test the proverbial waters (or real ones), fail or fall, then find solutions on their own.

These four are still young, but have already grown into talented, smart and responsible people, not in small part because of the environment they’re being raised in.

*Serenbe’s 15 miles of preserved nature trails are open to residents and guests. We hope you’ll join us as we *[*#OptOutside*](https://www.rei.com/opt-outside)* on Black Friday, or take a *[*tour of the Inn grounds*](https://historyofserenbetour.eventbrite.com/)* with Steve Nygren before shopping our local business owners for *[*Small Business Saturday*](https://serenbe.com/events/small-business-saturday-shop-serenbe)*.*

---

*Originally published on [Life at Serenbe](https://www.serenbe.com/life-at-serenbe/playing-in-the-woods), November 27, 2019.*