South Side Nature Play - SSNP

South Side Nature Play - SSNP South Side Nature Play is a family-centered outdoor education co-op based on Chicago’s South Side.

As an emerging, volunteer-run community organization, the Collective’s principal short- and longterm goals are:

1. to implement an evidence-based educational model serving young children and their “villages,” which we define as the entire network of relatives and friends who help raise children by sharing in knowledge, providing enriching life experiences and giving emotional and mental support,

especially during transitional or difficult periods. We envision the Collective as a place where families from Hyde Park, Woodlawn and the greater South Side can find support and build community regardless of where they live, who they are, or what differences exist among them.

3. to sustainably build and operate an indoor/outdoor Community House and Farm site in Woodlawn that will serve as the hub of the Collective’s early childhood, youth and family programming. The Collective implements a State-standards compliant, emergent, project-based applied fine arts, music and urban agriculture curriculum that emphasizes early literacy and math and develops social-emotional skill and resilience, while strengthening each child’s connection to Chicago and its culture and natural resources.

2. to create a safe, developmentally appropriate green space where children and their families can reap the abundant therapeutic benefits of gardening, augmented by the physiological benefits of an organic plant-based diet. While the Collective does not espouse one particular modality of health and wellness, educators at the Collective seek to affirm and enrich children’s earliest wellness experiences by growing, tending, eating and cooking with fresh produce as part of the Collective’s own nature-based early childhood curriculum.

4. to build connections with diverse stakeholders across the Chicago area with a dedicated focus on primary and secondary education, community reinvestment, sustainable urban planning and economic literacy. By participating with teachers and parents in the Collective’s environmental stewardship program and nature-based curriculum, children are engaged with their neighborhood, its challenges and its beauty in a hands-on, experiential way. The Collective’s educators strive to build trust and mutual respect among children and adults by creating many opportunities for group-based learning and reflection.

5. integrate a series of local applied fine art and music residencies into the Collective’s educational team and strategy, providing a space for local talent to develop while forging a connection between teaching artists and young children where each can share their productions and creative process.

04/27/2026
04/21/2026
04/08/2026


🌿🌱🌳We welcome you to join us for a community restoration session and a free weaving workshop on invasive species.

Saturday, April 11TH || 11am – 2pm CDT

Audubon Great Lakes' Wild Indigo Nature Explorations, along with Artist Cori Lin, invite you to an educational experience to learn mitigation techniques of invasive species in Illinois, including phragmites and buckthorn, and how we can creatively utilize these plant materials.

This workshop is a great introduction to conservation, weaving, and a chance to connect with the land, our individual cultures, while also fostering curiosity about environmental and bird advocacy.

Location:
Ford Calumet Environmental Center
11559 S Stony Island Ave
Chicago, IL 60617

FREE SIGN-UP LINK:🌱🌿🌳
https://www.mobilize.us/audubon-great-lakes/event/933286/

🌱 Save the Date for the remaining spring sessions of Nature Play Dates: Field Study on 4/19 and 5/17!🌱 We will spend the...
04/03/2026

🌱 Save the Date for the remaining spring sessions of Nature Play Dates: Field Study on 4/19 and 5/17!

🌱 We will spend the spring season at a beloved natural area in Chicago, at Big Marsh Park on the Southeast Side. 💚 By spending intentional time in one place over three months, we observe gradual changes in our natural environment. These changes might include trees budding and leafing out, wind gusting, sun changing position, or water level rising! On the marsh, spring bird migration announces change throughout the ecosystem. How will we embrace this transition - and all that comes with it?

🌱 Our curricular focus on urban wildlife continues this spring as we experiment with documenting nature discoveries in child-led ways. Nature journaling as a family can create space to reduce stress and engage in a practice of deep noticing: in what ways are we similar to an egret, a toad, or a salamander? And in what ways do we experience life on Earth differently?

🌱 See you soon on the South Side! 🐸 ☔️🪺

💛❤️💛❤️
06/14/2024

💛❤️💛❤️

05/30/2024

☀️ Get ready for summer fun in the Forest Preserves of Cook County! Our Summer Guide is now available and full of information on upcoming programs, events and amenities, from indoor educational activities to unforgettable outdoor adventures.

☀️ Pick up a copy of the guide at nature centers, special events and programs, or download a PDF from our website. You can also check out our online events schedule at fpdcc.com/events

🏖️🏝️🐠🐟🍉🌊👙🎣🌺🏊‍♀️🥥

04/29/2024
04/29/2024
04/02/2024

The bald eagle population has been booming in Will County in recent years, and we're monitoring four active nests. 

🌕 SSNP is so ready to see you this Sunday at 2pm at South Shore Nature Sanctuary for Spring Equinox Play Date! With the ...
03/22/2024

🌕 SSNP is so ready to see you this Sunday at 2pm at South Shore Nature Sanctuary for Spring Equinox Play Date! With the Equinox comes thoughts of growth, renewal, and a thawing of soil, body, & mind. Mud play, lake observations, seed study, and the usual stories, songs, and bonfire will be waiting for you in the Sanctuary (see map on 3rd slide).

🌕 Since the March full moon has been nicknamed the Full Worm Moon in the Dakota language, we will show reverence for earthworms throughout our play. In behaving and thinking like worms, we will ground ourselves in connection to the Earth and all that is possible with rootedness. Gotta get down to get up! 🪱

🌕 See you so soon in the Sanctuary! Until we gather to celebrate this first weekend of Chicago Spring, we hope the sun shines upon you and sustains you like the crocus, an essential friend to our emerging pollinators at this time of year. 💜

Address

Chicago, IL

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when South Side Nature Play - SSNP posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to South Side Nature Play - SSNP:

Shortcuts

Share