In the day and age of “more”—bigger screens, cutting edge updates, and faster speeds—Charter’s TerraParks are easily missed by adults. Their green, billowing hills blend seamlessly into the meticulous landscaping of the neighborhood. Sand pits and rocks sprinkled throughout appear to us as purposeful decor, with earth-toned slides and tunnels camouflaged by the unbroken flow of deliberate, organic design.
It can be said that the only way to fully unlock the potential of TerraPark is through the eyes of a child: even the most cautious of kiddos feel emboldened to climb, crawl, and explore every nook and cranny of these natural playgrounds when they spot them from across the neighborhood. It’s as if they are completely overtaken by an innate sense of imaginative instinct—a version of themselves that has been waiting, dormant, for such a place to awaken it.
Of course, like everything in the neighborhood, TerraPark is entirely intentional by design. The story goes that Charter’s Founder, Rob Bowman, was struck with inspiration to incorporate natural spaces into his neighborhoods after reading Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods, a book that details the harm our increasingly wired culture is inflicting on our kids.
Louv warns that the staggering annual rise in childhood depression and hyperactivity are symptoms of an affliction he coins “nature-deficit disorder;” the remedy is unplugging and spending more time with our families in green spaces. Biologically, he argues, we are inherently drawn towards nature. To indulge this attraction is to find our way back to ourselves.
The Charter team has seen this truth play out time and time again. In the early stages of a neighborhood’s development large piles of earth often accumulate as a result of construction. It’s not unusual for members of our team to see neighborhood children mountain biking, climbing, and playing on those hills as they form.
Recognizing that kids will always find those natural elements to play on, we choose to create a safer version. Beyond kids, these natural playgrounds appeal to people of all ages, grandparents play with their grandkids in it, young people use it to exercise. No visit to TerraPark is really ever the same because what a person brings to it shapes how the interaction occurs.
Child development experts across the globe advocate for outdoor play as a means of nurturing the imagination, improving motor skills, encouraging self-awareness, facilitating social interaction, and fostering creativity.
With children spending a national average of 5–8 hours in front of a digital screen (and even more for those attending school virtually), one can’t help but wonder just exactly how much damage is being done to today’s kids, simply by omission.
Luckily, there’s good news: the benefits of spending unstructured time outdoors extend far beyond childhood. Research shows that adults and families who spend just 20 minutes a day walking in nature exhibit an overall improvement in mental health and stress levels. It also strengthens their familial bonds. So nature not only has the power to heal us at any age—it can help us reconnect with each other.
While some of us grown-ups will take this revelation as an opportunity to implement daily walks, TerraPark will always have a special place in the hearts of our children.
It’s magical to see how effortlessly kids take to natural outdoor spaces, the way they can immediately envision simple hills into intricate castles, flying birds into dragons, and surrounding stones into troll-guarded towers.
But they’ll delight in knowing that every TerraPark is unique to the neighborhood they reside in. Each park is constructed from pieces of land removed or relocated for building in their respective community. While other developers typically discard or sell such material, Charter has identified an opportunity to transform it into something even better. It’s a true testament to the company’s long-established tradition of honoring the land while paving new paths to a better world.
