BUTTE — A child services organization in Butte wants to turn a bit of land next to the Bus Transfer Station into a Learning Landscape. Think of it as mini-park in an urban area designed to let children and their caregivers have quality time.
“This is space where you don’t have to feel like, ‘oh my gosh we’re being too loud,’ or ‘oh my gosh, we’re running around and we’re making a disturbance.’ This is meant for play; this is meant for fun,” said Zero to Five Project Manager Shelby Anderson.
The group Zero to Five is seeking permission from the Butte Council of Commissioners to build the first learning landscape park in Butte near the bus station, which fits the criteria for this project.
“Places that you got that typically aren’t really parent-and-child friendly, but trying to make them friendly so you can utilize that time that you’re going to be spending with your kiddos in a more meaningful way,” said Anderson.
Unlike typical parks, these landscapes have literacy and math games, full-body movement features, and even musical instruments.
“They have these really awesome butterflies that are tuned by musicians so that they’ll actually sound good,” she said.
Zero to Five organizers hope that this project will spur the development of more learning landscapes around Butte, so children and their guardians will have more places to have quality time together.
“I think that this is really beneficial, because unlike going over to the park and make this excursion to the park, this is in their everyday, so they don’t have to go out of their way to play with their kiddos,” said Anderson.
The project could cost about $40,000 and construction could start this summer.
