The Northern Illinois Nature Play Association (NINPA), in partnership with our host Brookfield Zoo Chicago, is holding our seventh biennial Midwest Nature Play Conference on Saturday, October 24, 2026 at the Brookfield Zoo Chicago in Brookfield, Illinois.

This popular conference brings together a diverse audience of early childhood educators who are interested in connecting young children to the natural world, including instructors and administrators from formal early childhood programs such as public and private preschools, elementary schools, Head Start programs, child care centers and home care facilities, as well as professionals from nature centers, forest preserves, zoos, and museums, and lifelong learning influences like parents/caregivers.

This year’s focus is Beyond the Barriers. We know those barriers well: access to natural settings, licensing and regulations issues, navigating risky play, inclusivity of marginalized groups. But what can we do to begin to break down those barriers? How can we create space for ourselves, our children, and our greater communities to topple the walls keeping us from the freeing world of play in nature?