The Wikakiwa – primeval woodland for kids
The Wildkatzenkinderwald, Wikakiwa in short, is a playground for kids of all ages, for daredevils and for the less brave – and for children who like getting to track down secrets.
Have you ever been riding on a snail before? Or making giant woodpeckers tap on a woodpecker swing? Or brachiating through a squirrel labyrinth? Have you ever seen a sandpit guarded by snakes and made up of innumerable small sandpits? No, you haven't? Well, then it's time you come and visit the Wikakiwa.
In the open landscape area, children find easy-to-tame wooden animals that are typical for that habitat. A narrow strip of pine trees with play items that demand a bit more skill and courafe leads to the primeval forest. It is quite wild in there, rough and dark. Only the really brave dare to go there, for in the wild you need to pay attention to the signs of nature in order to find your way back.
Three play equipment briefly explained
"Off into the hedge" invites you to an exciting discovery tour of the secret world of hedgehog, mouse, spider, beetle & Co. along a corridor half over- and half underground through forest and hedge areas, ending in an enticing mud playground for children.
To be able to see everything from above without being seen yourself, that is the adventurous feeling you get after climbing the wooden look-out on the edge of the forest. Children are invited to imitate the ways of a pine marten and observe the surroundings from the height of the top of the trees.
The "Tree Space" – that is what the climbing structure in the middle of an ancient pine forest is called - is a jumble of old tree trunks and invites everybody, young and old, to touch it, climb it and brachiate through it.
And who is that rustling there in the bushes – maybe one of the nine spirits of the forest, looking at the rambler from the shrubs either whimsically or mischievously? Find out if they are helpful forest gnomes or perhaps Elbel, the legendary wild hunter with his entourage, by reading the enthralling story and solving the question asked on the large information panel on the back of the Umweltbildungsstation (environmental education centre). If you find all the forest creatures and the magic word, the preservation spell will do its magic for all woodlands in the national park.