Ann W. Wickman
Child Development Center

Our Nature Playground began 15 years ago with the opening of the Ann W. Wickman Child Development Center. We’ve incorporated nature elements including wooden play structures such a giant train engine to climb on and activate imaginations as well as garden paths lined with perennials to explore.

Our playground continues to evolve and we have big plans for our summer garden! In addition to the many annuals and perennials located in our play area, each classroom will have their own garden box and will be learning all aspects of gardening from sprouting to harvesting, watching nature interact with our flowers and making observations through conversations about what is happening in our gardens.

Children learn best through rich, hands on play experiences using all of our senses and involving real world activities. We can’t wait for the opportunity for our center to learn how to be good stewards of our environment. Our teachers love having these conversations and experiences to help our little ones learn more about the world around them.

Every summer we celebrate Mud Day, and this past summer we invited our local conservation officer,
Laura Kanning, to come by to demonstrate and assist the children in making seed balls containing mud, milkweed and other native wildflowers These seed balls were then given to RAGBRAI riders to be thrown in ditches on their way across the state after their overnight stop in Atlantic in 2024!