All ‘Bout Children Preschool
All ‘Bout Children Preschool maintains two outdoor playgrounds, separately identified loosely by age ranges, to provide a window into young minds to the wonders and enjoyment that can be found outdoors. Our outdoor classrooms would not be possible if it wasn’t for our many generous parents, families and teachers that have donated outdoor classroom items, funding, as well as time toward making our outdoor classrooms better every year. We’ve graduated from 4-inch thick “tree cookie” paths to a little more sturdy brick, stump and stepping-stone paths and are continuing to overcome the ever-present muddy areas from stomping little feet; at least in the areas we don’t want mud! All ‘Bout Children Preschool believes in all the benefits of outdoor exploration and getting dirty. We believe children today are not engaged enough with outdoor activities and enjoy presenting the natural world as both fun and educational. Our outdoor classroom areas include water and mud exploration areas to “get dirty”, dramatic play areas for toddlers to play and pretend, art and music activity areas to stimulate the mind and plenty of open and climbing areas to be energetic and coordinated within. Our playground includes a ‘willow hut’; willow trees / branches roughly woven into a hut enclosure form; that children can enter and play within, and our music areas include both formal musical instruments, tubular chimes, wooden xylophone and large percussion drum, as well as simply mounted pots and pans to bang on. Art areas include easels and tables for the children to paint and draw as well as a chalkboard to share their visions. The climbing areas include traditional playground equipment as well as cut log-stumps, log-balance-beam, in-ground slide and large tires half- buried upright for the children to climb on and crawl through. Every year we plant a sensory garden with items such as lambs’ ears and sunflowers as well as a small vegetable garden for fruits, vegetables and flowers. This past year we installed a new music instrument in our infant toddler playground. We also enhanced are reading area by providing a bench low to the ground for the young children to sit on during reading time outside. For the older playground we installed a rain barrel allowing the children to have water exploration every day and for them to water the plants/garden.
