Amy Wise
Children’s Creative Learning Center

At the Amy Wise Children’s Creative Learning Center, located on the campus of Butler County Community College (BC3), our Nature Explore Certified Outdoor Classroom is not only a place of discovery for young children—it is also a living laboratory for future educators. In collaboration with BC3’s education department, we provide hands-on learning experiences for college students preparing for careers in early childhood education. These students engage directly with children, gaining valuable experience in observation, curriculum development, and nature-based play facilitation.

Together with the broader college community, we have worked to design and maintain a dynamic outdoor space where children can:
Sit on tree cookies and gather for stories or group discussions
Build creatively with large wooden blocks and ramps
Rake leaves, dig in the dirt and sand, and observe insects in their natural habitats
Pump and pour water, exploring cause-and-effect and early STEM concepts
Engage in imaginative storytelling, nature scene construction, and seasonal explorations

Our outdoor classroom complements the natural tones and calming design of our indoor space, creating a seamless visual flow that supports focus, curiosity, and engagement. By extending learning beyond the walls of the classroom, we offer children rich, varied opportunities to explore academic and social-motional concepts through meaningful, hands-on experiences with nature.

One highlight of our year was our end-of-year celebration, which took place entirely in the outdoor
classroom. Families were invited to interact and play alongside their children in nature, engaging in
everything from cooperative block building to bubbles, water play, and open-ended exploration.
As children and caregivers navigated these playful environments together, we witnessed moments of
problem-solving, resilience, and joy—whether a bubble wand wasn’t working quite right, or a carefully
constructed waterway had to be rebuilt after a spill. These everyday challenges became opportunities for children to collaborate, persist, and adapt, supported by the guidance of teachers and the presence of their families.

These shared experiences underscore our belief that learning is most powerful when it is active, relational, and rooted in the natural world. At the Amy Wise Children’s Creative Learning Center, we remain committed to nurturing curiosity, creativity, and connection—both indoors and out—while continuing to model and support best practices in early childhood education for the next generation of teachers.