Holden Christian Academy
Our Nature Explore Courtyard continues to be a beautiful expression of tender, thoughtful care and appreciation of the space our Preschool has been given to enjoy. Our school staff care greatly about maintaining an enriching environment in which the children can experience growth and development in the natural world. We continue to make updates each year and add new elements to keep our Nature Explore Courtyard safe, vibrant and engaging.
This year, we added some heavy duty posts around the deck of our Building Area. We included some bars across the posts, because it was important to us to give the children opportunities to hang and climb as they explore safe risk taking. We also added eye hooks to the posts so that we can hang items such as colorful silks for imaginative play or a backdrop to a performance or the children’s building structures, and more, as these posts surround our decking/stage area.
In the Music and Movement Area, we added multiple instruments, bells, and recycled materials that make interesting sounds. Our preschoolers love having access to this area and creating their own music within their friend groups. It also provides teachers an opportunity to play games involving rhythm, volume and other listening games.
We refreshed our stumps and logs in the Climbing Area, after we spent time observing how the older ones were breaking down and becoming part of the earth again. We love having opportunities to talk about how God has the perfect plan/lifecycle for His creation!
Additionally, we added community helper vests and a wood playhouse near our Garden Area, both of which children have access to on a regular basis. This gives them great opportunities to support their imaginative play throughout the various areas of Nature Explore.
Each year, our amazing Preschool and Kindergarten families work together to raise funds that maintain and improve our Nature Explore Courtyard. Our annual Trike-A-Thon fundraiser aligns with the school wide Food For Life program, which promotes healthy living by engaging students in gardening, nutrition and fitness activities. Our generous parent volunteers helped us to build and assemble many of these new additions, as well as encouraged family and friends to participate in our fundraiser. They are strong advocates for our Nature Explore courtyard and cheer us on from the sidelines all year round.
Our Nature Explore area is one of our most treasured play spaces for our youngest learners, and we are blessed to continue to update it and maintain it each year.
