Little Dumplins Family Child Care

I am very pleased with the outdoor nature area. I wanted to do the opposite and bring more nature inside to our indoor area. I raised money by selling over two hundred apple dumplings, that I made myself, in order to purchase an indoor hydroponic garden. We now have an indoor and outdoor garden.

I added live plants, and home-made nature items that the children made, to the wall, plus I made a tree with leaves and a hornet’s nest that was donated by a friend. Parents and grandparents of the children enrolled presently and, in the past, plus friends and family saved and donated outdoor items for crafts and art, digging tools and trucks, along with milk cartons to plant our seeds in the garden to and make bird houses, as well as eggshells to be added to our fertilizer. The parents also donated vegetables and flower seeds for the children to plant. Loose parts were also donated.

Each week a different community member or relative comes to read a few stories to the children in our outdoor gathering area. Last October our State Representative, Jamie Flick, came to our open house. He learned all about what a nature-based program looks like and how outdoor experiences benefit children. He loved the idea of the program and expressed how much of a benefit and a wonderful learning experience it is for the children enrolled in my program. He mentioned that my home and nature approach to learning reminded him of his own childhood.

I made a flyer and wrote that I was offering an open house. I listed this on my Little Dumplins Facebook page as a public post. I invited folks who would like to see what a nature based leaning program looks like. A few parents and children, directors and teachers of centers and early learning quality coaches from Keystone Stars regions 7, 8,9 and 10 came to tour and learn about my program. One of the nature-based quality coaches enrolled her son in my program.

The Early Learning Resource Center from Lycoming County hosted their annual childcare conference at Penn College Williamsport, PA this year. The quality coach in Lycoming County Claudia Hunold presented a class on ” The Importance of outdoor play”. She used pictures from my outdoor certified nature program a part of the presentation. I was asked to stand and speak about my program and talk about the pictures that were shown on the presentation slides as well as to offer suggestions and answer questions. I was asked by Better Kid Care, to do a training video about the benefits of outdoor play for toddlers which other providers and teachers will be able to watch and receive training hours on for their professional development hours required. The Better Kid Care team came and filmed us this past summer and I have received many compliments on the outdoor classroom and everything it offers the children.

Moving on to more about the outdoor area, there was an old black raspberry patch that I took down. I plan on enhancing this space by having the children plant a butterfly garden so they can care for and observe the insects that frequent the flowers. I am adding a simple outdoor kitchen area in order to make more outdoor time for the children. We won’t have to go indoors for me to make meals. I am in the process of purchasing the correct unit to fit our needs.

Learn more about this classroom on their certification page!