The Nature Explore Classroom at

The Meeting House Child Care Center serves children ages 2 months through 5 years old with a mission to follow a play based approach in a nurturing and safe environment both inside and outside.

Our journey began in July 2008, before Pam Penton, our Director, came to Meeting House. She traveled to the World Forum of Nature Education in Nebraska. She worked with world leaders on developing an International Call to Action to develop stronger connections with children to the natural world. Pam joined Meeting House in 2010 and brought this desire with her.

For two years the staff began thinking about a better way for our children to experience the outdoors. We made lists of experiences, read books on outdoor education, visited other centers and playgrounds, and spoke to local educators who were trying to create similar experiences. The idea was introduced to our Board Members in 2011 and received their support to hire a Landscape Architect.

The staff met with Joanne Hiromura from Studio MLA and shared our ideas. Joanne designed a beautiful plan that we all loved. The shock was the cost. The Board of Directors and families set goals to raise money a year at a time to make the project a reality. Our staff participated in Nature Explore workshops during this time with Tobey Eugenio and a large group traveled to the Heritage Museums in Sandwich MA. The staff and parents participated in the design team. It was very important to have a variety of flooring (sand, grass, wood chips, and cement) This was used to designate clear areas as well as creating sensory experiences for all ages that enjoy the space. In September 2013 Meeting House had a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate our success.

Our growing continues each year as we study and learn more about this outdoor way of play. Loose Parts are a huge piece of our experiences. They range from small pine cones and rocks to large tree cookies and a 245 pound pumpkin. All our areas are staged for the children daily in their morning and afternoon time. We allow each class a large swath of uninterrupted time outside to explore, investigate and play with their classmates.

Music, dance and yoga specialists entertain our children outside twice monthly and Educational Specialists from the Newton Community Farm and the Waltham Fields Community Farm visit seasonally to share farm experiences and the preschoolers travel to the farms to experience first hand the work of the farmers. In the warmer months families participate in picnic gatherings in the Outdoor Classroom. Also the warm months include working in the gardens, sprouting plants, weeding, watering and harvesting our crops. In addition to edible plants children learn to care for flowers, bugs, worms, bees and local birds.

Our evolving journey has us evaluating our space twice a year, adding and removing items the children show interest in and replenishing our flooring. Meeting House is a peaceful oasis in our bustling city.

Address

848 Beacon Street
Newton Center, MA 02459