The Nature Explore Classroom at
New Horizon Academy-Boise Avenue
This beautiful outdoor classroom is located on the east side of Boise and is our only school located in the older and more established area of town. This provides the unique landscape of very large, mature pines that shade most of the area. We have birds chirping and squirrels running from tree to tree. We are very proud that our preschool and Pre-k children have been using this space as part of their weekly schedule for several years now. It has also been used as a fun space during their summer program as well as for our enrichment partners, such as Soccer Shots or Amazing Athletes.
The entrance to the classroom comes from either preschool classroom or an adjacent playground and it opens into the “action” area. This area is a place for the children to run, jump, play basketball or just hang out. To one side is our messy materials/loose parts area and to the other is the nature art area, gardening area, and water tables. Beyond our action area is a place for children to dig in the dirt, build a sandcastle in the sandbox, play on the music wall, climb in our climbing area, or join the teacher in their gathering area.
We are blessed that we have connections in the community such as Terry’s Tree Service, who donated tree cookies for the children to use. We also were blessed with climbing tires from Commercial Tire.
The entire fence line parameter is adorned with children’s artwork, for them to be proud of and to look at as they play. They are also so lucky that their teacher made them a short “balance beam” for their enjoyment. They have a water table that is full of sea creatures and measuring toys too.
They have a garden growing that includes all that is needed to make salsa, such as tomato’s, peppers, and cilantro. They will be enjoying this salsa when they make it at the end of August. The children will be the head chef’s on this project.
The area is very easy to keep clean. It is primarily natural materials with some concrete that the children love to sweep off so they can play basketball. The children have been thriving in the outdoor classroom and we have seen a decline in negative behavior since incorporating it.
