The Nature Explore Classroom at
New Horizon Academy – Rochester 95
Our outdoor classroom transforms a simple yard into an active learning landscape where curiosity leads every lesson.
Highlighted features include an interactive music and movement space, an imagination garden, reclaimed-timber signage, loose-parts play stations, and child-built story stones.
The site was designed to model stewardship, invite multi-sensory discovery, and make nature an everyday curriculum for every classroom. Elements were co-created with children through drawing sessions and prototyping play, so many features double as art and learning tools. Defined areas for sensory exploration, dramatic play, discovery science, and quiet reflection adapt to any lesson or weather, making our space functional and intentional year-round.
Materials and stations are labeled with child-engaging signs, and loose parts are stored in easy-access bins so families and teachers can set up provocations. The space supports short guided lessons, open free play, and opportunities for structured family events.
Our outdoor classroom has strengthened family engagement, enriched our curriculum, and positioned our center as a local leader in early nature education. Each year, we plan to add enhancements that expand and adapt to the environment around us, while always incorporating the creativity and interaction of the children as they grow and learn through our program.
Thank you to our amazing leadership team, insightful classroom teachers, and creative children and families for working so hard to bring this vision to life. We are excited to help children fall in love with learning through nature.
