The Nature Explore Classroom at
Northstar Preschool-Cedar
Our journey to creating our Nature Explore playground started with taking an outdoor play class. Ideas ran through my head as I learned more about Nature Explore through Care about Childcare program.
We started incorporating more nature based field trips for our summer camp program and then added items like sticks for building, art outdoors, tables for snack and added a sensory bin. The pre k and school age classes lit up as we planted vegetables in the classrooms from seeds and then added them to our outdoor planter box as they got bigger. We quickly learned that you can do almost anything in an outdoor play ground that you can inside but the kids were much more engaged outside of their classrooms 4 walls.
We started noticing more role play, collaboration and an overall happier class as we used our outdoor space differently. We got an opportunity to participate in a coaching grant through a state program so of course, we decided that improving out outdoor space is what we wanted to focus on so that we could create a more engaging space for the children. This grant helped us pay for the classes, training to teach our staff the importance of a nature based space and how to use it. It also helped us landscape and purchase supplies.
The children were part of every step of the process as we researched the areas of a nature classroom, planned the layout and the features they wanted and they even helped make the signs for their space. One thing the children loved was keeping track of the day to day changes as the landscapers turned our playground space from rocks and a play structure to what it is now. We talked to the children of all ages about what the landscaper does, what tools they use and what the end result would be. We opened up our garage doors that separate our indoor play area from out outdoor so they could feel like they were part of the process.
We introduced our outdoor playground at our Grand Reopening so the community could see what we had created. We invited local artists from our university to help paint murals on our walls (in progress) and a local tree service donated tree stumps from our area. Staff joined us on an adventure to our mountain “Cedar breaks area” to collect branches, pinecones and other natural elements to incorporate. The trees that were planted were from a nursery just down the street.
Future plans for our space are to get a small walk-in green house to add more plants for the kids to help care for as well as add a bike/scooter trail.
