Orange Coast College
Early Childhood Lab School
The Early Childhood Lab School is a part-day preschool program that serves children ages 2 – 5. Uninterrupted blocks of play in the outdoor classrooms are an integral part of our program and provide exciting opportunities for whole-child development. Each year we look forward to discovering how our outdoor spaces will be transformed to support the developmental needs and interests of each age-group. Please read on for a snapshot from each of our classrooms this year.
Young Preschool – 2 & 3-Year-Olds
Our youngest preschoolers have been very interested in both caring for our garden and in exploring a variety of art offerings. The children combined these interests as they brought nature items to our paint tables. Painting leaves of varying shapes and textures feels so different from the usual smooth flat paper. Using pinecones as paintbrushes offers new challenges. “How do I hold the pinecone?” “It’s pokey!” Children experimented painting with the sides and bottoms of the pinecones to see new patterns they could make.
Discovering red wigglers and roly polys in the garden led to creating similar habitats after observing how they lived and what they ate. A suspended acrylic sheet combined with magnifying glasses gave us a glimpse into how they moved. We tried to wriggle like the wigglers!
Preschool – 3 & 4-Year-Olds
Finding connections with nature and natural science is an important focus in the preschool classroom. It started with a handful of bug-catching experts who had an affinity for roly-polys; a lot of attention was paid to snails and caterpillars as well. Children observed the snails grow and formed hypotheses about the snails’ favorite snack. Children were responsible for feeding the snails with pieces of lettuce and leaves from our garden. With the addition of monarch caterpillars, children gained knowledge and witnessed the life cycle of butterflies—from the young stage of a caterpillar all the way through emerging as a butterfly.
The outdoor classroom provided a rich opportunity to expand on children’s interests and gave them hands- on experiences to learn about natural sciences. It was an exciting year of discovery for the Preschool classroom!
Pre-K – 3.5 – 5-Year-Olds
Using our outdoor spaces to support whole body learning and development has always been a huge focus in the Pre-K classroom. When children’s bodies are moving, their brains are developing at a much higher rate than when they’re sitting still. We have used our yards to support activities that encourage coordination, balance, spatial awareness, directional movement/awareness, risk taking, and overall large motor muscle development. A variety of obstacle courses were set up and created by the children using loose parts such as bricks, rocks, wood planks, and tires. Another obstacle course included directional signs like climb, across, over, under, and through. The directional signs continued to support children’s gross motor development and on top of that honed their early literacy skills. We value time outdoors because it not only helps children’s brain develop; it also helps them gain a sense of appreciation for the wonderful outdoors!
