Parent Infant Center

The Magic Circle Nature Playground at the Parent Infant Center is as fun as ever!

Last year, we planted a slew of new native plants on our Family Work Day. It was a wonderful opportunity to have families on the playground and educate them on the benefits of nature play.

Our gardens are vibrant and continue to serve as a calming element for all. They bring with them bugs to observe and places to hide. One important improvement we made to the Magic Circle was to protect the plantings by creating boundaries with large tree branches. This better prevents little feet from stomping on the bushes and flowers.

We have added a new element to our mud play–a new and improved mud kitchen! It is a sturdy addition that features an oven, stove top, and sinks (non-working). It is two sided and intentionally designed at different heights making it appropriate for toddlers, as much as for preschoolers and school agers.

Each year, we are one of many sites worldwide that celebrate International Mud Day. On this day we hose down the mud kitchen area of our playground giving children different ways to interact with this extremely squishy natural material. Though this year, Mud Day was delayed due to air quality concerns from the wildfires in Canada, we did get a chance to get dirty.

We also improved upon the playground stage. It has been re-built and expanded offering more space for whatever type of play the children choose to do. We’ve had concerts and plays, entertaining many children on the playground.

Our nature playground is as vibrant as ever! It is a place where children can add natural elements into their play. In addition, our teachers bring out art materials and books to help inspire children in the great outdoors. As a nature-based child care and preschool program, the Magic Circle nature playground is central to the work that we do everyday with young children.