Sacred Heart Villa
Clelia’s Outdoor Classroom
Highlights of Sacred Heart Villa’s Outdoor Classroom:
This year we are focusing on the child and how NATURE is a natural provocation to awaken the child’s senses to a world that is sometimes not seen or touched or listened to on a daily basis. The staff at Sacred Heart Villa recognize the curiosity of children and encourage the child to explore nature with all their senses: smell, sight, touch, taste, and listening to our surroundings.
It is amazing how children want to explore and look at leaves, bugs, caterpillars, spiders, flowers, bark, pinecones, birds, nests, animals, and more. Children love to touch and feel different textures, they love to sniff and smell, and some children love to just watch and observe a particular natural item.
Children teach and remind adults that play can be simple and still enjoyable With further observation adults realize that a great deal of learning takes place in the outdoors. As we observe children we see them becoming immersed in nature and wanting to know more about something. Our one PK class spent time hunting for caterpillars during the month of September. Now they are watching a caterpillar change and go through the life cycle of changing and growing into a butterfly. What a beautiful learning experience.
Young children love experimenting with water, how it flows, the sound of it, and of course playing or cleaning with it. Add a pump and you now have the experience of water movement.
Colors abound in nature and children are the first to recognize the colors and changes that take place on leaves and flowers.
Over the years, the staff have recognized how nature plays a huge part in the life of a child, but how important it is in the life of an adult. Nature is a gift from God with so many resources to help us to strengthen our mind, body, and soul.
We at Sacred Heart Villa are so blessed to be part of the Nature Explore Community as you have awakened our senses so that we can help the child to learn and benefit from Nature.
