The Nature Explore Classroom at
The Learning Center at St. John
Established in 1995, The Learning Center at St. John is a year-round holistic, nature-based early childhood education program in Tampa, Florida. In 2013, we embarked on a journey to reconnect children with nature by introducing intentionally designed, nature-inspired learning environments that provide daily opportunities for exploration, discovery, play, and learning. Our goals are to create experiences that inspire a sense of wonder and enhance children’s learning by incorporating nature education into curriculum and daily activities.
By 2024, our outdoor spaces have been transformed into a nature-centered extension of our classrooms. We are certified as a Schoolyard Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, meaning we landscape with native plants that thrive in our regional environment to create a self-sustaining micro ecosystem that we get to be a part of and learn from with minimal maintenance. The students participate in filling feeders and watering stations for wildlife. We are a waystation for monarch butterflies, and we work with local wildlife rehabilitators to help any wildlife in need.
We grow herbs in planter boxes for use in the mud kitchen, and we have a fruit orchard in our nature classroom where we have a peach tree, banana trees, pineapples, starfruit, passionfruit, and an avocado tree that the students and staff get to enjoy when they’re in season.
Our music deck is built around 2 large oak trees that provide shade and opportunities to investigate textures of bark and leaves, and we have magnolias, maples, and palm trees that surround our sand box. A tunnel covered in vining plants serves as our fairy garden, equipped with miniature twig furniture and dwellings for imaginative play.
Throughout the outdoor space we have hung colorful flags, wind catchers, and wind chimes that bring the joy of color and sound, and we often add colorful mica powder to our water play center for a little extra magic.We have designed our site to incorporate a natural flow of movement coupled with functionality that allows students to move freely from area to area where teachers can supervise all areas at all times. We chose natural tones and materials for our equipment and have accented the space with lots of bright contrasting plants so that we have colorful blooms all year round (one of the perks of living in Florida)!
Each outdoor center has its own designated space that is clearly defined, so that the students can choose one area to work and play in at a time. Our centers are water play, mud kitchen, sand box, nature art, music deck, climbers and crawlers, jungle gym, building area, crates and planks, dramatic play, and bikes and scooters. We have a separate nature classroom in the fruit orchard that we use for gathering as small groups to do more focused nature lessons and observations.
Every month, we send home a Nature Classroom newsletter with a different Nature Explore Activity for families. We post pictures and updates about our Nature Explore Classroom activities both on our
school’s Facebook page and on our outdoor bulletin board.
