The Nature Institute
Our Nature Explore classroom has received a few upgrades in the past year. A new musical set was donated and installed to be added to our music area. We added new tags to our Geology Garden climbing area to expand geological knowledge.
We are currently planning to expand our classroom to an area just down the hill. We are in the beginnings of the project, but we plan to have a fenced in area with a building area, mud kitchen, stump theater, hammock hangout, art section, and more.
More than 6000 kids enjoyed our programming this year. All of these families stop by the classroom to play before and after programs. Since this space is right next to our main space, it’s easy for families to move over to this area to play. Since this space is open to the public for free, we estimate roughly 5,000 additional kids have enjoyed the classroom this year.
We partnered with a local library to do a special planting next to our explore classroom this year. Kids ages 5 – 12 helped plant native seed and saplings.
We also started a new program called Forest Playdates where families come to enjoy free, Reggio-inspired activities at our Nature Explore classroom.
