The Nature Explore Classroom at

United Presbyterian Church
Discovery Early Learning Center

United Presbyterian Church has a large natural campus and is an official National Wildlife Habitat with many distinct species of flowers and trees. Families of geese and ducks roost in the spring and occasional deer or wild turkeys visit. Children were able to explore this with their teachers; however, the UPC Discovery Preschool Committee wanted space for child-initiated exploration of the natural world.

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The Nature Explore Classroom is structured with learning centers. The first centers to be built were a Nature Art Center, a Gathering/Tree House Area, Messy Materials, and a Garden. Other centers were provided by bringing equipment outside. More permanent centers were then added including a Construction Area (with Outlast Blocks), a Waterfall, a Mud Kitchen, a Grassy Maze area, Music Area, and Bird Reserve. Trails were added to make natural wooded areas accessible to children, teachers, and families, in supervised experiences. A Woods Trail is immediately adjacent to the Nature Explore Classroom for easy and quick access and a more distant, but within walking distance, Creek Path leads to a shallow creek complete with sandbars and a rocky beach.

A pergola entry feature on one end and a honeysuckle arbor leading to the newly installed trike trail beckon children to enter into play in the natural play centers. A large multi-level deck invites large groups to gather for a story, class meeting, or creative movement and is used by all ages of the church. Its dual purpose as the Tree House also invites children to create their own environments using cloth and movable logs and benches. In the Messy Materials area, children dig in the dirt and construct with logs and sticks. Children work together to build structures or hunt for bugs. Logs, sticks, large and medium-size rocks, tree cookies, and mulch invite construction and play.

The Garden provides opportunities for learning about the growing cycle of plants, how weather conditions impact plant life and nature as a source for the food we eat. The Nature Art area encourages children to examine materials like pinecones, stones, sticks, and leaves, and create natural designs. Easels provide opportunities for them to study the surrounding woods and represent their observations through painting and drawing.

The Waterfall was installed in the spring of 2014. It invites children of all ages to gather and enjoy the peaceful sounds of gently flowing water. Although it is a pondless waterfall that is turned off in the evening, it still attracts natural creatures. Children have discovered frogs and water bugs making their homes in the protected boulders of the waterfall. A water feature not only provides a peaceful, contemplative place for young children but also encourages children to explore the natural scientific properties of water!

During the 2020 school year, a committee was formed to study the possibilities of creating new spaces in the Nature Explore Classroom. The existing climbing structure was in desperate need of major repairs, the children needed a safe place inside the fence to ride their trikes, and we wanted to honor our deceased Pastor Randy ( a master gardener), with a garden the children could tend and observe.

After much discussion and research, the committee decided to demolish the existing climbing structure and purchase something more natural and more appealing to many different age groups. A trike trail was planned, Randy’s Garden, and a space for a GaGa Pit to appeal to older children in the church congregation and community.

We broke ground in the spring of 2021 and by the fall of 2022 work was completed. We now have three new spaces in our Nature Explore Classroom: the wood-like climbing fort, a trike trail surrounded by native plants and an arbor covered in honeysuckle, Randy’s Garden that houses many different kinds of plants and herbs, and a GaGa Pit for active play. The children couldn’t wait to interact in these new spaces and our families love bringing their children to play on weekends when school isn’t in session!