University Presbyterian
Children’s Center
Little Explorers’ Yard

The Little Explorer’s Backyard, our infant and toddler playground, recently received a beautiful renovation designed and created by Attie Jonkers of Azzan Arts. The new space was thoughtfully built to support exploration, creativity, and early development through nature-based play.

During the time of renovation, the infants and toddlers were able to explore the much larger areas of our Explorers Backyard while watching the progress on their play space.

Highlights of the renovation include:

· A sensory trike path that allows our youngest crawlers a hands-on experience of texture and uneven surfaces as they learn about their environment around them.

· A bamboo sound garden that allows children the opportunity to walk among the bamboo cylinders as they explore the movement and sound around themselves.

· A larger-than-life, fairy tale tree house that sparks imagination and storytelling during outdoor play.

· A gentle grassy hill perfect for climbing, rolling, and open ended exploration.

· Redesigned large herb garden that allows children and families to take part in planting and caring for plants around the year.

In its inaugural year of being re-opened, we invited parents to garden with classes as we filled the herb garden with herbs for tasting and vegetables for the children to watch grow. During our fall family social, the families helped to build small raised garden beds to add additional gardens and plants throughout the space. During our Fall family Literacy Night as the families went through both outdoor classrooms of story walks and mud kitchen provocations, the tree house had light strung and families ended the story of In The Tall Tall Grass as bat light swooped above their heads, it was a whimsical way to explore learning while having the families experience the outdoor classrooms the way their children do.

Every element for The Little Explorers Yard was created with young learners in mind, blending art, nature, and movement. The renovation has transformed our playground into a space where infants and toddlers can safely explore, create, and learn through hands-on, sensory-rich experiences.

 

Learn more about this classroom on their certification page!