Editor’s note: The following is a regular column written by the Partnership for Children of the Foothills.
As I write this, an incredible team of Polk County child care teachers and Partnership for Children of the Foothills staff and board members is building magical outdoor learning environments at two Polk County childcare centers – Country Bear Day School in Columbus and Sheppard’s Little Lambs in Tryon.
The shared goal is to create more learning opportunities and increased physical activity for the children. They will be exploring and discovering nature through planned and unplanned activities. Math and science concepts will be introduced through outdoor play and teachers will use the outdoor environment as an extension of the classroom and increase the amount of time spent outdoors.
At Country Bear, we are currently building a trike track with road signs and “community stops,” such as a gas station, restaurant, weather station, post office and parking lot. Next spring, a farmers market will be added to the play community. We are replacing the plastic climbers with natural logs that will be used as balance beams and step climbing. With magnifying glasses, the children can investigate what lives under an old log.
At Sheppard’s Little Lambs, a discovery table has been added. Children are encouraged to expand their skills of counting, measuring, weighing, sorting and comparing, using seashells, cones and other treasures from nature. They can also examine preserved insects or find live bugs and worms they find on their own.
Community volunteers gathered and donated discovery items such as seashells and pine cones. Other volunteers helped the children plant flowers and herbs to enhance the play area.
A recent butterfly habitat activity was part of this Outdoor Learning Environment project. In their classrooms over a 20-day period, the children observed the stages of transformation from caterpillar larvae to beautiful “Painted Lady” butterflies. After a few more days, the children released the butterflies outdoors.
Nature is important to children’s development in every major way – intellectually, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and physically.
Resource of the month: Like us on Facebook  at http://www.facebook.com/PFCFoothills for ideas on how to turn your backyard into an outdoor learning environment, easy recipes and great parenting information.
– article by Barry Gold
executive director,
Partnership for Children of the Foothills