Outdoor Classroom

“Healing the broken bond between our young and nature is in our self-interest not only because aesthetics or justice demand it, but also because our mental, physical, and spiritual health depend upon it.”
—Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

Leave No Child Inside

Social, physical and environmental constraints of modern life may be creating the first generation of “indoor children” who are largely disconnected from nature. Educators, children’s advocates, policy makers and parents are beginning to realize that, because of the structured, urban upbringing many of our children experience, familiarity with nature may not actually come naturally. Studies show that spending time in outdoor spaces teaches children of all ages about the world around them in a way that strengthens and deepens their learning.

Having an Outdoor Classroom positively influences a school’s whole curriculum. Inman Park Cooperative Preschool (IPCP) aspires to stand at the vanguard of the new movement to “leave no child inside.”  IPCP is proud to have two Outdoor Classrooms!

Outdoor Classroom

While the Edgewood campus has learning spaces outside every classroom door, its crown jewel, and indeed that of the entire preschool, is its certified National Wildlife Habitat Outdoor Classroom (providing elements such as food, water, shelter and space for a variety of animals and plants) that is located right on Edgewood Avenue.

Our Outdoor Classroom (nicknamed “The OC”) first came into existence in 1995, when IPCP purchased the 8,000-square-foot vacant lot across the street from our Edgewood Building. In the years that followed, parental sweat equity, vision and commitment have turned that once vacant lot into an urban paradise.

With its many fruit trees, a grape arbor, abundant herb and vegetable beds, wildlife-attracting plants, “Kid Henge,” (the log circle), and the Willow House, IPCP’s Outdoor Classroom is more than just a playground — it’s a place where children see, hear, smell, touch and even taste nature, all while developing a lifelong love of the outdoors.

IPCP is also committed to incorporating sustainable gardening techniques such as soil and water conversation, composting, and pesticide-free gardening. While Edgewood children gather in the OC daily, our Waddell children visit weekly for additional learning experiences.

The Wee OC

The “Wee OC,” found at our Waddell campus, offers a natural play space created specifically for one- and two-year-olds. The Wee OC was created in 2008 to offer age-appropriate adventures for the younger child. Natural textures, scents and colors enrich this play space, where children learn from the earliest age to love and appreciate the outdoors.

It is a place where our youngest children can experiment with pouring and measuring in the sandbox or water table, digging in the mud pit, peeking under flower pots, or pushing a cart of soil to the vegetable garden. Each day, classes participate in caretaking for the garden as they water the flowers, vegetables and trees. Using the picnic tables placed under shade trees, children often enjoy snack and lunch outdoors. Our Wee OC is fully equipped with riding and pushing toys, climbing opportunities on both stairs and dirt hills, a natural balance beam and building blocks.

IPCP families have found that, with the loving guidance of their teachers, even the very young can learn to be stewards of the natural world.

Nature-Based Educational Experiences

Young children are naturally curious, perhaps eager to see and touch a worm, smell a flower, feel the cool underside of a log or use their imagination as they pretend to be baby birds sitting under a tree.

Children are able to observe the outdoor environment through play by building and nurturing a vegetable garden, jumping from a stump jump, balancing on a balance beam, digging in a mud pit, playing in a willow house, and running around our flowers and trees of different shapes, sizes and lots of shades of green.

Through everyday work in the OC, even the youngest children develop a sense of responsibility for their world. Accomplishing tasks such as weeding, watering, collecting seeds, weaving willow reeds, putting the garden “to bed” for winter, fall and spring seed planting days, and other seasonal activities keep the garden growing healthy and strong.

In addition, studies show that children as young as 3 years of age who garden a half-hour per week will develop and maintain good nutritional habits. For instance, following the cycle from “seed to table,” seeds are planted, plants are watered and nurtured, and vegetables are then harvested and eaten during snack or lunch.

IPCP kids enjoy harvesting and eating green beans, corn, tomatoes, arugula, lettuce and herbs — the true fruits of their labor. Growing food teaches children about the importance of a good diet and the cycle of life. And food production doesn’t get much more local than across the street from your school!

Using the Outdoors as a Classroom

Inman Park Cooperative Preschool is fortunate in that it has unique Outdoor Classroom spaces that are utilized every day by all children enrolled in our program. Our Outdoor Classrooms encompass a variety of nooks and crannies that are ever changing and exciting to explore … we have a big backyard!

In the spring of 2009, Jill Canelli, Director, was hired to bring the outdoors into IPCP’s indoor curriculum, giving students, from the youngest 1-year-old to the most energetic multi-ager, the opportunity to learn about their larger world through nature. IPCP students currently spend about two hours outside every day, much of that in the Outdoor Classroom.

Our curriculum revolves around the idea of integrating the indoor classroom with the outdoor classroom. It does this by using nature as a window into exploring math, natural history, social studies, music and science.

What will be your favorite plant growing in our outdoor garden? How many adventures will you have under the blue sky or the green leaves of a tree?

Events in our Outdoor Classroom

The OC hosts many educational and social events throughout the school year. These include: Fall and Spring Planting Days, the annual IPCP Halloween Party, plant sales, Grandparents and Special Friends Day, Art Night and the Caterpillar Ball.