First Church Preschool Launches New 'Nature Classroom' In Old Greenwich

From First Church Preschool: First Church Preschool in Old Greenwich will introduce an exciting new dimension to its educational program on Friday, September 22, with the opening of its “Nature Classroom,” a specially designed outdoor space that will support young children’s interactions with the natural world.

The new Nature Classroom has been designed and created on the Preschool campus over the past six months under the direction of Nature Explore, a joint project of the Arbor Day Foundation and the Dimensions Educational Research Foundation. Nature Explore has designed similar classrooms in numerous venues around the country, including the Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk.

“We are thrilled to be opening this state-of- the-art learning space for our students,” said Darla Steiner, Director of First Church Preschool. “The plan was developed with empirically-based principles for creating effective spaces that support children’s interactions with the natural world. It contains distinct activity areas designed to address the needs of children with a variety of learning styles. Children are free to take materials from area to area and experiment with combining materials in interesting ways. These areas can also be expanded over time, with materials being added or rotated according to seasons and the children’s interests.”

Some of the areas of the Nature Classroom provide opportunities to build structures or create art from natural materials, others to engage in gardening and appreciation of different forms of plant life. Still other areas provide spaces to run, jump and balance on natural surfaces or to experiment with water, sand and mud.

In the nine years since Audubon Medal recipient Richard Louv published Last Child in the Woods, a great deal of educational research has focused on the positive correlations between human health, intelligence and nature. The Earth Institute at Columbia University cites studies indicating that children are healthier, happier, and perhaps even smarter and more creative when they have a connection to nature.

“The addition of our Nature Classroom is the realization of something we have been wanting to do for some time,” said Ms. Steiner. “We finally found the perfect partner for designing this learning space in Nature Explore. Our Nature Classroom will now become a living thing; it will grow and change with the seasons, making it an endless source of opportunities for further exploration for our children.”

Image Courtesy of First Church Preschool