Outdoor Learning

Taking it Outside

Outdoor Learning

Learning through nature is an essential part of our Early School program. In addition to the hands-on activities in our classrooms, our littlest learners head outside to play, discover and learn in the open air. We climb on stumps, we splash in puddles, and we let our imaginations soar.

Young children need much more than a short recess outside or to play a game and return to the classroom. They need unstructured time for outdoor exploration several times throughout the day and to do so in a learning opportunity-rich environment. Our Early School outdoor courtyard, natural playground, tot lot and trike path are tailor-made to nurture this kind of play. Rain or shine we venture outside to take in the fresh air, move our bodies and engage our minds in ways simply not possible indoors. You may see a rainy day with muddy puddles to step over, but our early schoolers see an engineering challenge to build a bridge across them.

In this Section

What 'I Played' Really Means

In our Early School, your child has plenty of time for active, unrestricted movement to engage with the natural world and make discoveries on their own and with their peers. When you ask what they did today and they say "I played," you'll know that it means much more than that. I played outside and...

practiced collaboration and compromise, sharing toys and creating a game
made patterns in the sand
sorted and grouped rocks by their shape and size
found things in nature that begin with the sound /s/
told an amazing story that my teacher put in my journal that I share with my friends at group time