Christ Church Nursery School students are outside observing nature, hiking up a hill with magnifying glasses in hand, doing arts and crafts using materials from nature, and building letters with sticks.
The students are not outside for recess. They are outside year-round observing nature and doing outdoor activities through Christ Church Nursery School play-based, nature-focused program.
“Kids need to be outside, they need to play,” said Maggie Supple, the director of Christ Church’s Nursery School. “We really try to strike a balance between that open play outside time and preparing them for their next school, so you don’t want them to be behind but also want them to have time for the social emotional growth that happens through play. I think we’ve struck a nice balance.”
Play-based and nature-focused programs are a growing trend around the country. According to the Natural Start Alliance, a project of the North American Association for Environmental Education, there are 585 nature preschools in the country and they can be found in nearly every state, according to Natural Start.
“One of the things we do to observe the change of seasons so that it’s more tangible for the kids is they do a nature hike up the hill 2 or 3 times a week and it’s really a great way to observe how their entire environment is changing with the seasons,” said Supple. “It’s really trying to teach the kids to appreciate nature and hopefully in the future be stewards of nature so that we can try and keep our planet.”
Supple said during the school year there is a slightly more structure and an increased focus on pre-academic skills like sorting and counting for math and letter recognition. During the summer there is a lot of cooperative games and free play that “lets the kids be kids” outside.
In addition to the nature-based program, the school also offers traditional preschool activities.
“We have a lot of the same activities that you have at a very typical preschool, ” said Supple. “We have painting inside, but they also have art easels outside. They’ll do a lot of arts and crafts using materials from outside we’ve built letters with sticks, but we also use letter cards inside to review the letters.”
The Christ Nursery School still has spots open for students in their summer camp program and their school program that starts in September. To register or set up a tour of the school, email CCNS5059@gmail.com or go to their Facebook page or website.
