evolution of our outdoor classroom

Written By Anita Speck

One of the nicest features of our home on Bissell Street is our courtyard and Sensory Garden, where children can play outdoors each day. With a mix of open-ended natural materials, the courtyard is a place for imaginary and large motor play as well as a place for children to experience weather, explore sensory materials, and create outdoor art. It offers new surfaces for tactile play; a venue for paint, chalk, and water exploration; and an ever-changing science and nature laboratory. The courtyard has become our outdoor classroom, as well as a place for children and families to gather before and after school.

The original plans for Bissell Street showed large arborvitae trees lining the fence, but we knew we wanted to fill every inch of this outdoor space with play opportunities. Instead of arborvitae trees, each plant in our Sensory Garden has been included to invite kids to tend and touch, explore scents and textures, and experience the growing cycle. There are opportunities for children to cook and create in the sand kitchen, snipping blooms and herbs they’ve planted to include in their concoctions. Some plantings are playscapes for animal and figure play, and sand or water tables are a place to collect and explore sticks, rocks, leaves, and snow. 

Steering wheels and stools along the fence invite vehicle play, along with magnetic ramps and roadways for cars and balls. Various large and small logs and stumps challenge kids to build and balance, create forts and pathways, and hunt for bugs. Sand bags and boards, branches and rocks can become whatever kids imagine, as they follow their ideas and embark on new adventures all around the courtyard.

The investment in making our courtyard an outdoor play oasis has allowed teachers to drastically increase the opportunities for all aged classrooms to spend time outdoors. It also allows school the ability to open the gates early so children and their grownups can have some experiential playtime before school starts.