Noah’s Ark Christian Preschool dedicates outdoor classroom

Thinking back to favorite childhood memories, many of us may think of activities like camping, hiking, fishing or just playing with other kids in the neighborhood.

At the center of those memories is hours spent in unstructured outdoor playtime. Today, with computers, video games, TV, over scheduling and fear of outside dangers, children aren’t spending as much time playing outdoors as in the past.

Three years ago, Noah’s Ark Christian Preschool began to plan a place where children could safely explore and play in an outdoor environment, especially to learn about and appreciate nature.

The Dimensions Educational Research Foundation was chosen to help develop the plan. Dimensions, which partners with the Arbor Day Foundation, has been involved in building outdoor classrooms across the United States for many years.

What is an outdoor classroom? At Noah’s Ark it is 7,500 square feet of outdoor space divided into specific learning areas such as art, music, climbing and water.

In the middle grows a prairie where the grass grows as tall as the children. There are supplies for building, exploring, planting, and making forts. The trees towering over the area will grow and, over time, will create a canopy of leaves over the entire classroom.

With a combination of fundraising and donations, the classroom was completed in August of 2011, followed by certification by the Arbor Day Foundation in December of 2011. It is only the eighth Nature Explore Classroom in Illinois.

For information about Noah’s Ark Christian Preschool, contact Mary Bradley at (847) 844-3738 or mbradley@barringtonumc.com.

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