Garden of the Month: October 2015

The Children’s Place Outdoor Classroom

Last year I facilitated two Outdoor Classrooms Workshops at the Bright Horizons conference day at Beverly High School. At this time, I was introduced to Carol Landry, the director of The Children’s Place at Phillips Academy. Carol helped me set up my room and stood out as an active participant in one of my workshops. I quickly learned that Carol and I share a passion for Outdoor Classrooms. Before I knew it, I was invited to her program to train her staff and was lucky enough to get a tour The Children’s Place Outdoor Classroom. I love collecting garden stories as they always leave me incredible inspired. Welcome to the October Garden of the Month!

The Program:

The Children’s Place is located at prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. The center provides care and education for children of Phillips Academy employees as well as children in the surrounding community. We offer unique opportunities designed to fully meet the child care and educational needs of young children between the ages of 3 months and 6 years. The campus provides many rich resources for learning and play including visits to the science center to study the stars and planets, bird watching at the sanctuary, in depth discussions of color and style at the art gallery, story time at the campus library, and fun with balls and scooters at the campus gymnasium.

The Children’s Place Outdoor Classroom:

Welcome to The Children’s Place at Phillips Academy’s Outdoor Classroom! Fall is our favorite time for outdoor classrooms. We have a lovely space to create many different interest areas and to incorporate a variety of fall items into our environment. Gourds have replaced sand in the sensory table and the children are able to do some heavy work pushing sugar pumpkins in the wheelbarrows. Mini bales of hay are used as seats for a circle time activity or for building forts. Outdoor blocks and ramps are a favorite among the children. Through trial and error, they connect the different size blocks and ramps to create very elaborate designs. The discovery table offers many items for exploration from lichen covered sticks and corn cobs to giant pinecones. Bird houses and feeding stations are available for the wildlife. Musical instruments are available and the children create ‘symphonies’ while sitting together on the log benches. Our future plans include a mud kitchen and a bird sanctuary with bird baths and bird houses to shelter our feathered friends during the winter. Come and visit us! For more information please call 978-749-4870 or visit us at www.brighthorizons.com/phillips.

If you have a garden story that your would like to share, please send it in to Victoria Hackett