Providing time in a unique outdoor environment expands a childcare provider’s ability to tap into each child’s individual style. What some children may never learn from a structured indoor lesson they may “accidentally” absorb from the right environment. We strive to provide settings in which interaction with certain resources provides “unintentional learning.”

Active play zones are designed for children 8 years and above, who can sustain more active play, participate in organized games, and understand more complex concepts. The space can also be used by 8-and-unders for active play and simpler participation with its three parts. These parts can be used to talk about earth science topics such as the passing of time, the water cycle, and distance and size relationships. Calendar Plaza is large enough to use for gatherings or jump-rope. Inset pavers arc out three circles charting out months, days, and hours. The Fast Track is marked out with various distances. The backdrop, which is actually the outside wall of the gymnasium, is painted with a challenge mural. A rain garden integrates the drainage from the rooftop with plantings, and is an ecological way to dispose of runoff.

Exploratory play zones are for children ages 5 to 10. Children are encouraged to sharpen their gross motor skills at Adventure Landing. The sloped zone outside the historic entrance is divided into quadrants, each with a different sensory experience. Children can climb up or down, balance, slide, dig, investigate plants and bugs, find “fossils” in the concrete, and otherwise explore a world that they don’t otherwise find in the city. The area features an amphitheater, a gravel digging box, a story-circle beneath an apple tree, a slide, and a wooden boardwalk, which winds between a “jungle” of trees, leafy plants and ferns.

The contemplative zone provides a space that fosters thoughtfulness through its palette of neutral greens and lack of programmed spaces. Ornaments are simple and subtle and encourage touching and quiet observation, like bird baths and feeders. The infant play area promises that babies can enjoy outdoor playtime too, in a safe spot where they won’t be over-stimulated by noise and action. Shaded by a colorful tent awning and surrounded by touchable leaves and flowers, little ones can sprawl and crawl on the grass. The Hush Garden acts as a contrast to all the other zones. A curved concrete pathway that begins near the base of the slide in Adventure Landing snakes its way up the slope toward the infant play area. All age groups can utilize The Hush Garden for low-key activities, but it can have particular value to developmentally disabled children or those with Attention Deficit Disorder who might find the constant clamor of the active play zones overwhelming.