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Hill Slide Music Wall Swings
A "Tree"-rif?c Time
It’s a different feeling and atmosphere at the playground of the Early Childa home o f t h e i r own. Before the passage of the District’s smallest-ever bond issue, the center had been housed in a portion of the Claude Brown Building. VanHorn said she’d always been disappointed at the lack of discovery and imagination of traditional playgrounds. “It was an 'aha' moment for me when I asked a group of students who were found sitting under the climbing equipment ‘what are you all playing?’ Their answer was ‘Nothing. We are bored.’” That’s all it took for VanHorn and a team of teachers to begin to design their dream playground for ECEC students. Snow Hill Nursery’s Bill Benhardt and Assistant Superintendent of Facilities Charley Branham rounded out the playground “dream team.” The concept the team created is an innovative “natural playscape” that addresses gross motor skills, imaginative play and the essential areas for learning in an early childhood environment. They created a place for all ages and abilities to play and engage themselves academically, socially, and physically. Because 50% of the students at ECEC are special needs, creating an environment for all ages and all abilities to play was prerequisite to creating the dream playscape. ECEC students head out to a recess with possibilities only limited by their imagination. With features like the hill slide, a sensory path way,
Large Climbing Rocks ery child who ena music wall, amters a chance to phitheater stage gain knowledge for imaginative in math, science play, raised garAmphitheater Stage and social emoden beds, a few tional developwooden huts, a ment all while exbike path, a dry Sensory Path Way ploring the beauty of creek bed, balancnature,” she said. “Our ing logs, stepping . Our expectations are high and stumps, a reading log, h log tunnels and a hand carved will continue to increase to meet o canoe occupy, the faculty and the ever changing interests and ts staff of ECEC are sure never to skills of our students.” find a bored child.
One of the most popular features of the playscape is the sensory path. The path gives students of all abilities the opportunity to engage their senses while being in nature. It incorporates multi-textured stones, interesting pieces of art, herbs and spices to engage the sense of smell, as well as a tree with quiet bells to ring when the wind blows. According to VanHorn, something that sounds so simple can provide students with a rich learning experience. “Many children never get a chance to indulge in the feeling of nature or discover the changes that happen around them. This playscape gives ev-
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The playscape incorporates trees, plants and bushes that give the students a chance to care for and discover the seasonal changes that happen in a natural environment.
hood Education Center (ECEC) in Troy. If you were driving by the school, you may miss it. By design, the school blends perWooden Huts fectly into the subdivision Dry Creek Bed it’s nestled in. And by Bike Path design, there isn’t a typical school playground. After a successful no-tax increase bond issue in April 2012, ECEC teachers like Cat VanHorn began thinking about the items that could improve
Raised Garden Beds Hand Carved Canoe Stepping Stumps
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