In the Classroom: The Wild Things

What a Beautiful World

Nature is vital to children’s development. In some way or another, it can help support all of the developmental domains. Living in the city, our exposure to the natural environment is often times limited due to the lack of space and access to natural, organic materials. Here at PIC we take great pride in our natural spaces and love to interact with nature as much as we possibly can. We are bringing more natural material into our classrooms to allow more access.

The Wild Things have been experiencing nature in many different ways lately. Now that the spring/summer is here, we have been spending more and more time outside enjoying the beautiful weather and our beautiful earth. Even when the weather may not be as lovely as we would have hoped, we find ways to bring natural items like soil, flowers, sand, sea shells, and other items into our classroom so that we can still experience nature.

Recently the Wild Things took a walk to the Bio Pond on Penn’s campus.  It is a beautiful place full of nature, plants, flowers, trees, and animals. The environment was very peaceful and relaxing. There was a sense of relief being in such a beautiful environment full of nature. The children were very calm and respectful to the water, plants and animals. The Wild Things loved seeing the fish and turtles swimming in the pond and hearing the water from the waterfall. They children had the opportunity to feed the animals and get a closer look at how the animals live.

It is an amazing sight to see children admiring the beauty that nature has to offer. Exposing children to nature at a young age will teach them how enjoy, respect and love the life and the natural world as they grow older.