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Nature Play & Learning Space 

This outdoor learning environment connects children with nature and supports cognitive, emotional and physical development.

Installing a Nature Play and Learning Space for our First School students was much more than updating a traditional playground. We thoughtfully redesigned our existing playground with the intention of actively engaging students through all of their senses and creating fascinating, purposeful spaces for children to learn, explore and play.

The transformative impact of a Key School education begins the moment that our youngest students step onto campus. A primary component of the First School experience is the outdoor learning space, which connects children with nature and supports cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. 

Take a look at some of our youngest students enjoying the new space in the gallery below.

The Nature Play and Learning Space was officially opened on December 2, 2022.

Key was thrilled to partner with Nancy Striniste, the founder and principle designer at EarlySpace, LLC to develop and construct this incredible new addition to campus.

Master Plan & Features of the Space

 

1. Sand Wall
2. Sand Table
3. Kitchen
4. Playhouse
5. Bridge
6. Musical Instruments
7. Seating Circle
8. Word Walk & Texture Trail
9. Hillslide Slide
10. Boulder Cave
11. Fallen Tree & Horizontal
12. Balance Path

13. Bench Swing
14. Nest Swing
15. Open Lawn
16. Hammocks
17. Shunnel
18. Herb Garden/Bean Treepee
19. Raised Bed
20. Pergola & Acrylic Panels
21. Picking Garden
22. Carved Animals
23. Skeleton Structures


Nature Play and Learning Space in Action

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Three First School girls swing in the nest swing in the First School Nature and Play Space
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Head of School Matthew Nespole uses oversized scissor to but the ribbon in the First School Nature and Play Space
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Two African American First School boys line up toy trains on a wooden picnic bench in the First School Nature and Play Space
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A First School girl fills a red bucket with an orange hose in the First School Nature and Play Space
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Two First School girls and two First School boys sit with a female teacher on the bench swing
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A group of First School boys and girls play with toy trucks and shovels in the First School Nature and Play Space sandbox
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A group of First School girls play in a mud puddle in the First School Nature and Play Space
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One First School girl looks on as an Upper School girl plays the xylophone in the First School Nature and Play Space
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Two First School boys sit in wooden crates laughing in the First School Nature and Play Space
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Four First School girls paint with finger paints on the painting wall in the First School Nature and Play Space
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Two First School girls slide down the slide in the First School Nature and Play Space
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Two First School boys dig with their hands and shovels in the wet sandbox in the First School Nature and Play Space
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First School boys and girls eat their lunch at picnic tables under a rainbow canopy in the First School Nature and Play Space
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Two boys balance on the balancing logs in the First School Nature and Play Space