Outdoor Discovery Centre: More than just a playground at CIS

Urban living has many benefits that support our modern lifestyles. It offers comfort, convenience, and safety. However, the connection with nature is rather minimal or non-existent.Exposingour young children to a natural environment has profound effects on their overall well-being. The good news is that, educational institutions are aware of this fact and are making sure that outdoor activities are a part of the school curriculum. For instance, The Canadian International School’sOutdoor Discovery Centre or the ODC provides a perfect oasis that nurtures creativity, imagination, self-discovery, and learning.

The ODCis not a mere outdoor play area, butconsidered to be an extension of the classroom, an outdoor learning space for kindergarten students. It is said to feature in a child's play, a variety of trees, plants, water bodies, natural tunnels, grassy hills, sound garden, mud garden, a crow nest, etc.  Other facilities such as the mud kitchen, garden areas, and bike & running tracks, encourage children of all temperaments to come out of their comfort zone and spend quality time learning, enjoying and making strong connections with nature; something that is best achieved outdoors.

Research suggeststhat exposure to natural environmenthas significant positive impact on the physical, mental and emotional development of young children; both at preventive and curative levels. The ODC at CISseems to be designed in a way that encourages inquiry and play-based approach to learning.

Activities at ODC appear to have quite thevariety - from free play like jumping, climbing, playing in the sound garden, etc. to more structured activities like hiding notes in secret places for friends to find, creating lists, writing names, collecting items and the likes. CIS claims that though all of these might appear to be simply fun activities, children tend to learn a lot more through these activities. For instance, playing with pebbles, mesh, rope or in the mud would help them to understand concepts of numbers, counting, problem solving, calculating and even inventing. Such activities, when done in groups, wouldcertainly enhancea child's communication and social skills.

Teaching children about the importance of the ecosystem is essential. Through the herb and vegetable garden, children at CIS are encouraged to understand how flora and fauna are important entities of the food chain. The first-hand experience of growing plants and understanding their nutritional value, forges strong connections between children and their own nutritional choices. There is an eco pond too, which would serve as an ideal learning tool for understanding the water cycle and supporting ecosystems.Children are provided with ample opportunities for creativity through oversized art walls, and they can imagine whatever they want to and attempt to bring it to life. Chimes, buckets, and other items in the sound garden areconsidered to be amongst the students’ favourites.

Our children gain the most by being outdoors and an experience that surpasses the indoor-experience helps widen their horizons.Evidence suggests that kindergarten and primary school students gain a lot more than their seniors in high schooland secondary school do through regular exposure to outdoor activities. With everyday play-based opportunities, the ODC would certainly let students enter a world of fascination and wonder. All activities are carefully planned and monitored and they make the ODC more than a mere playground for the young students. It would in fact serve as a classroom that teaches through practice, self-experience and expression.

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