Becky Gates Children’s Center earns national recognition for ‘outdoor classrooms’
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The Becky Gates Children’s Center at Texas A&M University recently received a national designation as a Certified Nature Explore Classroom.
They received this recognition in part because of their nature-based approach to learning, which includes outdoor classrooms.
Learning takes place both indoors and outdoors at the center. Children work in gardens, leap off rocks and race around bike tracks. Jumping in the mud is even encouraged.
”They can move freely. We have big hills, grassy areas, dirt digging areas, mud kitchens, and so, so much for them to explore; and so many experiences that they can get outside,” Executive Director Erica Ritter said.
This nature-based approach gives kids a chance to unplug from technology and use their imaginations. These skills, according to Early Childhood Lead Teacher Khali Shaw, have long term benefits for kids as they grow up.
”They’re just really learning how to work together as a team and how to problem solve the problems that naturally occur in their environment,” she said.
The playground was designed by architecture students at Texas A&M University.
