Good ideas are all well and dandy. I have lots of those. I have stopped patting myself on the back for having good ideas. They aren’t worth much unless you can bring them to fruition.
Now, the outdoor classroom idea is an undeniably good idea. Worth stressing myself out over, for sure. The concrete wasteland with a water source is just too ugly and too perfect:
Perfect location (right close to bathrooms, water and the office), perfect sun exposure (sun for garden, shade for play), and perfect bones (amphitheatre-like steps, ample classroom-sized space, old shady gravel pit with benches). It needed life!
It took me a couple of months, but I finally have the basic elements (mostly) in place: gardens, barrier between parking lot and classroom, sand instead of gravel. The water tables have arrived and the plants are growing. We just need some flexible seating, tables and some ongoing imagination. And fewer ants.
Here’s how it looks so far:
The biggest strength of the space? Exposure and traffic. Kids and parents pass by the garden everyday to enter the front door of the building. They pause to check out how the plants are doing and they love to hang out and water the plants after school. I have more kids asking to join the outdoor club everyday.
I’ll keep you posted as it develops!
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