Garden of Arts provides hands-on learning

By Ettie Zaklos, Preschool of the Arts Founder & Director

Preschool of the Arts places a strong emphasis on creating an aesthetically pleasing environment inspired by nature to optimize the learning experience of each child. We have carefully designed each space to enhance our children’s learning and allow them to connect with nature.

This special connection is particularly felt in our beautifully landscaped Garden of the Arts, which offers a beautiful botanical space, engaging our children in natural micro-environments. Students play an active role in creating the outdoor space by helping to plant our vegetable and sensory garden.

Throughout the year, children plant seasonal plants, herbs and fruits and work diligently to maintain the garden’s beauty and vitality. Tending our garden fosters responsibility, as well as children’s feelings of competency, self-esteem and pride. The school’s botany expert works to make outdoor exploration time an extended sensory and learning process through integrative art and science projects.

The garden provides the optimal setting for engaging lessons pertaining to nature and the environment and allows students to pick their own fresh snacks. They enjoy using the herbs and vegetables to prepare healthy dishes in our Little Chefs program.

As an educator who deeply believes in child-directed hands-on learning, it is so gratifying to see how the children quite literally get their hands dirty in the freshly tilled soil and gain such pride in their garden.

In honor of the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat, we decided to take our appreciation for our Garden of the Arts to the next level with a fun-filled Tea Party in the Garden. Tu B’Shvat is considered the “New Year for Trees” on the Jewish calendar and marks the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. To celebrate, each class dressed up in their tea-party best to plant new trees and engage in gardening activities.

Surrounded by the natural beauty of our preschool garden, with the sun shining, a gentle breeze rippling through the leaves and happy giggles of the children, the Tu B’Shvat Tea Party was a magical and joyous celebration of the plant world. The children planted new saplings that they will tend to in the months to come and had such fun choosing from a rainbow of fruits for their healthy fruit kebobs. To bring all the learning home, each child carefully selected a fresh potted plant to care for at home with their families.

In February, our miniature Children’s Marketplace was transformed into a makeshift “Pet Shop,” fully stocked for all your pet needs, including a real incubator to hatch live baby chicks! This hands-on experience is so enriching for our students, as they gain a new appreciation for the animal world and our need to treat pets and animals with respect and care.

Our preschool team is busy developing and enhancing our upcoming summer camp. Year after year, our Summer of the Arts program, for children ages 18 months through 8 years, has been a tremendous hit.

Enrollment is filling up fast! With high demand and limited availability, we encourage prospective families to enroll today by visiting our website, www. NaplesPreschooloftheArts.com, or calling 239-263-2620.

Tea Party in the Garden at Preschool of the Arts. Our precious children dressed up in their teaparty best, planted new trees and engaged in gardening activities that highlight our connections to each other and to nature.