MIAMI NATURE PLAYschool Programs
are designed to positively connect young children and their families with nature, creating opportunities to stimulate their innate curiosity about the Natural World.
Founded in November 2011, The Childhood Nature Project a 501 C3 Non Profit former known as Buzzy Kids was funded and served as a platform to explore and learn about outdoor classrooms and alternative education; 5 years later, in 2016, Miami Nature PLAYschool (MNP) was created as a non traditional Mommy and Me, Preschool or Kindergarten, but an alternative educational space created by professional moms advocating to preserve the pure essence of childhood during their first six years of life through the
PARENT & CHILD INSTITUTE and the Forest Kindergarten program called ADVENTURES IN THE FOREST.
One of the goals of MNP is to gather families to build child-oriented, playful communities whose main goal is to support the social, emotional and physical development of their children in a healthy, nurturing environment utilizing the tools of nature.
Being the first program created under the Nature-Based model in South Florida, now 12 years later, other programs like ours have been born not only in Miami but in Broward too, becoming an alternative to regular Mommy and Me programs and Preschools in the area.
Our sister organization Miami Nature School, as a private day school, gather the first community of children between 6 and 12 years old in a self directed learning community offered entirely outdoors.
Our Mentors aim to guide children at Adventures in the Forest into experiences that nurture their connection to nature, developing awareness and care for our planet in an organic way. Our Facilitators help parents at the Parent & Child Institute, to discover the importance of becoming a good role models to foster in their children a wide range of personal and interpersonal skills that will serve them for a lifetime.
#MiamiGoOutside / #Nature for All / #MiamiNaturePlayschool
VALUE OF UNSTRUCTURED
OUTDOOR PLAY-BASED LEARNING
Our programs are designed to positively connect young children with nature through immersion activities that stimulate their innate curiosity about the natural world.
One of the cornerstones of this educational philosophy is that there is no pre-determined curriculum. Rather, the lesson plans flow organically from what nature presents us with and from children's interests each day.
We trust their interest reflects what they are developmentally ready to learn. We believe that young children learn best through direct experience with the natural world.
Our goal is to tap into their sense of wonder about nature while teaching values and basic natural science principles in the field. The facilitator's role is that of a mentor and guide, actively modeling curiosity and engagement in nature while allowing children's interest to lead the day.
Emotional
Nature is a healing salve for anxiety and inner conflicted emotions.
Often children reveal stress from their home life either physically or verbally. At MNP we believe It is important guide, help and give space to children to feel comfortable to talk about their feelings and troubles.
At the same time we maintain the position that simply being in nature is therapeutic and to resist taking on the role of child-therapist or confidante.
EMOTIONAL
Physical
There are so many physical benefits as a result of spending time outside that we could not list them all here. Benefits for children supported by scientific studies includes:
*Increase creativity and imagination.
*Boost the immune system
*20 minutes outdoors improves the ability to focus, even in children diagnosed with ADHD.
*Reduce the risk of myopia on children.
and
*Helps fight anxiety and stress.
PHYSICAL
Social
We look for children to recognize both their own abilities and those of others.
Competition is prevalent in our world, looking for the final winner in every step of our life. The Forest-kindergarten model values cooperation, teamwork and encourages the idea that we can accomplish more when we work together without taking away the right of the children to express their desires and to develop the ability to be comfortable by themselves.