Child Development Center Playground Renovation Phase II: The Outdoor Classroom
Exciting News from Western’s AS Child Development Center! Thanks to your financial support, extensive work has been completed winter quarter. Old play structures were removed, ground cover taken away, and a new drainage system was installed. Slowly, new pieces of play equipment are finding their way into the playground. A playhouse was built by a father of a past AS CDC child and an outdoor classroom has been built (see below). We recycled our old slide, and placed in on a natural hill. We added a rock structure with falling water for the children to play with.
Our next venture is building the stage deck and creating a musical play area (bottom right on photo above). Having children learn outdoors promotes social, emotional, and physical development and fosters a healthy outdoor lifestyle. This is our final phase, and we need your financial support. Any little bit of funding goes directly to children for years to come.
Goal: Raise $10,000 for construction and supplies to install a stage and outdoor classroom
Purpose: Help the children of the CDC have an enriching experience steeped in outdoor learning
Thank you so much for supporting Western’s early learners!
I’m so thankful for the many ways the CDC helped my son AJ and daughter Marina grow into the beautiful people they are today. I remember fondly dumping shoes full of sand out each night before we entered the house as AJ chattered excitedly about the trucks in the play area and his CDC friends. The mess caused by all that sand was worth it! He learned to collaborate and his imagination was ignited through all that outdoor play. Last year he received a kindness award at Happy Valley Elementary and I credit the CDC for the strong foundation that is helping him flourish in elementary school now.
--Angie Vandenhaak, mother of CDC alumni AJ (7) and Marina (10)