Our Pre-K Class at our Perrysburg (Avenue Road) location has enjoyed exploring the natural world around them. What began with an interest in the types of trees found in our playground evolved into a student-led, scientific exploration of our campus’ many trees and plants.




Children are naturally curious about the world around them, and it is our job as teachers to promote that sense of exploration. To begin, their teacher brought pieces of the local trees into the classroom to guide students in hands-on, self-guided discovery.









At Children’s Discovery Center, our Reggio Emilia approach to education is focused on learning about the world around us by interacting with it and encouraging its exploration. By doing this, children can learn about their world and place alongside others.




Having a variety of trees on their playground allowed students the opportunity to explore lessons in a real-world setting. Through the use of our playground and the live trees in our Discovery Room, children engaged with a lesson that stimulated all five senses.




Our project-based approach allowed teachers to develop this lesson alongside our student’s transforming interests by allowing our children to lead. While their initial interest was in the type of trees, our investigation evolved into discovering their life cycle, the animals that inhabit them and beyond.









As with all CDC projects, our teachers documented this evolution through informative panel work around our learning center to show students and parents alike how unrestricted childhood discovery can transform.









The students of this Perrysburg Pre-K class had a blast collaborating on this project. Seeing our children grow as they act as one another’s guides through the world is always fulfilling. We are so proud of the discoveries they have made and look forward to sharing where their imaginations lead them next!