Nature-Based
Unstructured Play Outdoors
At La Tribu, we honor children's play and we are well aware of the benefits of free, unstructured, adventurous play. Unrestricted play outdoors makes for strong, confident, and capable children. Children are naturally curious and seek out opportunities to make sense of their world. When children are left to their own devices, they experiment and take risks, make mistakes, and then learn from their mistakes. Open-ended and natural play materials encourage imagination and the discovery of innovative solutions for day to day problems.
As author Rusty Keeler says: “The greatest barrier to children playing is often we adults and our hang-ups and concerns yet overcoming those is not only possible but essential if our children are to get the most from their play experiences”. The design of our playgrounds is inspired by Rusty’s work.
Nature Appreciation
In March, children get to see the full cycle of the monarch butterflies unfold in front of their eyes. We culminate this activity that takes several weeks with the release of the butterflies ceremony. Monarchs are known for their incredible mass migration of over 3,000 miles from Canada and the northern US to Mexico, passing through our backyard in Texas! Important pollinators and beloved for their beauty, monarch populations are in decline, so it is our goal to have the children at La Tribu learn how to help them survive and thrive in our current environment. For this annual lesson, we invite special guests as our friend Tania De Gregorio, author of the book “Skydancer” (Bailarina del cielo).
Having an animal in the classroom allows children the necessary time needed to observe the animal’s habits, to grow in curiosity, to ask questions, to look for clues, make hypotheses, and find answers. In our case, they will be the perfect excuse to start conversations and learn vocabulary en español around them.
Pets in the school also provide opportunities for learning gentle touch and care of small creatures and can allow children the time to build meaningful connections to these pet friends.
Providing food, water, and a clean, safe environment for an animal helps foster a sense of responsibility in these young people. Friendships of all kinds begin with respecting the needs of another. What a wonderful way for children to practice learning where and how they are needed!
Environmental Consciousness
We are guide children to become individuals who appreciate life, their environment and respect Mother Earth. We create playground spaces around food and flower gardens. Every Spring, we come together with the families of La Tribu to re-plant our gardening beds.
Children water the gardens manually using our rainwater collector system. They will also maintain the soil nutrients by using the compost generated from our classroom’s food scraps. Gardening with children is a rewarding experience and an opportunity to learn not only about the science behind food production and ecosystems, but to practice patience, follow step by step guidelines, gentle hands, teamwork, trial and error, the elements, and much more.
