Baylor University’s Piper Center Receives National Recognition as a Certified Nature Explore Classroom
After four years in the making, Baylor University's Piper Center for Family Studies and Child Development has earned recognition as a Certified Nature Explore Classroom for its infant, toddler, and preschool outdoor classrooms. The initiative recognizes programs that have committed to providing an education that encourages children to use nature-based play as an intuitive way of learning. Recognized through Nature Explore, a nonprofit program of Dimensions Educational Research Foundation, the Piper Center joins membership to an ever-expanding network of more than 550 like-minded learning spaces.
For Michelle Kiefer, Director of the Piper Center, this recognition is important for many reasons, but particularly, it showcases that the Piper Center places vast importance on nature education.
“We have this beautiful outdoor space at our laboratory school,” she expressed. “So, I thought, let’s use it to its full potential.”
Kiefer, who had past experience with Nature Explore, worked with her staff toward achieving the official certification. A large piece of the certification process included professional development for the Piper staff, which greatly benefited teachers by providing them with tangible examples of outdoor teaching content.
“I had brought the initiative to my teachers before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and then we were all trying to get outside more during that time,” she said. “So, this was all a great connection.”
Research consistently points to nature as a tool for enhancing concentration, problem-solving, and managing stress—so these unique outdoor classrooms seek to emphasize the importance of nature play on children’s sensorimotor development, creativity, and imagination. At the Piper Center, diverse spaces include activities such as gardening, composting, music and instruments, blocks and other toys, water play, and nature art.
Children enrolled at the Piper Center spend up to five hours outside each day, during ideal weather. Criteria for gaining certification included creating specific labels for different play stations and centralizing storage spaces outside to give the feel of an indoor classroom in an outdoor setting. Children can be spotted learning how to walk over bridges, playing with tires, drawing on easels, or collecting pinecones— all with faces and sounds of joy-filled curiosity.
“There is a large difference between inside and outside stimuli. For example, a child who may know how to walk on the ground inside could struggle to walk on the uneven ground outside,” Kiefer explained. “This gives them safe opportunities for sensory development.”
The Piper Center is an integral part of the academic division of Child and Family Studies (CFS) within Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences. It serves as a model of early childhood education, enrolling children ages eight weeks to five years. Becoming certified as a Nature Explore Classroom, along with the Piper Center’s dedicated emphasis on nature play, will benefit growth for research opportunities and CFS students’ comprehensive understanding of child development.
“We have about 100 CFS lab students each semester, most of whom express interest in working with children in medical settings, families living below the poverty level, or high-trauma situations. These demographics tend to get the least exposure to high-quality nature education,” she said. “So, I hope that our lab students can take what they learn in this space to those careers and explain why getting outside is so important for development.”
The official ribbon-cutting ceremony to recognize the Piper Center as a Certified Nature Explore Classroom is open to the public. It will take place at the Piper Center (315 Washington Ave., Waco, Texas 76701) on October 9, 2024, at 11:00am.