The environment is a very important aspect of the Little Ark Preschool program. Teachers believe the environment should: be aesthetically pleasing, provoke wonder and curiosity, present challenges and choices, facilitate movement, foster relationships as well as individual space, and offer ownership to each child.

The environment is a dynamic space in which open-ended, recycled, and natural materials can be utilized in a mixture of methods and can be transferred to multitude of locations. As from Gandini & Edwards, our learning environment “must be a space that welcomes the individual, the group, the action, and the reflection.” Thus, it encompasses spaces that are high/low, large/small, public/private, and quiet/loud. There are spaces for observing, thinking, and for doing. These spaces are always aesthetically pleasing, engaging, and meaningful for every child, as well as inviting and inspiring to anyone who enters the environment.

The children’s sense of ownership over the environment is visible when children are engaged within it, and also when it is empty. Even when void of children, parents and other guests who visit the environment are still be able to recognize the children’s personalities, values, interests, as well as the theories and ideas that they may be exploring.

Rinaldi said, “We believe classrooms are laboratories in democracy, where children practice the responsibility of citizenship.” With this is mind, there is a strong emphasis on empathy and on choice, allowing the children to gain respect for themselves, for their peers and for the environment. They learn to express their own personal thoughts and desires in a manner that is still considerate and respectful of their classmates.

While children are individuals within the environment, they also have a sense of belonging to the group, the school, their family, and the community around them. The environment fosters connections amongst peers, and also with the natural world. The latter relationship is often achieved by ‘bringing the outdoors in’ and the ‘indoors out’ when ever possible.