Resources
This collection of free toolkits, reports, infographics and advocacy tools is designed to help you or your organization connect children, families and communities to nature. Please check back often. We add and update resources regularly!
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This Digest explores pathways to environmental stewardship, particularly through connectedness to nature and other nature experiences
Upstream solutions for an opportunity-rich future for children. Adventure, joy and a more inclusive outdoors. Shifting dynamics in the relationship between grantmakers and grantees. The real-world impact...
Nature access is a matter of public health. In Oregon, start-up NatureQuant has aggregated dozens of factors into a new measurement they call the NatureScore, which provides a snapshot of the amount and quality of nature in neighborhoods across the U.S. – thereby representing geographic access to nature’s health benefits. In this article, interactive maps and data visualizations reveal the inequitable distribution of nature along class, race, income and education levels. A better understanding of these disparities comes with the opportunity for positive change. “The best way to boost a city’s NatureScore is to plant trees,” columnist Harry Stevens explains. Washington Post.
Nature-filled schoolyards – or green schoolyards – provide a wealth of well-documented benefits for children’s health, well-being and learning. A growing number of communities are also considering...
As we approach another Earth Day, it's a great time to teach kids about the importance of caring for our planet – and to get them actively...
We love this article’s practical, real-life advice to help address common barriers to outdoor learning. Though the piece is written with teachers in mind, we think the tips could be helpful for guardians and practitioners, too. We Are Teachers.
In this evocative piece by Scottish poet John Burnside, he muses on the wonder that can be found in nearby nature, both by children and grown-ups alike. He quotes conservationist Rachel Carson, who wrote, “If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.” New Statesman.
We’re huge fans of Dr. Jane Goodall, whose Roots & Shoots program empowers youth to take action for the environment. On April 3, 2024, Dr. Goodall celebrated her 90th birthday — a milestone occasion marking a lifetime of advocacy and inspiration. In honor of this landmark, 90 female wildlife and landscape photographers from around the world are participating in a print sale of their photographs, with proceeds going to the Jane Goodall Institute. Check out the powerful images in this gallery. The Guardian.
This report, authored by former Federal Reserve economist Rob Grunewald, investigates the economic returns that can accompany investments in greening school grounds. Grunewald based much of his report on data from a study of a large-scale green schoolyard project in Denver, Colorado, that converted 99 traditional elementary schoolyards to green schoolyards over a 12-year period.
In the U.K., a study funded by the National Trust revealed that children are unable to spend as much time in nature as they wish, with accessibility as the main barrier. Another recent study found that “a third of British children spend less than an hour a day outside in summertime.” The trust is now calling on the U.K. government to live up to previous commitments to ensure every person will have access to a green space within a 15-minute walk of their homes. The Guardian.
Public policy and funding decisions at all levels of government directly impact children’s ability to engage with and learn from nature. Policies and advocacy efforts around the...
We’ve had the honor of collaborating with many inspiring women over the past year. In recognition of Women’s History Month, we’re spotlighting just a handful of them.
This paper reviews research on the relationship between a young person’s nature experiences and subsequent pro-environmental behavior as an adult. A literature search of an academic database is supplemented by discussions with experts in the field.
As preschoolers, my two young boys would hang longingly outside the fence of our neighborhood public school and ask if they could join the pickup soccer game....
“As long as you have a green roof over your head, everything will be okay.” So goes Lucy Stott’s adaptation of her grandfather’s mantra. Born of a long line of New Yorkers, Stott was fortunate to have access to a green space via her elementary school’s outdoor classroom – a green roof. In the concrete jungle, green rooftops can provide shade, capture airborne pollutants and reduce rooftop temperatures. Enough green rooftops can even lower citywide ambient temperatures by up to 5°F. In this article, Stott, now in her freshman year of college, shares some of the research behind the benefits of green roofs, as well as her own personal experience. Living Architecture Monitor.
Students around the globe are feeling the effects of climate change, with hotter weather and other climate-related disasters on the uptick. Hotter temperatures have negative effects on students’ test scores. Climate disasters like storms and droughts cause children to leave school and join the workforce early to support their families, while hurricanes and wildfires cause children in higher-income countries to miss school days. Even children exposed to climate disasters in utero can face impacts, with higher rates of ADHD reported among kids whose mothers were pregnant during Hurricane Sandy. On top of all this, researchers predict that climate change will exacerbate existing inequalities in education worldwide. Conversation.
Over the past decade, the Cities Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN) initiative — a joint national partnership between the Children & Nature Network and the National League of CIties — has helped nearly 50 cities across the U.S. to prioritize youth nature connection. A new report conducted by two independent research firms helped quantify the impact of CCCN’s nine years of support in helping cities connect children to nature. Now, the new Nature Everywhere Communities initiative builds upon CCCN’s successes, with the Children & Nature Network, National League of Cities and Kaboom! partnering to advance equitable access to nature everywhere children live, learn and play. CitiesSpeak.
In a beautiful, urgent blend of memoir, ecology and history, Pulitzer Prize-nominated novelist Lydia Millet “urges respect for the staggering interconnectedness of existence.” Balancing grief and wonder, Millet helps us face and process the ecological ruin that we’ve wrought on our planet, our species and those with whom we share our home. She investigates the question, “Where does our childhood love of nature go?”, among other pressing queries. Scientific American.
The Madison Advisory Council has been crucial to the planning and development of our 2024 Nature Everywhere Conference. Composed of fourteen distinguished leaders from...
GROWING POWER: Urban Roots connects young people with natural spaces, food systems – and one another
"Being in nature - it's a luxury, right?" Paloma Cardoza, a child of immigrants, leveraged her educational background in habitat restoration to work with a major...
A kindergarten-only school in Toronto, Canada, has teamed up with a local farming group to introduce little ones and their parents to nature through a community garden. At guided sessions, participants learn about growing carrots and the local ecosystem. The program brings nature’s benefits to residents and restores habitat in a dense urban neighborhood, while providing free organic produce to community members during a time when food can be increasingly hard to afford. CBC.
In Australia this April, Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens will host an interactive, theatrical experience designed to inspire and connect children to the natural world. Part theater, part quest and part wacky science field trip, children will embark on a Magic School Bus-esque adventure complete with talking fungi, booming rocks and nests of song, while being prompted to collect clues, solve puzzles, navigate obstacle courses and work collaboratively with each other and the forest to save the environment from disarray. Australian Rural & Regional News.
Watch the recording of our Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers in Nature event featuring Alexis Burroughs, Jessica Carrillo Alatorre, and Gabriel Pickus. They discuss benefits of nature engagement for young children, tips on how to prepare for the elements, tangible tools for nature play, whole-child centered learning with nature as the teacher and more!
Women aren’t the only ones leading today’s environmental movement — girls are doing their part, as well. Fourth grader Thaaragai Aarathana has collected 1,000 kg (over 1.1 U.S. tons) of plastic during her dives off the coast of Chennai in India. On her very first dive, she discovered “many beautiful fish — and basically an equal amount of plastic.” So she decided to do something to help. Watch the video to meet Aarathana, her father and the rest of her allies working to clean up marine pollution in their community. DW.
Western Australian nonprofit Nature Play WA works to ensure that children have access to the time and space needed to freely play. In this piece, Nature Play WA CEO Kelsie Prabawa-Sear details the importance of unstructured independent play in the outdoors. Citing academic research on the topic, she notes that many of today’s children are suffering from over-supervision. “If you’re looking for a place to start, I suggest asking the kids what they’d like to do. Ask them what makes them feel free and happy,” she says. West Australian.
Author, ecologist and human-rights journalist Dr. Trish O’Kane found her way to birding and ornithology in an unlikely way: when returning to her home in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, she was struck by the resilience of the birds who’d survived the devastation. Now a senior lecturer in ornithology at the University of Vermont, she pairs her college students who have experience birding with elementary students as “bird buddies,” creating opportunities for community-building across age groups. “One of the main goals of my class is to build a flock,” she explains. Revelator.
This document is intended to provide guidance to City of Austin Parks & Recreation staff, contractors and vendors hired through the City of Austin, and other Partners (Austin ISD and other schools, Non-Profits, etc.) in the design, installation, maintenance, and management of nature play spaces. This document is intended to provide guidance to City of Austin Parks & Recreation staff, contractors and vendors hired through the City of Austin, and other Partners (Austin ISD and other schools, Non-Profits, etc.) in the design, installation, maintenance, and management of nature play spaces.
From virtual reality to the growing recognition of nature connection as a human right, a wide range of societal trends and factors influence the worldwide movement to...
Dudley Edmondson was a young kid when he learned about the power of nature. The writer and photographer experienced a lot of challenges while he was...
The Children & Nature Network strives to support and increase the leadership and diversity of young people benefiting from and contributing to meaningful connections to nature, outdoor...
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