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!
Resource Search
This resource aims to guide you to meaningfully engage community members to inform a Nature Everywhere vision and action plan.
This charming story takes readers on a tour of a newly minted children’s garden in North Carolina, complete with vibrant photographs. Truly a labor of love, dedicated volunteers worked tirelessly to transform two acres of vacant soil into nine themed gardens, including a sensory garden, pollinator garden, an outdoor classroom, bird sanctuary, a reading garden, a Peter Rabbit-themed “Mr McGregor’s Garden,” and a child-sized version of a traditional farm. Columbia Metropolitan.
Watch the recording of our Kids and Gardening event featuring Kashon DuBose, Founder and Executive Director of Cultivators and Sonya Harris, Master Gardener and Founder and CEO of The Bullock Garden Project. They share the work they are doing with their communities, hands-on gardening activities that parents, caregivers and educators can facilitate with children – even if they have a small space and poor soil conditions, and sage advice on how your family can get the most out of garden and farm projects.
My childhood was in the woods. Having Angela Hanscom, the founder of TimberNook, as my mother meant that I was...
This article by Eric Knepp, Parks Superintendent at the City of Madison, Wisconsin, provides a fantastic overview of the Nature Everywhere Communities initiative, led in partnership with the Children & Nature Network, National League of Cities and KABOOM!. As a Nature Everywhere Community, Madison is a wonderful example of a cross-sector team, with representatives from local government, Aldo Leopold Nature Center, and Olbrich Botanical Gardens, among others. He also extends a warm welcome to his city, for those attending the Nature Everywhere Conference this May 28-31. CitiesSpeak.
“Bush kinders,” or nature preschools, are becoming increasingly popular in Australia. This article makes the case that bush kinders can benefit from curriculum frameworks and educator training. It also offers helpful tips so educators get the most out of their sessions in the outdoors. The Sector.
This resource supports local teams seeking to engage community members in creating a shared vision and action plan to increase nature access. Community engagement is a process that puts community members in a position of power and centers their priorities, assets, needs and desires. The resource was created to support Nature Everywhere Communities, but it is applicable to any local team interested in meaningful engagement with the local community.
In Pennsylvania, a donation of 170 pieces of adaptive bikes and strollers is helping children of all abilities enjoy nature. Each item has been customized for the needs of each child, and the children even picked out the colors of their equipment. One mother described how the stroller will allow her child to visit more places: “She wants to go fishing,” she explained. “Then we’re going to go on a whole bunch of adventures this summer… She loves nature.” WNEP.
For many youth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, safe and accessible green space can be hard to come by — an unfortunate circumstance, considering the plethora of health benefits...
This set of resources includes a report developed by national economist Rob Grunewald titled, "How Green Schoolyards Create Economic Value." The report takes a deep look at the economic benefits of green schoolyards as well as additional benefits such as boosting children’s learning, enhancing environmental sustainability, and supporting community development and health. Additional resources include source data and case studies for the report from The Big Sandbox, Inc. and Autocase Economic Advisory, plus infographics, case making materials and more.
In today’s rapidly digitizing world, our youths’ lives are increasingly dominated by screens. As of the time of writing this article, we are observing a concerning upward...
In a recent study from the University of South Australia, researchers explored the impact of nature play areas versus manufactured play spaces on children’s development. They found that children aged 3 to 5 demonstrated more imagination and social interaction in nature play areas, where they spent over half their time when given the choice between the two spaces. The Sector.
We love this compelling commentary by Jackie Goldberg, president of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education. She describes the desolation of LA schoolyards during hot days (which are becoming increasingly common) and makes the case for green schoolyards — not just for students, but for their communities. “Extreme weather is our new normal,” she says, “and for the sake of kids in this state, our schools must adapt to it.” EdSource.
While hiking in Idaho, journalist and mom Tracy Ross confronted both the difficulties of raising children in the age of screens and the looming threat of climate change. In this heartfelt piece, Ross explores how time outside has shaped her family and how she hopes to inspire her youngest daughter to connect with nature in a world where cell phones reign — a sentiment echoed in global initiatives like Screen-Free Week, which encourages families to step away from screens to experience more peace, connection and fun. Vox.
Graduate student and educator Ary Amaya’s work bridges academia and Indigenous wisdom to ensure that Native ecology drives local land management. Amaya spearheads an Indigenous-led reforestation initiative spanning 27 acres in Los Angeles, California, partnering with local students to take ground observations, monitor newly planted trees and measure canopy coverage. “These students are helping us think about how we as Indigenous people not only reforest and reenvision what ecological restoration looks like in the city,” Amaya explains, “but also how that’s rooted in Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.” UCLA Newsroom.
Across the U.S., access to safe, welcoming green spaces is disproportionately distributed. Discriminatory land and housing policies, as well as other methods of systemic segregation, have excluded Black communities, Indigenous communities and other people of color from public lands and natural spaces. “Kids experience and navigate life through play, and not having access to great places to play is detrimental to their full development,” explains Lysa Ratliff, CEO of KABOOM!. “We know what we need to do. We just need to build more playgrounds and parks for our kids.” The Grio.
Despite the well-documented benefits of nature, many face social, structural and systemic barriers to accessing green spaces. Plus, camping, dirt and mosquitos don’t always sound like a fun time to everyone — we get it! In this article, discover how to find a personalized version of connecting with nature that suits you best. “Nature is all around us, even in the most urban places in the world,” explains Yvette Stewart of Audubon Texas. “If people want to start tuning into it, the best thing to do is just pause outside.” Vox.
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...
As rates of anxiety and depression among youth continue to rise, nature emerges as a powerful ally. Studies show that spending time in green spaces improves well-being, memory and social connections while reducing stress and ADHD symptoms — highlighting the urgent need for fair access to nature. “We would be remiss not to provide equitable access to all kids,” reports Cathy Jordan, Children & Nature Network’s director of research, “especially those who have the most to gain.” American Psychiatric Association.
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.
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