Design the Schoolyard

Three themes are addressed in this digest, which features 2020 studies not appearing in another Digest: Connectedness to nature, Implications for design, and Social-emotional and play considerations.

Comprehensive design intervention focused on promoting healthy outdoor environments at child care centers.

A how-to guide for developing pathways for play to enhance children’s health, tapping all forms of network infrastructure from greenways and sidewalks to mixed use developments and pocket play spaces.

This lecture series highlights school districts innovating outdoor education spaces with a focus on storm water management.

A collection of inspiring images and guidance for creating nature play spaces.

Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board uses equity-driven metrics for selecting projects in neighborhood parks.

How to plan, start and maintain native plant gardens in green schoolyards.

A collection of surveys to delineate community needs and roles in schoolyard transformation.

This collaboration between Clean Water Partnership (CWP) and Prince George’s County Public Schools helps meet federal stormwater standards and fosters new generations of water quality protectors.

Sign up using your zip code for a free, downloadable list of plants that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat in your region. Canadian guidelines are also available.

State trust fund supports projects enhancing play and outdoor learning on school grounds.

This guide offers five key strategies for reducing urban heat islands, including strategic vegetation and building practices.

All-inclusive resource for schoolyard habitat design, maintenance and programming.

Detailed descriptions and images for appropriate green tree planting and maintenance for green schoolyards.

New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection leads multiple agency partners in the design, construction and maintenance of sustainable green infrastructure on schoolyards and other spaces.

The toolkit from Austin Public Schools and the Austin Area School Garden Collaborative connects educators with relevant research, project examples, how-to information, and local resources.

Omaha Public School’s guide for reducing storm water on school grounds, including lesson plans for teachers and maintenance resources for administrators

This Grounds for Change project helps schools develop outdoor curriculum and shares seven key steps for successful experiential learning programs in urban settings.

Space to Grow Chicago has a unique partnership, community engagement and stewardship model for green schoolyards.

Park walk ability scores and green infrastructure are used as programmatic and funding strategies for schoolyard transformation.

A comprehensive self-study to assess physical environment, interactions, programming, materials and teacher’s roles at early education sites.

This report outlines these challenges and highlights examples of partnerships and projects that have had success in addressing them.

Resources for school-driven environmental projects on schoolyards.

This case study chronicles the collaborative process of choosing a school and the types of green infrastructure to implement on a schoolyard, outlining a planning and implementation process.

Tips to help schools and school communities design and host monarch butterfly habitat to learn about wildlife conservation and support cross-curricular learning.

National guidance, considerations and advocacy strategies for green schoolyards as a place for essential recess time that promotes children’s physical fitness, healthy growth and development.

This guide, created through a public review process, marries professional standards with environmental educators’ best practices in community engagement, including case studies and a 25-item toolkit.

This guidebook outlines benefits, planning process and types of green storm water infrastructure on school grounds.

Examples of how Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) can reduce violence on school campuses.

The FWS Schoolyard Habitat program allows teachers and students learn about the outdoors in a broad, interdisciplinary context. through building habitat for wildlife.

The City of Austin prioritizes schoolyard parks as a strategy to equitably connect children to nature and developed a bilingual photo-based online survey to collect community input.

In this report, TreePeople focuses on a LA Unified School District Water Partnership project, examining collaborative options that could allow for increased stormwater capture projects on LAUSD campuses.

Report highlights community and school gardens in Chicago reduced stormwater runoff, resulting in better water quality, reduced urban heat islands, enhanced learning environments and stronger communities.

This brief document shares strategies and critical considerations for authentically engaging community in planning a green schoolyard.

This schoolyard design photo survey models a simple way to engage school staff, teachers, parents, students and local community members in the early steps of a participatory design process.

This guide outlines successful components used in years of Boston-based schoolyard design.

This guide outlines concepts and components refined by the Boston Schoolyard Initiative over several years, including community-based planning and design.

Assessment helps community members work with school districts and municipal officials to promote policies that encourage schoolyard improvements, shared use and ongoing maintenance.

A guide for transforming ordinary asphalt and turf grass schoolyards into vibrant ecosystems

Educational resource and training tool for integrating nature into new play environments or retrofitting existing play areas at parks and schools.

Prevent vandalism on your schoolyard with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), used by architects, city planners, landscape and interior designers, and law enforcement to create a safer community.