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“Bees are a unique teaching tool,” says Tami Enright, Co-founder and Executive Director of nonprofit The Bee Cause Project. “They’re cute, they’re fuzzy… kids start caring for...
“Bees are superorganisms. They all work together, and they can’t survive outside the hive,” explains Audrey McCollough. “It really surprised me that you treat a beehive like...
Tips to help schools and school communities design and host monarch butterfly habitat to learn about wildlife conservation and support cross-curricular learning.
This Climate Resilience-Nature Connections Toolkit demonstrates how cities can pursue both goals of increasing climate resilience and fostering deeper connections to nature, simultaneously. Four proven strategies in this toolkit, Nature in Early Childhood, Green Schoolyards, Nature-Smart Libraries and Nature Exploration Areas, when combined with climate goals, create healthier, more resilient communities where children thrive and ecosystems are protected.
The Nature in Early Childhood Toolkit offers a structured, multi-layered approach to ensure that nature is fully integrated into early childhood education systems. It provides tools, case studies and implementation guides to help communities think through the various stages of implementation, from partnership building and workforce training to amplifying and sustaining efforts through policy change and funding.
Climate-related fires and floods are all too common these days for cities in the western United States. Unfortunately, this is precisely the story of Flagstaff, Arizona and for the...
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.
Encouraging children and youth of all ages to participate in gardening, whether at home, school or in the community, can positively impact their health, development and the environment. In this toolkit, we share research, resources and recommended reading to help children and teens experience the benefits of nature through gardening.
The following article was published in the September 2020 issue of Green Schoolyards Catalyst Quarterly, a publication of the...
When it comes to green schoolyards, kids know just what to do — play! So where does “activation” come in? Before the kids even get there!...
These Nature Activity Cards are a great way to get started having fun in nature with family and friends. Each set of cards has a suggested age group (2-6 years old or 7-11 years old) and a theme, such as urban animals, clouds, crafts, reptiles and frogs. Inside each set, you’ll find activities that incorporate play, acting, drawing, stewardship and more. You can view the cards online, or download and print out for fun on the go.
This toolkit highlights innovative, Nature-Smart Library initiatives nationwide, showcasing how libraries can collaborate with cities, parks, and community partners to expand nature access. While many libraries lead individual efforts, this toolkit emphasizes system-wide strategies to ensure nature is accessible across entire communities.
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...
This summer, sign on to #VitaminNChallenge — a fun way to make sure you and your family get your regular dose of nature, the most essential vitamin!
Green schoolyards can include outdoor classrooms, native & pollinator gardens, stormwater capture, traditional play equipment, nature play areas, edible gardens, trails, and/or trees & shrubs.
Below is a slideshow of different green schoolyards from across the country. These are just a handful of examples of what a green schoolyard can be.
The resources on this page have been compiled to help parents and caregivers, educators, early childhood care providers, public agencies and other partners to understand and advocate for the importance of nature connection in the early years of life.
“Climate change has seeped into everything that we do,” says Brigid Deegan, Senior Climate Specialist at the National League of Cities. “It impacts the air we breathe...
To an adult, tree rounds scattered around a schoolyard may seem a little boring. But through the eyes of a child, stumps can be magical. “The...
Each year, the Children and Nature Network awards the Richard Louv Prize for Innovation In Nature Connection. Through our application and selection process, we discover remarkable leaders making a difference globally. These individuals showcase unparalleled dedication to the natural world, our climate and the well-being of our youth. Learn more about these inspiring leaders below.
How Green Schoolyards Can Help Make Schools Safer This Fall—and Improve Kids’ Lives Permanently
This is the second installment of a two-part series. In the first part of this article, we visited a nature-based early childhood program in...
re·sil·ience: noun, the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Resilience is now firmly woven into our everyday vernacular, in the contexts of climate change and Covid19. Nature’s role— particularly...
In Providence, Rhode Island, access to nature has become a defining feature of the city’s landscape and identity. Over the past decade, a partnership between the Providence...
If the coronavirus spreads at the rate that experts believe it will, schools, workplaces and businesses will...
Amid busy Cleveland, Ohio, Trey Williams founded Hood Honey, a thriving urban apiary and farm. What started off as just two hobby hives in his neighbor’s garden has grown, and Williams now has five sites across farms, cemeteries and gardens. His ultimate vision? A network of urban farms that tackles food insecurity, creates Black economic growth, builds community and creates opportunities for families and youth. Currently, Hood Honey is working on adding bee beds and pollinator gardens in residential areas to connect with residents interested in gardening and provide them with free native plants to grow — supporting not just Hood Honey’s bees but also the vital native bee populations. The Land.
For 19-year-old Zack Sporte, beekeeping bloomed from a backyard hobby into a vocation. As a child, Sporte spent his free time exploring the woods, drawn to outdoor and hands-on learning. This curiosity led him to tap maple trees for syrup at age 10 and start beekeeping at 12. Now, he runs a small honey business and advocates for pollinator health and environmental sustainability. “If you’re passionate about something, don’t give up, even when it gets hard,” Sporte advises. “And please limit the use of pesticides or herbicides. They harm the bees.” Rapid Growth.
Ben Jealous, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, spent his childhood outdoors. Growing up in Pacific Grove, California, meant playing among redwood trees and surfing at local beaches — and witnessing the migration of western monarch butterflies. Now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates the population Jealous observed has declined by more than 95% since the ‘80s. The decline in this vital pollinator is symptomatic of our current extinction crisis, fueled by climate change and human activity, and calls us to action. “[Our kids and our grandkids] deserve a world full of critters of all kinds, to witness an abundance of species, each playing their vital role in the ecosystems on which we all depend,” writes Jealous. Chicago Sun Times.
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