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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.

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.

The following article was published in the September 2020 issue of Green Schoolyards Catalyst Quarterly, a publication of the...

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 COVID-19 has spread a sense of...

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...

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.

Drew Reagan wants you to embrace the darkness. “The irony of my life’s work is that as a kid, I was extremely afraid of the dark,” says...

Over 30 years ago, a group of youth gathered on Dr. Jane Goodall’s porch in Tanzania. They told her they could see issues in their community, but...

With a population of just 24,000, Kingston, New York, is a relatively small city — but the city and local nonprofits have made a big commitment to...

The studies in this Research Digest will get you thinking about how greening school grounds contributes to climate and community resilience — while supporting children’s learning, health and well-being. The Digest covers the idea of using a nature-based solutions approach to greening schoolyards, and offers some recommendations for doing so.

For Miko Brandon, gardening represents a unique intersection of his identity, healthy living and an appreciation for nature. Brandon, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and young person, stewards a small garden, which sits on a plot of land his family has called home for over six generations. “I think you gain a deeper understanding of the value of our land when you help cultivate it,” says Brandon. He grows fruits and vegetables for sustenance, but also to attract pollinators and keep traditional food-growing practices alive — particularly important as climate change threatens Indigenous communities’ agricultural systems and access to traditional foods and culturally significant plants. ICT News.

Imagine you’re out for a stroll with your family. It’s late October, and you’re walking without a destination, gleefully kicking through fallen leaves until — suddenly —...

“We’re not just earning credits here,” says Adam Kunz, EdD. “What we’re trying to do is create something that connects students to learning, connects students to joy,...

Standing on the field, where short green grass dries under a relentless sun, it’s difficult to imagine the water flowing below. Yet deep beneath layers of soil,...