the Green Desk

The Green Desk is a resource for early childhood educators, childcare providers, administrators, and professionals seeking the latest information to create high quality, healthy outdoor environments for young children. Please feel free to share your questions and comments with us and we will do our best to address them in a timely manner. Responses will show up here as blog postings. If you subscribe to our RSS feeds or E-Newsletter, you will be notified when new topics are posted.

If you wish to email the green desk, please use the contact form and type GREEN DESK in the subject line. 

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Welcome to the Green Desk

Welcome to the Green Desk

The Green Desk is a responsive and dynamic platform for discussion, insights and guidance.

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Growing Edibles in Containers

Edibles, Plantings

Container gardening is a great way to grow fresh edible produce in a child care center setting.  Children delight in growing and eating their own food. Whether the center staff want to grow a few tasty herbs, a pot of strawberries, or lettuce and tomatoes for delicious salads, there are four keys for successful edible container gardening.

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Painting Tire Planters

Affordable settings and elements, Plantings

Painting tire planters makes them more attractive and keeps them from getting so hot. Following the suggestions provided will lead to more successful tire planters.

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Grass Mazes

Design guidance, Physical Activity, Plantings

Grass mazes are composed of informal arrangements of ornamental "clumping" grasses. Grass mazes support chase games like tag and hide-and-seek, and provide space for intimate conversations, rest, and reflection. Design guidance for grass mazes is provided.

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Engaging Community Resources

Community engagement

Engaging the community is key to successfully renovating an outdoor learning environment (OLE). Recruiting local volunteers and resources can help stretch budgets and bring community support for long-term development and sustainability.

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Draining Wet, Muddy Areas

Design guidance

Improper drainage can be a major barrier to using the childcare center outdoor learning environment (OLE). For areas that are frequently wet and muddy, ideas are provided to improve drainage.

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Sensory Gardens

Design guidance, Pathways, Plantings

Sensory gardens provide intimate spaces where young children can be immersed in the scents, textures and colors of plants and related elements.

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Sand Play Areas: Design

Design guidance

Sand play is one of the most valuable natural behavior settings for children from toddlerhood through the early school years.  However, to stop sand from spreading across other outdoor learning environment settings, follow the simple steps provided.

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Selecting Edible Plants

Edibles, Plantings

Learn about selecting edible plants in landscapes designed for children and families.

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Winter Play

Outdoor play, Physical Activity, Programming

As temperatures start to drop, so does our motivation to go outside and play. A greater effort is required to prepare children for outdoor play, but with a little planning and the proper clothing it can be well worth the extra effort. As our friends in Sweden say, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.”

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