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
Two children on tricycles play follow-the-leader.
Two boys explore the lower branches of a tree.

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

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Sensory Gardens

Design guidance, Pathways, Plantings
Wide, sensory pathway of flat, smooth stones, with hardy, fragrant, "step-able," in-between plants.
Sensory pathway lined with a variety of sensory plantings and elements.
Keyhole garden constructed of concrete stepping stones at YWCA of Asheville Child Care Center.
Keyhole garden surfaced with fine crushed stone and edged with smooth stones at the NC Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, NC.

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
A timber barrier and ornamental grasses help contain the sand play area at Children's Learning Center, Hillsborough, NC.
A timber bench encloses the sand play area at Bright Horizons at Research Triangle Park.
A timber bench wraps the sand play area at A Child's World, Jamestown, NC.
Boulders surround the sand play area at Wellesley College Child Study Center.

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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Edible Plants Resource

Edibles, Plantings
Children pick apples in their outdoor learning environment.

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

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Winter Play

Outdoor play, Physical Activity, Programming
A boy plays with a truck in the snow at the Wellesley College Child Study Center.
A child shovels snow for fun at the Wellesley College Child Study Center.
Children catch snowflakes on their tongues at the Wellesley College Child Study Center.
As the sun and physical activity warm the children they shed their hats and mittens. A bare fig tree makes a great hat rack.
Water frozen with food coloring make colorful ice blocks that are fun for play.

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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Selecting, Installing, and Managing Plants

Plantings
An ornamental grass plug is planted in a rain garden at the North Carolina Botanical Garden.
Chris Rumbley of Naked Fruits demonstrates proper planting and mulching technique at the 9th Annual NLI Design Institute.
Workshop participants plant a small tree at the 9th Annual NLI Design Institute.
Workshop participants plant a shrub at the 9th Annual NLI Design Institute.

A comprehensive guide to selecting, installing, and managing plants in landscapes designed for children and families within naturalearning.org.

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Autumn Children's Books and Outdoor Play

Children's Books, Outdoor play, Programming
Children have gathered autumn loose parts in child-sized carts.
Autumn loose parts gathered by the teachers and placed in the outdoor learning environment for the children to discover.

Autumn is a magical time of year. Leaves change to brilliant yellows, oranges and reds. An abundance of natural loose parts fall to the ground and are now within reach. If inspiration is needed for creative outdoor play ideas, try connecting the stories and themes of children's books to autumn outdoor play.

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More on Physical Activity with Diane Craft

Physical Activity, Programming
Diane Craft, PhD leads an outdoor interactive session titled, "Outdoor Active Play."
Diane Craft, PhD. presents at the 9th Annual Natural Learning Design Institute.
Diane Craft, PhD facilitates an outdoor interactive session titled, "Outdoor Active Play."

Dr. Diane Craft spoke at the 9th Annual Natural Learning Design Institute and shared innovative, but practical, ideas for increasing physical activity levels in young children.

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Raising Funds and Resources for Outdoor Learning Environments

Fundraising
Wish-list items on child-made, takeaway flowers are displayed with the schematic design at the entrance to the center.
Seed packets containing seeds "harvested" from the garden will be sold to raise funds for further naturalization of the OLE.
A Wishing Well sits at the front of the center and states "We are wishing for a beautiful new playground for the children."

Naturalizing your center’s outdoor learning environment doesn’t require huge expenditures. There are a variety of ways to raise resources and funds for your OLE.

 

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Autumn Leaves for Play and Learning

Children's Books, Programming
Autumn Leaves for Play and Learning
Autumn Leaves for Play and Learning
Children each selected a green leaf. String was tied to the stem of the leaf and labeled, so it could be found when it fell.
Rock art with autumn leaves. Children used water to decorate the rock with leaves.

The changing color of the autumn leaves is a great opportunity for exploring science, art and literacy with young children.

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