Design Assistance

NLI provides design assistance, design review, and professional development resources to private and public institutions that offer formal and nonformal education and cultural services to children. NLI works with community partners, including landscape architects, to create model, research-based, ecologically viable outdoor settings. NLI believes that effective design must be a community-based process that engages all relevant stakeholders in developing a project mission, vision, and design objectives to support consensus-based design solutions.

Projects

Projects are typically concentrated, short-duration efforts that focus on specific design issues or involve a single aspect of a program (e.g., design assistance, evaluation, professional development or policy initiative).

“The kids love talking about the garden, they are excited about it and the garden extends their science and nature learning.”

A Center Director - POD Wake County

Play Chastain

Play Chastain

Grow Outdoors South Carolina Launch

Grow Outdoors South Carolina Launch

Supporting Naturalized Outdoor Play and Learning Environments in North Carolina Child Care Facilities

Supporting Naturalized Outdoor Play and Learning Environments in North Carolina Child Care Facilities

OLE at Glencoe Mill Village

OLE at Glencoe Mill Village

The Catawba Nation iswa Early Learning Center

The Catawba Nation iswa Early Learning Center

The Nature PlayScape at Cincinnati Nature Center

The Nature PlayScape at Cincinnati Nature Center

Kids Together Playground

Kids Together Playground

Anne Springs Close Greenway (ASCG)

Anne Springs Close Greenway (ASCG)

Greenspring Montessori School

Greenspring Montessori School

Verner Central (VC) at Emma Elementary

Verner Central (VC) at Emma Elementary

Ross Park Playful Learning Forest

Ross Park Playful Learning Forest

Kids in the Woods at Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve

Kids in the Woods at Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve

Conestee Nature Preserve: Nature Playscape

Conestee Nature Preserve: Nature Playscape

North Carolina Transportation Museum

North Carolina Transportation Museum

Moore Montessori Community School (MMCS) teacher workshop

Moore Montessori Community School (MMCS) teacher workshop

Rash Field Park

Rash Field Park

St. Johns Lutheran Church Child Development Center

St. Johns Lutheran Church Child Development Center

kidZone Post Occupancy Evaluation

kidZone Post Occupancy Evaluation

My Place by The Bay: Prepared Environments for Early Science Learning

My Place by The Bay: Prepared Environments for Early Science Learning

Blanchie Carter Discovery Park

Blanchie Carter Discovery Park

Teardrop Park (North)

Teardrop Park (North)

Bright Horizons Child Development Center at Research Triangle Park

Bright Horizons Child Development Center at Research Triangle Park

Children’s Garden, North Carolina Botanical Garden

Children’s Garden, North Carolina Botanical Garden

The Montessori School of Winston-Salem, NC

The Montessori School of Winston-Salem, NC

Greensboro Children’s Museum Edible Schoolyard

Greensboro Children’s Museum Edible Schoolyard

Wellesley College Child Study Center

Wellesley College Child Study Center

Field of Dreams

Field of Dreams

Clairmont Campus, Clifton School

Clairmont Campus, Clifton School

First Baptist Kindergarten Outdoor Environment

First Baptist Kindergarten Outdoor Environment

The Elizabeth Ann Clune Montessori School of Ithaca

The Elizabeth Ann Clune Montessori School of Ithaca

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) OLE Initiative

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) OLE Initiative

Walnut Creek Wetland Center

Walnut Creek Wetland Center

Montessori Community School, Durham, NC

Montessori Community School, Durham, NC

Natural Play and Learning Area Guidelines Project

Natural Play and Learning Area Guidelines Project

First Environments Early Learning Center

First Environments Early Learning Center

Down East Discovery Play and Learning Park in Rocky Mount, NC

Down East Discovery Play and Learning Park in Rocky Mount, NC

Heron Pond Montessori School

Heron Pond Montessori School