NLI receives the NC State 2025 Opal Mann Green Engagement and Scholarship Award!
NLI receives the NC State 2025 Opal Mann Green Engagement and Scholarship Award! Pictured from left to right are: Robin Moore; David Monks, PhD, Vice Provost for Extension and Engagement; Nilda Cosco, PhD; Matt Babb; Soolyeon Cho, PhD; Adam Noel; Adrienne Murrell. As...
Celebrate Earth Day 2025
Celebrate Earth Day 2025 On NLI’s 25th Earth Day, we invite you to celebrate nature’s lowly childhood friends: buttercups, daisies, dandelions, and – violets! Children explore and discover the wonders of nature within an intimate sensory envelope as they move around,...
NLI Student Summer Internship
Early childhood outdoor play and learning resources.
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DCDEE Naturalizing NC Childcare
DCDEE Naturalizing NC Childcare Supporting Naturalized Outdoor Play and Learning Environments in North Carolina Child Care Facilities The Natural Learning Initiative (NLI) and the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) have relaunched the Creating a...
Robin Moore, NLI Director, is honored by NC State University and the U.S. Play Coalition
Robin Moore, NLI Director, is honored by NC State University and the U.S. Play Coalition Robin is a recipient of the 2020-2021 Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence, the highest academic honor bestowed by the NC State Board of Trustees for outstanding and...
Nilda Cosco Honored with Multiple Awards
Nilda Cosco Honored with Multiple Awards Dr. Nilda Cosco, Research Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Director of Programs, Natural Learning Initiative, College of Design, receives multiple honors as an Extension and Engagement...
EDRA Awards 2023
EDRA Awards 2023 The 2023 Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) Career and Organization Awards go to Robin Moore and the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI, co-founded by Robin Moore and Nilda Cosco, PhD, in 2000), College of Design, NC State University. EDRA...
Sterling Montessori Academy and Charter School
Project Sterling Montessori Academy and Charter School Sterling Montessori Academy and Charter School (SMACS) in Morrisville, NC, partnered with the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI) to redesign its outdoor play and learning spaces (OPALS), aligning them with...
NLI Delivers Webinar with Michigan DNR
NLI Delivers Webinar with Michigan DNR Quick Links: Michigan DNR Website Nature Awaits Youth Program Support MDNR Programs Broadcast Date:December 16th 2024 6:30pm EST NLI Webinar hosted by Michigan DNR-Parks and Recreation Division (PRD) “Creating Natural Play and...
05 Gathering Settings Created with Logs
NLI (Natural Learning Initiative) Infosheets are printable how-to guides for installing affordable do-it-yourself outdoor design interventions for creating early childhood naturalized outdoor play and learning environments! For informational 1-page printable hand-outs...
NLI Newsletter – November / December 2024
NLI 2024 WRAPPED!
It’s time to take a look back on the incredible year we’ve had!
Ross Park Zoo: Creekside Play and Learning Center Award
Gathering & Tour: DCDEE North Central Region
NLI Newsletter – September / October 2024
Trying & Tasting New Flavors
In this video, Abe leads a conversation about flavors.
From Teepee to Conical
The NLI Website Becomes Multilingual!
Conestee Nature Preserve Recovery
NLI Newsletter – July / August 2024
The NLI Resource Hub: A New Tool for Educational Resources
A user-friendly, filterable NLI search engine.
NC Solar Farm: Agrivoltaic Visioning Workshop
Kids Together Playground Interactive Virtual Tour Kids Together Playground, a universally
Gardening With Young Children Certificate Course (GWYC)
Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Environments Certificate (ECOLE)
Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Environments Certificate
Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Environments Certificate EARLY CHILDHOOD OUTDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS CERTIFICATE COURSE is targeted towards early childhood professionals and others interested in improving early childhood outdoor play and learning environments....
Ross Park Zoo: Creekside Play and Learning Center update
Ross Park Zoo: Creekside Play and Learning Center update We are excited to announce that NLI’s Ross Park Zoo partners, Bingamton NY, have been awarded $300,000 from a local foundation to support construction of the Creekside Play and Learning Center. This first phase...
Kids Together Playground Virtual Environment
The Kids Together Playground Virtual Environment is a simulated 3D recreation of the young children area of Kids Together Playground in Cary, NC. Developed by DELTA (Digital Education and Learning Technology Applications) at NCSU as part of an exploratory grant with...
Eating and Learning with Apples – NLI Short
Eating and Learning with Apples – NLI Short By: Natural Learning Initiative (Eating and Learning with Apples Video) NC Crunch this Fall celebrated NC Farm to School and Early Care and Education Month by hosting events at more than a dozen Wake County Childcare...
Building a Children’s Garden – NLI Short
Building a Children’s Garden – NLI Short By: Natural Learning Initiative In November of 2023, NLI collaborated with the NC State University Department of Horticultural Science to deploy nature-based design interventions in two North Carolina child care...
Trying & Tasting New Flavors – NLI Short
Trying & Tasting New Flavors – NLI Short By: Natural Learning Initiative This micro-documentary YouTube “short” (2:23) features Abe Shaw from A Safe Place Child Enrichment Center in Raleigh, NC. In this video, Abe leads a lesson called...
Weeding, Planting, & Watering – NLI Short
Weeding, Planting, & Watering – NLI Short By: Natural Learning Initiative This micro-documentary YouTube “short” (1:59) shows preschoolers preparing raised beds and planting warm season annual veggies with “companion” marigolds....
Examining & Sprouting Seeds – NLI Short
Examining & Sprouting Seeds – NLI Short By: Natural Learning Initiative “Examining & Sprouting Seeds” is part of a series of 2-3-min YouTube videos illustrating children’s interactions with early childhood outdoor play and learning...
Broccoli-Trees You Can Eat! – NLI Short
Broccoli-Trees You Can Eat! – NLI Short By: Natural Learning Initiative “Broccoli-Trees You Can Eat!” is part of a series of 2-3-min YouTube videos illustrating children’s interactions with early childhood outdoor play and learning spaces...
Harvesting Collards – NLI Short
Harvesting Collards – NLI Short By: Natural Learning Initiative “Harvesting Collards” is the first in a series of 3-min videos on YouTube illustrating children’s interactions with early childhood outdoor play and learning spaces (ECOPALS™) – in...
The NLI Website Becomes Multilingual
NLI The NLI Website Becomes Multilingual We’re thrilled to expand our global reach and make our resources more accessible than ever with the new GTranslate plugin on our website! As part of our mission to connect children and families with nature through outdoor...
From Teepee to Conical
From Teepee to Conical “Conical” is the new name adopted by NLI because of cultural appropriation issues, for conical structures installed in children’s outdoor play and learning areas, previously called teepees (tepees or tipis). The latter are loanwords from...
Shepherd’s Way Infant Parklet
Shepherd’s Way Infant Parklet By: Natural Learning Initiative In this video, we see how two parking spaces at Shepherd’s Way Day School were transformed into a baby parklet, providing a safe and engaging outdoor environment for young children. The timber...
Infants & Toddlers Outdoors: Best Practice Toolkit (partial)
Gathering & Tour: DCDEE North Central Region
NLI Gathering & Tour: DCDEE North Central Region As part of the two-year project, Supporting Naturalized Outdoor Play and Learning Environments in North Carolina Child Care Facilities, the Growing Place Child Care Center, Asheboro, NC, hosted a regional Gathering...
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NC Solar Farm: Agrivoltaics Project
NC Solar Farm: Agrivoltaics Project Download the PDF report here Agrivoltaics Background With the adoption of a recent Climate Action Plan, Orange County, North Carolina, intends to deploy strategies and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase renewable...
The NLI Resource Hub: A New Tool for Educational Resources
NLI The NLI Resource Hub: A New Tool for Educational Resources In an ongoing effort to enhance the accessibility and impact of our educational materials, the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI) has launched the NLI Resource Hub, a user-friendly, filterable search engine...
Kids Together Playground Interactive Virtual Tour
NLI Kids Together Playground Interactive Virtual Tour Kids Together Playground, a universally-designed, family recreation space in Cary, NC, opened in 2000, designed by NLI’s Robin Moore in collaboration with Little and Little and staff landscape architect, Robb...
Making a Terrarium
Making a Terrarium By: Natural Learning Initiative Terrariums are a fun and attractive way to bring nature indoors. Using easily found and inexpensive materials, you can create a small world of wonder for children and adults alike. With figurines, plants, and found...
Creating a Fairy Garden
Creating a Fairy Garden By: Natural Learning Initiative Fairy gardens are homes for elves, fairies, and other beings of children’s imagination. They provide enchanted places that stimulate creative, dramatic play in make believe settings. Creating a fairy village...
NLI Community-Based Design Process
NLI Community-Based Design Process By: Natural Learning Initiative The NLI design team engages teachers, caregivers, and stakeholders in a community-centered design process that is grounded in innovative, accessible, and low-cost strategies to create high-quality play...
POD Design Implementation
POD Design Implementation By: Natural Learning Initiative Robin C. Moore, Dipl.Arch, MCP, Hon.ASLA, Hon.IPA is a Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director of the Natural Learning Initiative, College of Design, NC State University. Watch Next! Free the Kids...
Looping Primary Pathway
Looping Primary Pathway By: Natural Learning Initiative Primary pathways promote physical activity by facilitating running, chase games, and wheeled toy use. They provide circulation throughout the outdoor learning environment and connect play settings for children...
