The Healthy Starts for Infants and Toddlers project has been completed!
Improving outdoor spaces for infants and toddlers.
Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Environments
ACCESS SKiP Call
Online Short Courses
Natural Learning at Home® September
Live broadcast to NatStart2021
Broadcasting from NLI Demonstration Site, A Safe Place, Raleigh, July 27, as part of the fabulous international field trip series.
Highlight: OLE! Texas
Elements that Make a Perfect Playground
Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Environments
Natural Learning at Home® August
Learning with Nature: an Educational Imperative
Montessori school communities lead outdoor education.
The Oakland Declaration
New Online Short Courses
Natural Learning at Home® July
Welcome The New NLI Director, Deepti Adlakha!
Founding Director Robin Moore enters phased retirement.
New Outdoor Play and Learning Environment!
Happy Father’s Day!
Newly Released InfoSheets!
Natural Learning at Home® June
This article brings to the layperson the language of designing outdoor environments for a wide variety of special needs. Montessorians will notice correlations between the designers’ professional vocabulary and Montessori concepts.
Registration is NOW OPEN for the Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Environments Certificate Course!
Summer 2021 registration open!
NLI Exhibition
Happy Mother’s Day!
Newly Released InfoSheets!
Natural Learning at Home® May
We are happy to announce that the Design Institute will be held virtually on March 25-26, 2021.
20th Anniversary Design Institute
Virtual event saved 41.4 metric tons.
NLI Exhibition
Robin Moore Honored by NC State University
Happy Earth Day!
Natural Learning at Home® April
We are happy to announce that the Design Institute will be held virtually on March 25-26, 2021.
Register for “Re-Naturing Urban Childhood: Making Friends with Planet Earth” by May 23rd!
Virtual event celebrates 20th Anniversary Design Institute.
NC State Day of Giving
National Plant Database
John Fritz Talks Design
Natural Learning at Home® March
The database is an exciting, unique resource allowing users to select plants by their play value, like those that promote sensory attributes, attract butterflies or birds, provide “loose parts” for play, or a host of other playful traits. (in addition to commonly found criteria like zone, height, growth habits, etc.) It’s a fantastic tool for landscape architects, park administrators, nature-focused organizations, schools, and anyone who wants to promote rich and diverse play and recreation experiences for children and families.
Re-Naturing Urban Childhood: Making Friends with Planet Earth
20th Anniversary Design Institute celebration with global leaders
Register for the Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Environments Certificate Course
Newly Released InfoSheets!
Save The Date For The 20th Anniversary NLI Design Institute
Natural Learning at Home® February
Celebrate Black History Month!
Nature’s Bounty
Registration is NOW OPEN for the Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Environments Certificate Course!
Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Environments certificate registration is now open!
Newly Released InfoSheets!
20th Anniversary Design Institute
Natural Learning at Home® January
Ice Painting
Enjoying Nature’s Bounty
Creating environments for healthy human development and a healthy biosphere for generations to come.
- NLI Mission
For 25 years, the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI) has applied community-based, equity-driven design thinking to create healthy, natural play and learning environments. The NLI Resource Hub offers a collection of free public resources dedicated to supporting the development of biophilic play and learning environments where children can grow up caring for the planet and each other. These resources encompass landscape design, research, professional development, and information dissemination.
Real-world places where NLI has provided professional landscape architecture design assistance.
Two to four page documents about implementing and maintaining nature-based play settings.
Web-based teaching tools and virtual experiences about exploring and designing nature-based play settings.
Learn more
Single-page documents about activities for children and caregivers in nature-based play settings.
A month-by-month newsletter series about nature-based activities for children and families at home.
Comprehensive projects that combine design assistance, research & evaluation, professional development, and dissemination & communications.
Printed and published books and resources about nature-based design, education, childhood, and more.
Published scientific research about nature-based design, childhood, behavior mapping, and more.
Videos created by NLI and our partners about nature-based design, education, childhood, and more.
Elements of outdoor learning environments that can be built and deployed at a low cost, but with a great impact.
Families, partners, neighborhoods and cities that help outdoor learning environments thrive and grow.
Information for raising resources to build and maintain outdoor learning environments.
Resources about growing plants and all the different ways it benefits young children.
Fruits and vegetables, trying and tasting, growing and eating. Learn how young children can be excited to eat nutritious food.
Building and constructing outdoor learning environments can be challenging. Find resources to guide your project.
Maintaining and sustaining outdoor learning environments is vital to their long-term success. Learn about managing environments.
Risk management in play areas is critical for certification and regulation. Learn how to create safe spaces and address concerns.
The Natural Learning Initiative (NLI), its partners and supporting entities assume no responsibility for the installation of outdoor components and/or designs and their use. In no event will NLI be liable for any loss or damage, including without limitation, indirect or consequential, incurred during the construction or use of outdoor play and learning environments. NLI further suggests adherence to the guidelines set forth in the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Public Playground Safety Handbook and to follow local, state, and national code requirements concerning but not limited to land use, zoning, safety, accessibility, permitting, and approval of plans prior to construction.