03. Affordable Settings and Components
Infosheets 03. Affordable Settings and Components Download the PDF - English Transforming a play environment doesn’t require endless resources. With a few easy-to-find materials and willing volunteers, many settings and elements can be made at minimal cost, providing...
04. Gathering Settings
Infosheets NLI 04. Gathering Settings Download the PDF - English Gathering settings support formal and informal play and learning activity. Sizes may vary to accommodate a group as small as two (e.g., child and teacher) or a whole class. They can be designed to suit...
05. Gathering Settings Created with Logs
Infosheets NLI 05. Gathering Settings Created with Logs Download the PDF - English Gathering settings support formal and informal group activity and social interaction. Settings can be constructed from logs (presented here), smooth boulders or timber benches, arranged...
06. Stepping Stone Pathways and Small Patios
Infosheets NLI 06. Stepping Stone Pathways and Small Patios Download the PDF - English See the "Installing Stepping Stones" Green Desk Post Stepping stones are versatile and durable ground surface components used to create outdoor play and learning settings....
07. Conicals
Infosheets 07. Conicals Download the PDF - English Conicals provide a permanent, pyramidal form of nook for gathering and dramatic play. Constructed from geometrically arranged poles converging at their upper ends, conicals can be created from metal, dimensioned...
08. Vine Conical Installation
Infosheets NLI 08. Vine Conical Installation Download the PDF - English Vine conicals create amazing opportunities for learning and outdoor play. Vine conicals can be constructed of 1/2-inch rebar, 1/2-inch steel bar, or sturdy giant bamboo as described here....
09. Pathway Designs
Infosheets NLI 09. Pathway Designs Download the PDF - English Research shows that well-designed pathways promote physical activity, play, and learning by providing children and teachers with integrated access to outdoor learning environments (OLEs). Once established,...
10. Growing Edible Plants in Containers
Infosheets 10. Growing Edible Plants in Containers Download the PDF - English Container gardening is a practical, low-cost, space-efficient, and child-friendly approach to growing fresh produce at home, schools, and in childcare centers. Children delight in growing...
11. Shade Solutions
Infosheets NLI 11. Shade Solutions Download the PDF - English Adequate protection from the sun is essential for the health and comfort of young children outdoors. In addition to protecting children from harmful ultra-violet light, sun protection extends outdoor play...
12. Arbors, Pergolas, & Trellises
Infosheets NLI 12. Arbors, Pergolas, & Trellises Download the PDF - English Arbors, pergolas, and trellises emerged centuries ago in Graeco-Roman gardens. Then as now they accentuate the third dimension, immersing users in nature by enveloping them with climbing...
13. Gross Motor Logs
Infosheets NLI 13. Gross Motor Logs Download the PDF - English Gross motor logs may be as simple as a single, horizontal log installed on the ground or a low grouping of various sized logs and/or limbs installed to provide a natural alternative to fixed, manufactured...
14. Plant Bed Protection
Infosheets NLI 14. Plant Bed Protection Download the PDF - English Plant protection boundaries prevent children from inadvertently running through planting beds, especially in compact, high use areas adjacent to primary pathways. Protective edging prevents plants from...
15. Sand Play Settings
Infosheets NLI 15. Sand Play Settings Download the PDF - English Sand play is a universal, early childhood activity from toddlerhood through the early school years. The manipulable quality of sand stimulates endless play sequences combining imaginative, social, and...
16. Multi-Purpose Lawns
Infosheets NLI 16. Multi-Purpose Lawns Download the PDF - English Multi-purpose lawns provide a soft surface for active play such as ball games, parachute play, and group activities, as well as a place for quieter activity such as story-time. Undulating ground...
17. Acoustic Play Settings
Infosheets NLI 17. Acoustic Play Settings Download the PDF - English Acoustic play settings provide opportunities for “making music” and enjoying beautiful sounds. Settings can be created from recycled/re-purposed items such as pots, pans, and pipes, or manufactured...
18. Making Newspaper Seedling Pots
Infosheets NLI 18. Making Newspaper Seedling Pots Download the PDF - English Newspaper pots are great containers for starting seeds, allowing you to transplant seedlings straight into your garden at the start of the growing season. With a few easily found items, you...
19. Starting Veggies Indoors
Infosheets NLI 19. Starting Veggies Indoors Download the PDF - English Spring is coming! It’s time to start seeds indoors to prep for the growing season– and bring gardening fun to school, home, or a childcare center! If you live in a cooler climate, starting veggie...
20. Indoor Plants for Homes and Classrooms
Infosheets NLI 20. Indoor Plants for Homes and Classrooms Download the PDF - English Indoor plants provide numerous benefits to both classroom and home environments, including a reduction in stress levels, improved concentration, and improved air quality. Children...
21. Creating Terrariums
Leaflets NLI 21. Creating Terrariums Download the PDF - English 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,...
22. Decks, Stages, & Porches
Infosheets NLI 22. Decks, Stages, & Porches Download the PDF - English Deck/stage settings provide dry, off-the-ground, multipurpose places for informal play, gathering, and classroom activity. Settings can be constructed of dimensioned or composite lumber, with...
23. Straw Bale Planters
Infosheets NLI 23. Straw Bale Planters Download the PDF - English Straw bales are a flexible and affordable option for starting a gardening program in an outdoor learning environment (OLE). They can serve as a temporary solution while permanent beds are installed or...
24. Early Childhood Fruit and Vegetable Gardens
Infosheets NLI 24. Early Childhood Fruit and Vegetable Gardens Download the PDF - English Children’s fruit and vegetable gardening can be supported by several garden types. If prior experience is lacking, container gardening is a great, confidence-building...
25. Harvesting Water with Rain Barrels
Infosheets NLI 25. Harvesting Water with Rain Barrels Download the PDF - English A rain barrel is a container that captures and stores rainwater from roof downspouts. Barrels usually range from 50 to 80 gallons. Smaller rain barrels may be explicitly repurposed. All...
26. Wildlife Gardens
Infosheets NLI 26. Wildlife Gardens Download the PDF - English Creating habitat for wildlife in an outdoor learning environment (OLE) provides countless opportunities to teach children about environmental stewardship. Watching and observing wildlife encourages STEAM...
27. Attracting Birds to Outdoor Learning Environments
Infosheets NLI 27. Attracting Birds to Outdoor Learning Environments Download the PDF - English Watching birds is a wonderful way for children to connect with nature. Whether observing them in trees or simply listening for songs, children delight in searching for...
28. Plants for Outdoor Learning Environments
Infosheets NLI 28. Plants for Outdoor Learning Environments Download the PDF - English Plants are a critical outdoor learning environment (OLE) best practice. Different species can provide shade, visual screens, wind barriers, and enhance seasonal play opportunities....
30. Tire Planters
Infosheets 30. Tire Planters Download the PDF - English Tire planters are universally available and inexpensive, making them a great addition to any low-cost outdoor learning environment (OLE) naturalization. Used tires can be found at almost any local car repair shop...
31. Fire Ant Prevention and Treatment
Infosheets NLI 31. Fire Ant Prevention and Treatment Download the PDF - English Fire ants are a destructive pest that increasingly threaten native species of ants and, as their name implies, can leave painful, itchy “stings.” Although more common in the...
33. Earth Play Settings
Infosheets NLI 33. Earth Play Settings Download the PDF - English Earth play stimulates dramatic play and provides children with opportunities to dig and sculpt. Enclosed by logs or rocks and filled with a prepared “earth play mix,” earth play settings may contain...
34. Mud Kitchens
Infosheets NLI 34. Mud Kitchens Download the PDF - English Mud kitchens (cafés or labs) allow children to experiment with simple natural materials in infinite combinations, providing endless opportunities for nature-centered play and learning. By combining scientific...
35. Natural Construction Settings
Infosheets NLI 35. Natural Construction Settings Download the PDF - English Natural construction in the outdoor learning environment (OLE) supports open-ended, creative, and free play using diverse natural materials such as sticks, tree limbs, large leaves, and...
36. Dry Stream Beds
Infosheets NLI 36. Dry Stream Beds Download the PDF - English Dry stream beds are swale-like depressions lined with smooth river rocks. Children may play with the rocks, turn them over to find critters beneath, and explore the plants living between them. Dry stream...
40. Water Play
Infosheets NLI 40. Water Play Download the PDF - English Water offers endless, multi-sensory, interactive play and learning opportunities like floating leaves and other “floatables,” manipulating flow with movable stones, pouring from containers, splashing, “painting”...
42. Loose Parts Settings
Infosheets NLI 42. Loose Parts Settings Download the PDF - English Loose parts settings support a broad range of open-ended play and learning activities in a defined space, prompted by items that are small enough to be easily manipulated by preschoolers. Potential...
45. Stormwater Management
Infosheets NLI 45. Stormwater Management Download the PDF - English When soils are compacted, comprised of heavy clay, and/or drainage is insufficient, excessive water may gather in the outdoor learning environment (OLE) after a rain storm or during rapid snow-melt,...
NLI Newsletter – December 2020
The Shape NC 3 project has been completed!
Shape NC 3 is an initiative promoting healthy development in NC’s young children with a focus on healthy eating, active living, and outdoor environments.
10 Essential Ways Trees Help Our Planet
Newly Released InfoSheets!
Save The Date For The 20th Anniversary NLI Design Institute
The Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Environments certificate course
Natural Learning at Home® December
Enjoying Nature’s Bounty
Happy Holidays! 2020
Happy Holidays from the Natural Learning Initiative! Join us as we celebrate nature play and learning with our holiday postcard.
Land of Learning Child Care
Shape NC NLI Land of Learning Child Care Land of Learning Child Care in Wilson, NC added a large primary pathway loop onto an existing entry pathway and loop in their preschool area, to give children more opportunities for physical activity with a double looped...
