Creating a Sustainable Outdoor Play Area
Learn the best practices for designing sustainable spaces that also inspire children to be creative, play, and develop a deep connection with nature.
Connecting children with nature through thoughtful facilities design
This paper and accompanying short videos are part of the Making Space series, a project of the National Children's Facilities Network. This installment explores how children's children connection to nature has changed in the context of our changing climate, and how child care facilities may play a role in restrengthening that relationship.
Deconstructing 'green': a holistic approach to designing sustainable child development centers
Written from the perspective of an architect, this short report explains best practices for designing environmentally and financially sustainable child care centers.
Greening Early Childhood Centers
This extensive report covers how child care facilities can be "greened" and designed to have a lower environmental impact, resilient overtime and provide safe spaces for children to grow and learn. From site selection and layout design, to non-toxic play materials, this report and accompanying Go Green Checklist are great resources for child care providers, operators, developers and communities members to have to center sustainability in their community.
Climate Change is a Childcare Issue
Climate Change is Childcare Issue (September 12th Episode): In this episode of the No One is Coming to Save Us podcast, host Gloria Riviera explores why families across L.A. are struggling with the rising cost of childcare and how to access support programs. Meanwhile, childcare providers are grappling with their own challenges, including low wages and staff shortages. Gloria talks about how leaders in L.A. can invest in a more unified, affordable, and culturally affirming system of childcare. She is joined by Debra Colman, the Director of the L.A. County Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education, and Vickie Ramos Harris, the Vice President of Policy and Programs at Catalyst California.
How a baby's health is shaped in part by the environment they live in
Researchers who study the importance of a baby's early experiences, such as the quality of the relationships with their parents, are also looking into how built and natural environments critically impact health outcomes. But access to green space, for example, is not equal depending on where families live.
Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes learns more about the connections between the environment and early childhood with Dr. Lindsey Burghardt, chief science officer at The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
Little Kids Need Outdoor Play - But Not When It's 110 Degrees
In this article form the Hechinger Report, author Anya Kamentz makes clear the increasingly negative impact climate change has on child care facilities. On top of providing quality, loving care, extreme heat, smokey air, and flood risk are now reoccuring challenges chidl care providers must face. Kamentz offers examples from other nations on how facilities can be bolstered using resilient materials and designs to better withstand extreme weather and keep child care providers and the kids in their care safe.
The U.S. Early Years Climate Action Plan
The first of its kind, the U.S. Early Years Climate Action Plan puts forth a framework for understanding how climate change impacts children and families, child- and family-facing programs, and local communities and proposes recommendations for different stakeholders and government agencies to implement resiliency strategies and funding opportunities to protect young children.
Sustainable Facilities Tool - Child Care Centers
This tool helps design eco-friendly Early Childhood Education (ECE) facilities using interactive images to explore design options and safe materials.
Planning for Resilient Early Care and Education: Addressing Climate Vulnerabilities
The LIIF and UC Berkeley's paper emphasizes reducing the risks of extreme heat and air pollution in child care facilities for children aged 0 to 5.