We’re excited to spotlight one of our inspiring partners, PeacePlayers, an organization that uses the power of basketball to connect young people, build leadership skills, and promote peace. PeacePlayers runs free after-school programs, leadership development sessions, and one-off events like basketball clinics growing outreach across NYC’s boroughs. We first connected with PeacePlayers through our partner,…
Category: Activities
Mapping the Schoolyard
Kids love maps! We have a new schoolyard curriculum and outdoor activity guide in the works and with it, we hope to uplift Indigenous wisdom, encourage outdoor learning and climate literacy, and integrate schoolyard stewardship efforts. It felt important to leave a lot of room within the the lessons to be a kid: to ponder,…
Lenapehoking Outdoor Learning Curriculum Workshop
On September 30th from 2:30-4pm, we’ll be offering a free virtual workshop on 13 lessons developed to uplift Lenape wisdom as we explore climate and environmental topics in your schoolyard. These lesson and activities arrive on the heels of an exciting project led by The Lenape Center and Columbia’s Teacher College to “Decolonize Thinking and…
School Garden – Planning the Nitty Gritty
So much about properly caring for a new school garden concerns the nitty, gritty nuts and bolts of who’s doing what and when and where are all the things kept?! Here are some questions and logistics to consider when you’re coordinating use of your school’s new garden. You might keep this info on a worksheet in…
CUSP Map
Last week, we talked about the green infrastructure often included in our school yards to combat the pollution caused by Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). Of course, the Trust for Public Land is not the only organization or group working on this pollution problem. We like our playground stewards to understand how their schoolyards fit into climate…
ISGA’s Activity Guide
The NYC Playgrounds Program loves to see children experiencing their schoolyards in new and imaginative ways. If you’re a teacher looking to create meaningful outdoor learning moments for your students, this annually-published Activity Guide can help! The guide highlights art, play, learning, and community engagement activities that can assist in meeting your learning standards or…
Urban Watersheds
This week, an environmental enrichment class at Bed Stuy Collegiate began exploring how water moves through our urban environment by making paper models. Try adapting this lesson in your own classroom for an engaging hands-on way to get kids thinking about stormwater management. Materials: Sturdy paper Non-permanent markers Newspaper Spray bottle Water Background Discussion: Stormwater:…