Media
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Check Out Our Gardening Shorts!
Explore our collection of video resources dedicated to naturalizing early childhood!
Use the tabs below to navigate our curated video categories:
- NLI Videos
- NLI Shorts
- External Videos
- Children’s Free & Spontaneous Play
- Design Institute
- Growing in Place
Making a Terrarium
Terrariums are a fun way to bring nature indoors. Using easily found and inexpensive materials, you can create a small world of wonder for children and adults alike.
Creating a Fairy Garden
Fairy gardens are homes for elves, fairies, and other beings of children’s imagination. They provide enchanted places that stimulate creative and dramatic play in make believe settings.
NLI Community-Based Design Process
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 and learning settings.
Designer Overview by Professor Robin Moore
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.
Looping Primary Pathway
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 and teachers alike.
Play and Learning Setting
A diversity of play and learning settings is key to high-quality outdoor learning environments. A variety of settings encourages children to be more physically active, play cooperatively, and engage in outdoor learning.
Outdoor Classrooms
Outdoor classrooms facilitate unique learning experiences that connect children to the natural world. Indoor-outdoor curriculum connections allow children to reflect on their outdoor experiences and share their observations.
Farm to Child Care
Farm to Child Care brings North Carolina grown fruits and vegetables into child care facilities for meals and snacks. Centers that grow their own fresh foods strengthen experiential learning opportunities for children in the program.
Garden Planning and Caring
Gardening allows children to experience every stage of growth from planting to harvest. Raised beds, container gardens, and edible shrubs are critical components for designing high-quality edible landscapes for children.
Childcare Network #61, Wanda Davis, Director
“Childcare Network #61” is one of 16 Wake County, NC centers implementing the Preventing Obesity by Design (POD) strategy developed by the Natural Learning Initiative, College of Design, North Carolina State University. POD-Wake Co. was supported by the John Rex Endowment.
A Safe Place Enrichment Center, Kim Shaw, Owner
“A Safe Place” is one of 16 Wake County, NC centers implementing the Preventing Obesity by Design (POD) strategy developed by the Natural Learning Initiative, College of Design, North Carolina State University. POD-Wake Co. was supported by the John Rex Endowment.
Garden Harvesting, Preparing, Snacking
Children who grow their own fruits and vegetables are more likely to try and enjoy new foods. Harvesting, snacking on, and preparing fresh foods help children build healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime.
Incremental Development
The creation of a high-quality outdoor learning environment doesn’t happen overnight. Projects develop in phases as funding, volunteers, and resources become available. A masterplan guides the phasing of projects over many years.
Elements of Urban Form
There are 5 urban form elements that influence design practice and policy. They are pathways, nodes, landmarks, districts, and edges.
Affordance and Behavior Setting
Affordance is a perceptional relationship between functional properties of environments and skills of individual users.
Playgrounds to Outdoor Learning Environments
Childcare outdoor learning environment to support young children’s physical activity, healthy eating, and outdoor learning.
Harvesting Collards
“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 this example, gardening. The two initial series focus on physical activity and healthy eating. Watch out for shorts that follow warm-season gardening, beginning with examining seeds and ending with preparing and eating the produce! A third series will focus on social-emotional development. A fourth will include all kinds of other serendipitous, unpredictable outdoor happenings. Please stay tuned!
Broccoli-Trees You Can Eat!
“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 (ECOPALS) – in this example, harvesting broccoli while learning about safety. The two initial series focus on physical activity and healthy eating. Cool season gardening is already launched. Watch out for shorts that follow warm-season gardening, beginning with examining seeds and ending with preparing and eating the produce! A third series will focus on social-emotional development. A fourth will include all kinds of other serendipitous, unpredictable outdoor happenings. Please stay tuned!
Examining & Sprouting Seeds
“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 spaces (ECOPALS) – in this example, examining & sprouting seeds. The two initial series focus on physical activity and healthy eating. Cool season gardening is already launched. Watch out for shorts that follow warm-season gardening, beginning with examining seeds and ending with preparing and eating the produce! A third series will focus on social-emotional development. A fourth will include all kinds of other serendipitous, unpredictable outdoor happenings.
Weeding, Planting, & Watering
This micro-documentary YouTube “short” (1:59) shows preschoolers preparing raised beds and planting warm season annual veggies with “companion” marigolds. Children learn about weeding and watering – two primary “caring” tasks for a successful harvest. The short is part of a series of 2-3-minute videos produced by NLI illustrating the 12-step, hands-on, early childhood gardening process that helps activate early childhood outdoor play and learning spaces (ECOPALS). The gardening shorts align with the Gardening Activity Guide, focusing on physical activity and healthy eating. Please stay tuned for more video shorts!
Trying & Tasting New Flavors
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 “Trying and Tasting New Flavors,” guiding children as they prepare two snacks using ingredients from the center’s own garden. This short is part of a series of 2-3-minute videos produced by NLI illustrating the 12-step, hands-on, early childhood gardening process that helps activate early childhood outdoor play and learning spaces (ECOPALS). The gardening shorts align with the Gardening Activity Guide, focusing on physical activity and healthy eating. Please stay tuned for more video shorts!
Exploring Cool Season Plant Growth
This micro-documentary YouTube “short” (1:50) shows preschoolers exploring plant growth of cool-season veggies such as celery, lettuce, and collards. Children are also planting strawberries, to be harvested in the spring. This short is part of a series of 2-minute videos produced by NLI illustrating the 12-step, hands-on gardening process that helps activate early childhood outdoor play and learning spaces (ECOPALS). The gardening shorts align with the Gardening Activity Guide, focusing on physical activity and healthy eating. Please stay tuned for more video shorts!
Building a Children’s Garden
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 centers as part of a state-wide grant with the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education.
The following short is from a visit to Bright Beginnings Child Development Center in Cary, NC where Horticulture Science students helped build and implement planters and a pergola.
Eating and Learning with Apples
(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 including Bambino’s Playschool and A Safe Place Child Enrichment Center, with programs that support healthy eating habits. NC Crunch recognizes how healthy eating contributes to child and family well-being, while also promoting North Carolina agriculture by crunching into locally grown fruits and vegetables!
Bambino’s Playschool, a current POD site, is committed to making a shift in the way children and their families view healthy eating. The owner/director, Adria Boyd, takes great pride in only serving children fresh produce. The school’s chef, affectionately known as Mama Jenkins, makes eating healthy meals fun and inviting for children. Her passion for healthy eating is inspiring. Bambino’s is licensed for 164 children birth-K.
OUTDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AT A CHILD’S HAVEN: JON FRITZ DESIGN REVIEW
Jon Fritz, landscape designer, presents the outdoor learning environment design for A Child’s Haven with knowledge gained through the NLI certificate course.
Tanya Camunas, Director, A Child’s HavenShale Remien, Reporter, Fox Carolina News
The Children & Nature Movement
The Children & Nature Network is championing a world-wide movement to reconnect children, families, and communities to the natural world: for their health and for the health of our planet. Produced by Gear 6 Productions for The Children & Nature Network.
OMO Dirt is Good
OMO is dedicated to showing you that Dirt is Good – especially when it’s the result of your kids going out into the world to have fun, explore, learn and experience the very best the world around us has to offer.
PEJ — Building Community Around Raleigh’s Walnut Creek Wetlands
Walnut Creek, 2000, is a grassroots project designed to extend to Southeast Raleigh – a predominately African American community – the same economic, educational, and beautification benefits realized by the rest of the City of Raleigh through wetland restoration.
What nature teaches children | Nilda Cosco | TEDxRaleigh
In her talk, Cosco explains the importance of children being outdoors as it releases the power of experiential learning and etches lifelong memories of nature. Nilda Cosco, PhD, is Research Associate Professor, College of Design, and Director of Programs at the Natural Learning Initiative, North Carolina State University.
CHILD IN NATURE
Wolfpack Wellness Research Web Series: “Preventing Obesity by Design”
During this episode, Dr. Suzie Goodell interviews Dr. Nilda Cosco, a research associate professor in the College of Design, discusses her research initiative “Preventing Obesity by Design; Natural Learning Initiative.”
This is why play is so important
‘This is why play is so important’ captures why play is vital to children’s development, mental health, wellbeing, and happiness. From street play to playgrounds, living rooms to back gardens, the film captures play in all its different guises and offers a unique insight into what play means to children of all ages.
Free the Kids – Dirt is Good
Who spends more time outside, a child… or a maximum-security prisoner? Watch this film to find out. This video looks inside the minds of prison inmates to find out exactly how much their outdoor time means to them.
This Is Me : Article 31 and a Child’s Right to Play
On February 1st 2013, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expanded the world’s understanding of the child’s right to play by adopting a General Comment on Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This may sound dry, but this video doesn’t!
Design Institute – 2018
Featured speakers include: Adrien Smith, Debbie Roos, John Connors, Max Cawley & Uli Hartmond, Nils Peterson, and Robin Moore.
Design Institute – 2017
Featured speakers include: Barry Van Derman, Carlos Ferreira Neto, Cathy Jordan, Marcia Brooks, Evie Houtz, and Robin Moore.
Design Institute – 2016
Featured speakers include: Anita Nelson Niehues, Cam Collyer, David Kahn, Glenn Murphy, Jennifer Zuckerman, Jim Phillips, Kevin Cherry, Lias Fluery, Michael Lindstrom, Nilda Cosco, and Robin Moore
Growing in Place – 2018
Growing in Place – 2017
Growing in Place – 2012
