GreenKids: Cultivating Sustainability Through Childhood Nature Play Student Project Leaders: Hands On Kansas State, Delta Delta Delta Sorority, Horticulture Club, Early Childhood Education students, ECM REAL Food Lunch, Student Farm Department/Unit: K-­‐State Center for Child Development (CCD), Rosie Mitchell, Acting Head rosiem@ksu.edu Project Advisor: Dr. Cheryl Boyer, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist for Ornamental Nursery Crops [also parent of a child at the CCD] crboyer@ksu.edu Project Narrative At the heart of the concept of sustainability is the idea that a healthy understanding of the environment will engender the desire to maintain it. Starting in childhood, children who are exposed to natural, outdoor spaces develop an affection for nature that can only be attained by regular, unmediated contact with it. In fact, in White and Stoecklin’s 1998 paper, Children’s Outdoor Play and Learning Environments: Returning to Nature, the authors state, “It is only by intimately knowing the wonder of nature’s complexity in a particular place that leads to a full appreciation of the immense beauty of the planet as a whole.” We are proud that K-­‐State’s Center for Child Development (CCD) follows a nature-­‐based curriculum both in their classroom activities and in the play areas surrounding the building. We want the children cared for here to intimately know and to protect the natural beauty of Manhattan, Kansas. White and Stoecklin’s paper lists items that help children enjoy outdoor environments: • Water • Vegetation, including trees, bushes, flowers and long grasses • Animals, creatures in ponds, and other living things • Sand, best if it can be mixed with water • Natural color, diversity and change • Places and features to sit in, on, under, lean against, and provide shelter and shade • Different levels and nooks and crannies, places that offer privacy and views • Structures, equipment and materials that can be changed, actually or in their imaginations, including plentiful loose parts. K-­‐State built the CCD, on the north side of campus several years ago which included play areas to provide all of the listed needs for the children’s nature play. However, some of the play areas need to be updated or repaired since the children have enjoyed the space so much. In particular, the sand areas on the preschool playground must regularly be refilled due to the slope of the space and active use by the children (Fig. 1, 2). Much of the sand has moved into the dry creek bed, clogging it so that water from the fountain doesn’t flow well. Additionally, the staff at the CCD have concerns about covering the sand areas to keep animals out when not in use. Secondary needs include replacing/updating plants (provide shade, color, texture, fragrance, softness and a sense of peacefulness) that have been trampled over time and updating the walking paths to make riding toys easier to use. 1 Figure 2 Preschool play area showing filled-­‐in dry creek bed with water feature in the foreground. Figure 1 Preschool play area showing empty/low, uncovered sand box (center of photo). Besides the need to improve the nature-­‐based play area, when the CCD moved into the new building, it lost it’s schoolyard learning garden at the old location which provided an educational and learning resource for teachers, parents and children. Through the gardening process, children learn about nutrition and will develop healthy eating habits. With the help of ECM’s REAL Food lunch staff, the Student Farm, and members of Manhattan’s Community Garden, CCD will set goals for their garden to include helping teachers learn basic gardening skills and hands-­‐on training for children and families as they learn the benefits of gardening. Gardening in schools has many benefits and provides teachers, families and K-­‐State students with the opportunity to: § Develop gardening skills by planting and maintaining food crops in an outdoor garden setting. § Learn about nutrition and healthy eating habits as they taste and experiment with a variety of vegetables and fruits. § Increase understanding of plant science and the basic concepts of plant growth through “hands-­‐on” experience. § Increase environmental awareness by learning how to garden and how people fit into the garden environment. The objective of this proposal is to improve the nature-­‐based play area and outdoor educational area at the CCD through the volunteer network of student organizations on campus, and, in turn, increase the environmental sustainability awareness of the children at the CCD (as well as students, parents and staff). Students in many disciplines such as horticulture, early childhood education and leadership studies have agreed to become project leaders for the development, design, volunteer management and outreach efforts for this GreenKids project. 2 Sustainability/environmental benefits to the university Increased awareness and understanding of sustainability efforts by a wide variety of university stakeholders will increase the value of the Green Action Fund. The more people who are exposed to these efforts and what they mean to the development of our children (and future K-­‐Staters), the greater impact for sustainability programming on campus as a whole. Impacts will be measured with a survey of project participants at the conclusion of grant funding. Participants will be asked to fill out a simple survey indicating how much they knew about K-­‐State Sustainability, the Green Action Fund and the CCD prior to and after their work on the project. We will also ask for narrative “success” stories about their involvement. Forms and amounts of direct student involvement in project leadership and implementation Student leaders from HandsOn Kansas State, Delta Delta Delta Sorority, the K-­‐State Horticulture Club, and Early Childhood Education majors will lead individual projects (sand, paths, plantings). Along with the Project Advisor, these student organizations will develop a plan of action to accomplish the goals of the project, recruit and manage volunteers (students, parents, staff), plan the supplies and items for work, communicate the value and meaning of the project with CCD stakeholders and project participants, and carry out each project in a timeline of their own setting. Benefits to the K-­‐State student body as a whole and/or to subsets of the student body Students interested in sustainability efforts will have a hands-­‐on opportunity to get involved with the project. Other students needing volunteer hours for various organizations will be exposed to an aspect of K-­‐State they had not previously had experience with (if they do not have children). Student parents will be invited to participate in improving their children’s childcare facility in a way that benefits many children, their university and community. We will measure the impact of their participation through the same survey as outlined earlier in the proposal. K-­‐State Department/unit that will administer the project funds K-­‐State Center for Child Development Detailed Budget Sand Play Areas • Covered sandboxes $500 • Shade structure $1,500 • Sand $900 • Stabilizing sand areas $1,300 Total for Sand Play Areas $4,200 Plantings • Plants, mulch, fertilizer $3,000 • Tools for planting $200 Total for Plantings $3,200 3 Pathways • Crushed limestone $1000 • Landscape timbers $500 • Tools $100 Total for Pathways $1,600 Food Garden • Landscape timbers for raised beds $500 • Topsoil $200 • Irrigation equipment $100 • Plants $200 Total for Pathways $1,000 Total Request: $10,000 Timeline of Activities February/March: Identify community resources that will benefit student learning and outreach efforts. Meet with interested student organizations about project and develop a timeline for activities. Identify and meet with student project leaders. Review timeline and community resources. March: Meet with project leaders to confirm plans of action, to be carried out March through April. Provide site leader training focused on civic leadership, community impact and sustainability. Purchase supplies. Choose project dates. Recruit and schedule volunteers. Develop impact survey. April: Install projects on dates chosen in March. Provide orientation and education awareness of projects to volunteers, families and CCD stakeholders. Orient and train teachers and volunteers on basic gardening skills. Deploy impact survey. May: Tie up any loose ends for the various projects. Analyze survey results. June: Project reporting. 4