Welcome to Green Hearts!
Green Hearts' Mission
Green Hearts' mission is to restore and strengthen
the bonds between children and nature.
We use best practices in child development,
environmental education, naturalistic landscaping, and
conservation design to help ensure that active nature
exploration remains a cherished part of childhood. By
nurturing children's love for the natural world, Green
Hearts lays the cornerstone for life-long conservation
values among the citizens and leaders of the future.
Green Hearts' Slogan
Bringing Children and Nature
Back Together
Green Hearts' Structure
Green Hearts Institute for
Nature in Childhood is a tax-
exempt, nonprofit
conservation organization
designated as a 501(c)(3)
public charity by the U.S.
Internal Revenue Service.
Green Hearts' Core Beliefs and Principles
Green Hearts' Core Beliefs and Principles
Primary Services
A. Educational advocacy for and about nature play,
through speaking, writing, and educational
workshops.
B. Consulting assistance to organizations seeking to
create or expand opportunities for nature play —
primarily focused on: (1) the development and
operation of nature preschools, and (2) the design
and development of natural play spaces.
C. Future development and operation of Green Hearts’
own multi-state network of “children’s nature
centers,” each featuring a licensed nature
preschool.
Green Hearts' History
Green Hearts was founded in
2005 by Ken Finch, who has
worked in environmental
education since 1974.
Disappointed by the apparently
limited societal impact of modern
environmental education, Ken felt
that a new direction should be
tried. This direction reflects the
research which has found that the
most common influence on life-
long conservation values is not
structured learning, but rather is
frequent, unstructured childhood
play in natural settings.
With that underlying concept, Green Hearts was
founded as one of the country's first conservation
organizations entirely dedicated to restoring and
strengthening the emotional bonds between children and
nature.
Green Hearts’ early work has emphasized keynote
presentations at professional conferences, leading
educational workshops for environmental colleagues,
providing consulting assistance to other conservation
agencies, and authoring nature play articles for
conservation publications.
Currently under development is the creation of a Green
Hearts' "Recipe Box for Kidscaping Your Yard," including 75
ideas for facilitating nature play. This should be ready for
prototype testing and evaluation by the end of 2009.
Site planning and initial architectural design for Green
Hearts’ first actual facility -- a unique children’s nature
center in suburban Omaha -- is nearly complete, and should
also be finished by the end of 2009.
Founder Ken Finch
During his long career, Ken Finch has been a front-line
educator in environmental education programs, worked as
a senior manager in two children's museums, led two of
the country's largest nature centers, and served as a Vice
President of the National Audubon Society.
His extensive volunteer service includes a term as the
national President of the Association of
Administrators. Ken holds a master's degree in
environmental education, and is a published writer and an
