Welcome to Green Hearts!
Green Hearts works to fulfill its charitable mission through three primary methodologies:
1. Educational advocacy for nature play, via public
speaking, workshops, and
2. Consulting assistance for other organizations and
agencies; and
3. The development and operation of a multi-state
network of nature preschools.
1. Educational Advocacy
Green Hearts’ President, Ken Finch, frequently delivers keynote speeches at professional conferences and meetings.
These talks stress the importance of nature play to the
conservation movement and to the healthy social, emotional,
intellectual and physical development of children.
Our presentations emphasize the key dimensions of nature
play and review the methods that can be used to restore it.
We illustrate these talks with thematic cartoons that reflect
the underlying fun of the topic. After keynote talks, Ken
often leads follow-up workshops or panel discussions.
Green Hearts also presents workshops about how to
design landscapes for nature play, both for professionals and
for parents. In addition, Green Hearts contributes nature-
play articles to professional publications and local media, and can create custom articles upon
request.
Green Hearts always tailors its messages to the audience, and encourages question-and-
answer periods or follow-up discussion sessions. Recent clients for Green Hearts' speaking and educational workshops include
(among others):
- Environmental Education Council of
- Leave No Child Inside -
- National Master Naturalists Conference;
- Association of Conservation Executives (
- Child Care Resources Conference (NJ).
2. Consulting Assistance
Green Hearts can help other organizations to understand
nature play and to successfully foster such play. Our
consulting usually focuses on the design and operation of
nature preschools and/or natural play spaces, but we can
also help with related topics.
Green Hearts' consulting clients have included Five Rivers
MetroParks (Dayton, Ohio), the Cincinnati Nature Center,
Briar Bush Nature Center (Abington, PA), Pioneer Park Nature
Center (Lincoln, NE), and the Ohio Nature Preschool
Collaborative.
Nature Preschool Planning
Green Hearts has a wealth of expertise to share in the
design and operation of nature-focused preschools.
Consulting services can include:
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Staff and Board training;
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Market and site analysis;
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Financial planning;
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Assistance with building and landscape design; and
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Operational plans and staffing.
Green Hearts has a deep
understanding of how children
like to play in the outdoors.
Using this strong knowledge,
we can help conservation
organizations, park districts,
schools and individual
property owners to add “playful
richness” to environments intended for open-ended,
nature-based play. Clients may draw upon our expertise
in:
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Site selection and design;
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Plant selection;
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Interactive play features; and
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Safety concerns.
as needed — either ones of our clients' choosing or through
our own partnership with the Big Muddy Workshop, Inc.
To explore how Green Hearts can help you create a great
nature play area, call us at 402-344-8711, or send us an
email at kfinch@greenheartsinc.org.
3. Green Hearts Nature Preschools
Green Hearts’ long-term goal is to create and operate a
multi-state network of “children’s nature centers,” a new
class of small nature centers that will use licensed,
tuition-based nature preschools as their primary program.
These facilities will be sited in natural areas where the
enrolled preschoolers will explore and play daily, rain or
shine, under their teachers’ gentle guidance.
Green Hearts preschool students will enjoy hundreds of
hours of direct, playful contact with nature, helping them
come to know the outdoors not only as a place for active fun
and discovery, but also as a personal refuge for quiet timesand imaginative play. Green Hearts preschools will use a
nature theme for their entire curriculum, which will balance
the children's physical, social, emotional, creative, and
intellectual development.
The nature preschools will be the weekday focus of
all Green Hearts children’s nature centers, but each site's trails and habitats will also be open to the general public.
In addition, each center will offer a variety of programs
and events for young children and their families on
weekends, evenings, and during the summer months, always retaining Green Hearts’ emphasis on play-based
outdoor experiences, while reaching out to a broader
audience. This new type of nature center will enrich the
lives of children and families, advance Green Hearts’charitable mission, and operate with the same proven
business model as thousands of child care centers.
Green Hearts expects to locate most of its children’s
to families and offer a readily accessible
mix of small- scale habitats. We hope to secure most of our sites through long-
term partnerships with natural resource
and park agencies, and we welcome
inquiries about possible collaborations
of this kind. Contact us at 402-344-8711,
or at kfinch@greenheartsinc.org.
Green Hearts is currently in the planning process for its
first children’s nature center, which will be located on a
90-acre refuge in suburban
