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 for professionals and parents,
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. Clients for Green Hearts' speaking and educational workshops include
(among many others):
- 4C of Southern Indiana;
- Environmental Education Council of
- Leave No Child Inside -
- National Master Naturalists Conference;
- 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), Brenton Arboretum
(Des Moines, IA), SafeNet Domestic Shelter (Erie, PA), 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:
-
Staff and Board training;
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Market and site analysis;
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Business planning;
-
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, early childhood settings,
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;
-
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.
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 times
and 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 land
and trails will be open daily to general visitors. A variety of types of trails will lead to natural habitats as well as to
scattered nature play features, such as a pretend campsite,
a play stream, or a settler's cabin.
In addition, a variety of evening, weekend, and summer programs will be offered for a broad spectrum of children and adults, always maintaining Green Hearts' emphasis on play-based experiences in the natural world. Our facilities will also host occasional special events, and will be available for use by other community groups.
The site plan, building design, and preliminary cost
estimates have been completed for our first children's
nature center, which will be built in the Omaha suburb of Papillion, Nebraska. Our land partner for that center will be
the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District.
