Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive…
– Thich Nhat Hanh, activist, author, and teacher (1926 – 2022)

Young children benefit immensely from time in nature. Rich, well-designed, and intentional outdoor spaces can profoundly impact the lives of both children and adults. However, alongside the benefits of outdoor play and education comes the responsibility of ensuring environmental safety.

Nature Explore designs outdoor classrooms for early childhood programs across the country and around the world. They use a research-based approach to design that keeps the whole-child in mind. Jill Primak is the lead outdoor classroom designer with Dimensions Educational Research Foundation’s Nature Explore Program. When Jill discovered the Eco-Healthy Child Care (EHCC) program, she was excited to learn more to help support the programs she consults with be proactive about testing their soil for lead. The first step was testing the soil in Dimensions own early child care program.

“I’ll admit, when I considered the idea of testing the soil, I felt nervous. I also felt some shame that I didn’t push for testing earlier. What if there were high levels of lead in our outdoor classroom? What would we do? How would we explain this to our families? What would be the cost of rectifying the situation to make sure our children were safe? These thoughts were loud, but my commitment to our young ones and my desire to help programs that may face this same reality were louder…Although this process took some doing, it was well worth it to ensure safety in our outdoor environment. It also provided an opportunity for me to reflect on how we can incorporate more lead-specific guidance into our Nature Explore resources. Also, now I can better identify areas at a higher risk for contamination and can counsel clients as they go through this process for themselves.”

Read the entire article here.