Opportunities for Child Care Providers to Enhance Outdoor Learning

Outdoor environments encourage play and learning which supports child development. Understanding the importance of outdoor environments, The National Wildlife Federation and North Carolina State University’s Natural Learning Initiative with local funders partnered to bring the Early Childhood Health Outdoors (ECHO) initiative to Colorado.

The ECHO initiative offers opportunities for child care providers to improve the outdoor learning capacity of their programs. Currently, an application to become an ECHO Seed Site is available. Selected sites will receive comprehensive landscape design assistance to re-imagine their outdoor spaces, $5,000 towards the installation of a naturalized outdoor learning environment, ongoing training, and technical assistance. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, February 11.

ECCLA has partnered with ECHO to expand outreach of the initiative across Colorado through the statewide network of Early Childhood Councils.

For more information on grant opportunities offered by ECHO, download an application, and register for an informational webinar visit https://www.nwf.org/ECHO/Connect.