LACOE’s Green Schools Symposium

This year's Green Schools Symposium presented by the Los Angeles County Office of Education was inspiring and enlightening. The day focused on providing green (vegetated) spaces for kids on school campuses and environmental sustainability. Kirstyn Bonneau attended the day at the the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Here are some of her key takeaways.

- Outdoor play areas need to facilitate four types of play: gross motor, creative/dramatic, fine motor, and contemplative. When they only focus on gross motor play, they engage just 20% of kids.

- Sensory-rich environments reduce injuries, foster spontaneous social collaboration, and make information “sticky.”

- 65% of engagement on a playground happens within the 1 foot of the ground plane.

- “Learning injuries” are the bumps, bruises, and scrapes that allow kids to learn where their bodies and their limits are.

- Trees are not individual plants; they need to be planted in communities.

- Too little plant material will result in the plants getting loved to death. Over-planting will help the plants survive even if it means the area needs to be thinned in the future.

- Change can be perceived as a risk, but what if the status quo is actually riskier?

Thanks to Greater Los Angeles Education Foundation for hosting this engaging event.