At Natural Pod, we are deeply committed to creating better, sustainable education environments. Our goal is always to honor this by producing healthy, natural, and beautiful play and learning space furniture using environmentally responsible practices and methods....
Over the last few months we’ve been asking educators and administrators what they need in place to create a safe, physically distanced learning space that also provides an engaging environment that their students are inspired by and want to be in. These...
If the effects of COVID-19 have created any positive outcomes I think one may be the increase in awareness and uptake of the benefits of outdoor play and learning. Due to the obvious focus on health, safety and physical distancing at the moment this movement is...
It happened in the blink of an eye. One day, schools were packed with kids shuffling down hallways between classes, teachers chasing down homework assignments, and administrators fielding parent requests and student events. Then everything changed. The halls were...
LearningSCAPES 2020 conference ‘Passport to Learning’ is November 4th-6th. If you aren’t already involved, we highly recommend this fantastic annual conference for K-12 educators, architects, designers and industry leaders. This year it’s going...
The American School of Bahrain is a vibrant and inclusive learning community, proud of their diversity and mindful of the many cultures that make up the fabric of their school. “Our mission is to provide a challenging American and international education that...
COVID-19 has changed our world in many ways. How we shop, work, govern, and attend school have all been altered due to this global pandemic. Education has been hit particularly hard. Closing out the 2019 – 2020 school year was a chaotic and disjointed effort for most...
Our world is in crisis: a global pandemic, economic inequality, racial disparities, and…climate change. Although climate change may not move as fast as COVID-19 or have immediate consequences, it too threatens human lives and the global economy in real and dramatic...
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a time of reckoning for our country’s institutions, including schools. Our response to this crisis must include bold, new ideas for what schools should look like and prioritize. Now more than ever, schools must focus on...
The short answer is yes. In addition to offering a unique product, Natural Pod also works differently to other education furniture companies. We’re not a catalog company. We know that choosing furniture from a list does not create the best learning environments...
At a time when many school districts are having to re-outfit their classrooms to meet COVID-19 physical distancing requirements while also trying to increase air quality to help combat the virus, it’s becoming apparent that unfortunately some of the new furniture...
When we have the honour of being part of exceptional award-winning projects like this one we want to shout about it. The Environmental Nature Center and Preschool in Newport, California, is an incredible place, not only to visit, but as an inspiration to so many about...
Many children and educators have now started school, others are about to, and some families have opted for virtual or home learning. So a ‘new normal’ really translates as ‘a fresh discovery phase’. While we are still exploring how education could look, not only in...
Whenever the Natural Pod team collaborates with educators there’s always a great sense of forward motion; it’s exciting! Although usually done in an in-person setting, we were required to pivot and offered our first virtual workshop this week. With a focus on creating...
After all these months, it feels that collectively we’re taking a deep breath and accepting that unfortunately covid is here to stay for the foreseeable future. In some ways that makes the task ahead a little easier, in that most educational institutions,...
Despite the challenges posed by having to adjust in-person learning for physical distancing, it has been uplifting to experience the creativity of so many educators seeking to create the best, safest solution possible for students and teachers. For a while there it...
Even in the middle of the covid pandemic this amazing early learning centre was imagined and created, and we couldn’t be prouder of the results. It goes to show what is possible when a creative vision is mixed with strong leadership. The new CEFA Early Learning...
Voyagers’ Community School was already a very intentional and inspiring learning environment to be part of. In light of the pandemic they have been working hard to adapt their learning environments to meet physical distancing needs while still being the healthy,...
Photo shows from left to right: Aliki Gladwin, interior designer for the project; Candice Harper and Carol Choi from Union Gospel Mission, responsible for setting up the new center; Sharon Gregson, child care consultant and provincial spokesperson for the $10 a day...
With so many questions around the future of learning and education, it is certainly a challenging time. But I do feel this is also an unprecedented moment full of potential should we wish to take it. With bold leadership I think we have an opportunity to shift away...