People kept asking me, “How do you make time for self-care?” After getting asked enough times, I wanted to go deeper and study more about creating a Culture of Care + Connection for myself and the people in my life. This idea of Culture of Care + Connection is ever...
This beautifully uplifting and inspiring book was published near the end of 2021, just when educators really needed to hear that the work they do matters, really matters. Because of a Teacher is a collection of personal stories, brought together to “offer hope...
For our present and future customers who are thinking about how to clean their learning environments to protect against the Coronavirus, here are our easy to implement guidelines to cleaning your Natural Pod furniture.Cleaning: To clean our products, dampen a soft...
The story begins with a Canadian brand – Natural Pod – a company that believes in creating beautifully designed, durable, sustainable products for students and educators to use in learning spaces. Natural Pod’s new Better Together partnership collection has led them...
The Natural Pod team has recently been gathering together online with the intention of reflecting on this past year. (We are an almost fully remote team so that’s our normal regardless of the current state of the world). We’ve also been looking ahead to...
Although it’s been a challenging year in multiple ways, the Natural Pod team has been constantly uplifted by the inspiring work and perseverance of our community. Earlier this year to amplify the voices of those committed to creating better learning...
With my upcoming webinar exploring a case study around indoor/outdoor learning studios, along with the increase in questions around the benefits of outdoor learning, I thought I’d collect some resources that may be of value to others looking into this subject....
It’s hard not to be aware of the selling and buying messages flying around at this time of year. They’re a good reminder to try and make sustainable and values-led buying choices whenever possible, as the decisions we make today can impact ourselves, each...
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...
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...
Whole school sustainability has a range of meanings. As a designer or planner of built educational environments how does one deliver a successful project when creating a sustainable school or learning environment? As the Founder and CEO of Natural Pod this has been my...
We highly recommend Healthy Buildings – How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity, by Joseph G. Allen and John D. Macomber, for those who care about the health of our children, oneself, and the communities we belong to. This book couldn’t be...
The recent forest fires throughout this country and others have illustrated many things – one of which being that a problem in one area can greatly affect another, as smoke drifted some 3000 miles away from the central location of the California fires....
Thank you to InHabitat, a green lifestyle and design media outlet, for this great story, titled ‘Natural Pod takes a different approach to learning.’ It takes a look at how we do indeed take a different approach and why. The article also introduces our...
With a return to school, or if not school certainly a return to learning – we know it will look very different for everyone, especially with discussions around where learning is even taking place for some. Understandably concerns around safety are front and center....
Even before the dramatic and transformative events of 2020, we recognized the need to strengthen a specific set of connections: those between design professionals and early childhood education professionals. All children who spend time in early learning spaces, such...
It’s not often that books in the field of education and design crossover in such an accessible way, and that speak directly to the truth and the times we find ourselves in. ‘Schools That Heal: Design with Mental Health in Mind’ by Claire Latané is one of...
We had a very special and unique opportunity to collaborate with this group of mixed grades 6 and 7 students at York House School in Vancouver, Canada, to help and support them in creating their dream learning space. The school is expanding and they will be moving...
This year Natural Pod will be teaming up with Green Schools National Network and heading to the Green Schools Conference! It’s taking place virtually over two half days on June 28 and 29th, and there are some fantastic speakers and interactive sessions and...
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Raised by a single mother alongside four other children. A dedicated mother, who pursued quality education and care for each of her five children, no matter the costs. Ashanti continued on to pursue an education in early childhood...
Sprig, the last classroom table you’ll ever need
