From across the nation, people flock to Colorado to experience our state’s vast natural areas.  From the peaks of the Maroon Bells to the sands of the San Luis Valley, there is no shortage of wilderness and nature to explore.  It’s no secret that Colorado is famous for our outdoor recreation.  Even within our urban areas, Colorado has become renowned on a national level for our green spaces. According to the Trust for Public Land’s ParkServe tool, more than 70% of the population in all 5 of Colorado’s largest metropolitan areas (Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Lakewood, and Fort Collins) live within a ten minute walk of a park.  In 2025, Denver ranked 10th in the nation when accounting for green space acreage, access, investment, amenities, and equity.

 

Despite Colorado’s reputation as a leader in outdoor recreation, we are missing out on a major opportunity for expansion of natural green spaces across the state - our schoolyards.  Across the state, many of our children still play on gray, barren, asphalt-covered schoolyards that require heavy upkeep and maintenance using synthetic and potentially harmful products.  Green Schoolyards America, the leading organization in the US advocating for the "greening" of schoolyards, only lists six outdoor learning sites in the entire state. Standard asphalt "gray” schoolyards, as they are often called, do little to improve the health and wellbeing of our children and are impacted by the negative effects of climate change, such as increased ambient heat.

 

We believe that when gray schoolyards are converted to green, healthy, community-driven spaces that center nature play, public health, and ecological resilience, that virtually everyone benefits.