The ChariTree Foundation is helping bring learning outside
The ChariTree Foundation is helping bring learning outdoors! The Outdoor Classroom Grant program is now open — offering $5,000 grants to Canadian schools, summer camps, and registered Canadian charities building outdoor classrooms or children’s learning gardens.
These grants help schools and camps create vibrant outdoor learning spaces where children can connect with nature, learn about sustainability, and thrive in their ever-changing world.
📅 Apply now — applications will close once funds are allocated!
💚 Grants announced: October 27, 2025
📬 Acknowledgement letters due: November 12, 2025
This next round of funding is now OPEN for:
Canadian schools and summer camps. If your Canadian school or camp is building an outdoor classroom (in Canada or Canadian registered charities building outdoor classrooms and children’s learning gardens for environmental education programs in Africa) as part of an outdoor learning program, fill out the form below to apply. The grant application window will only be open for a few days until grant funds have been allocated so fill out the form right away.
* If your school or outdoor learning program has already received a grant to build an outdoor classroom, you can apply again to help complete your outdoor classroom. Preference will be given to outdoor programs that haven’t received previous grants.
IMPORTANT:
Only Canadian schools, children’s camps or registered Canadian charities can apply if they have the ability to:
• email info [at] charitree-foundation [dot] org by November 12, 2025 a letter acknowledging that your school or camp has received $5,000 from The ChariTree Foundation to help build your outdoor classroom.
$5,000 grants will be announced by October 27, 2025 and if selected, your school or camp funds will be sent out on October 29, 2025.
Follow on Blue Sky or check The ChariTree Foundation website for updates.
On behalf of our entire school community, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your generous donation from the ChariTree Foundation towards our outdoor classroom project. Your support will allow us to enhance our outdoor learning space, where students can engage with nature, learn about sustainability, and grow their connection to the environment. This donation will have a lasting impact on the education and well-being of our students, and we are deeply grateful for your commitment to fostering environmental education.” — Kelly Pevie, Principal, Jakeman All Grade School, NL, Canada.
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Once your grant is received please:
Email info [at] charitree-foundation [dot] org by November 12, 2025 a letter acknowledging that your school or camp has received $5,000 from The ChariTree Foundation to help build your outdoor classroom.
* Understand that The ChariTree Foundation is a small, grassroots environmental education and United Nations Climate Observer organization run by executive director Andrea Koehle Jones on her own for free in her free time when she is not at her other jobs. It is up to your school to use the funds to build your outdoor classroom. The ChariTree Foundation strives to reach children and youth especially kids in areas hardest hit by the impacts of climate change and youth who would otherwise not be able to participate.
While The ChariTree Foundation supports any learning in an outdoor environment, please include environmental education. Here are just a few benefits of environmental education for children and teens that will help them thrive and survive in their ever-changing world:
- Raising Environmental Awareness: Helps children understand and appreciate nature, fostering a respect and love for the environment.
- Developing Critical Thinking: Encourages children to analyze and solve real-life environmental challenges, improving problem-solving skills.
- Promoting Healthier Lifestyles: Increases outdoor activity, reducing screen time and supporting physical and mental well-being.
- Instilling a Sense of Responsibility: Encourages children to take care of their surroundings and be conscious of their ecological impact.
- Supporting Academic Growth: Connects environmental topics to subjects like science, math, and geography, enhancing academic learning in all subjects.
- Encouraging Collaboration: Involves teamwork in activities like community clean-ups, tree planting or garden projects, promoting social skills and cooperation.
Pay it forward opportunities
Anything you can do like sending quotes about the program from school staff, students or parents or sending photos or your outdoor classroom being build or in use by students helps The ChariTree Foundation attract more donations (we don’t solicit donations, only operate by word of mouth). That way even more children at schools and camps across Canada or at schools and camps operated by registered Canadian charities around the world can participate in this ground breaking program.
You can leave a review for The Wish Trees: How Planting Trees Can Help Make the World a Better Place, written by ChariTree founder Andrea Koehle Jones. 100% of profits from this book will be donated to children’s environmental education non-profits including The ChariTree Foundation.
“Thank you so much for your book THE WISH TREES. My young audience spontaneously started suggesting their own ideas for wish trees before we were even half way through, and the W-i-s-h-h-h parts were fun to read out loud!” — Natasha Zimmers, Outdoor Educator.
“This book, so beautifully illustrated and poignantly written, empowers our children to create a better world. A book that teaches us the importance of not merely sustaining, but of regenerating.”— Jacob Rodenburg, an award-winning educator, author, executive director of Camp Kawartha, a summer camp and outdoor education center, and instructor in environmental education at Trent University.
“In today’s tumultuous world, The Wish Trees, tells a gentle story filled with a love for trees and their meaning for the young among us — if they wish. Beautifully illustrated and scripted—it’s a gift to be cherished, lifelong. I wish it had been available when my daughters were early in life so they could have planted a Wish Tree to help make the world a better place.” — Mike Hoffmann, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University dedicated to confronting the climate change challenge we now face.
Follow on Blue Sky or check The ChariTree Foundation website for updates.
Learn more about outdoor classrooms in Canada:
Take a Hike, an outdoor classroom program, expands on Vancouver Island | CBC News
Vancouver teacher praises benefits of taking kids outside of classroom to learn | CBC News
Rural Sask. school embraces outdoor education with open-air classroom | CBC News
Outdoor classrooms rising in popularity as N.L. kids return to school amid COVID-19 | CBC News
PHOTOS — Check out these outdoor learning spaces | CBC Kids
