Author: Clara Radloff

Teaching Kids About Gratitude & Generosity Through Plants!

The Spirit of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been about gathering with loved ones and giving thanks — not only in words, but through action. The holiday celebrates abundance, not just in what we receive, but in what we share. More and more families are seeking creative ways to honor this spirit, whether through volunteering, exchanging homemade gifts, or finding small ways to reconnect with nature.

One simple yet powerful way to embody the spirit of the holiday is by giving kids the gift of indoor plants. Giving plants to children is a beautiful, hands-on way to nurture gratitude and generosity this Thanksgiving.

At Neighborhood Forest, we love teaching kids how generosity flows in a cycle:

We give a free plant → children give their plant their time, love and care → and the plants give back through beauty, oxygen, and joy.

Plants are living reminders of the blessings we enjoy and the responsibility we carry to give back — to each other and to the Earth. As children nurture their plants, they experience firsthand how abundance grows when it’s shared. Gratitude becomes more than a feeling; it becomes a practice that takes root and flourishes over time.

Our Indoor Plant Program

At Neighborhood Forest, we believe gratitude can be cultivated when it’s nurtured through a connection with nature. We want to give every child the joy of planting and watching trees grow. Not all children have access to a yard or space to plant a tree. That’s why we launched our Indoor Plant Program, designed to give children the joy of taking care of a little piece of nature inside their home.

This November, just before Thanksgiving, we will host our 2nd Annual Fall Indoor Plant Giveaway at more than 100 schools, libraries, and youth groups across the country. We will reach over 10,000 children this year — five times more than last year’s 2,000 participants. Each child will receive an indoor succulent plant that is simple to care for, durable, and fun to grow.

The program goes beyond gifting plants:

    • Hands-On Gratitude: Children learn that growing and caring for a plant is an act of patience, responsibility, and appreciation.
    • Accessible Growing: Even families without outdoor space can participate in the joy of nurturing life by growing plants indoors.
    • Meaningful Thanksgiving Gift Ideas: Plants serve as lasting reminders of abundance, generosity, and the spirit of giving thanks.

Our program give kids a sense of connection to a greater story — one where caring for plants leads to caring for each other and the environment. 

Why Succulents Make Wonderful Gifts

Succulents are small but mighty — perfectly embodying the spirit of abundance and Thanksgiving. They offer incredible benefits:

  1. They help you breathe better! During photosynthesis, plants produce oxygen, but most respire at night, releasing carbon dioxide. Succulents, however, continue to produce oxygen at night, making them great for bedrooms to boost oxygen while you sleep!
  2. They clean the air! Succulents take in yucky stuff (volatile organic compounds) from the air and turn it into food, making your room air fresh and clean!
  3. They help you focus & remember better:Having succulents around can help you concentrate and improve your memory! A University of Michigan study found that memory retention improved as much as 20% when plants were present.
  4. They make you feel better: Succulents can help you feel less stressed, happier, and even help with headaches and coughs. Research shows that people who have plants in their room feel less tired and use less medicine to feel better.
  5. They boost your mood!: Succulents can help you relax and feel more calm. Taking care of your succulents can bring you joy and make you feel proud!

Plants and trees offer many additional benefits, making them lasting gifts that keep giving well beyond Thanksgiving.

Teaching kids about Gratitude and Generosity Through Growing Plants

By gifting children plants, families encourage them to see gratitude as an active practice. Caring for plants helps kids develop:

    • Patience: Plants grow slowly, teaching children to appreciate gradual progress.
    • Mindfulness: Caring for plants fosters calm focus and encourages kids to slow down and observe.
    • Responsibility: Regular watering and care routines give kids a sense of ownership and accountability.
    • Creativity: Decorating their pot and bamboo label and giving their succulent a name inspire artistic expression and creativity through growing plants.
    • Connection: Kids learn that living things thrive when nurtured, reinforcing gratitude for relationships in their own lives.

As children grow plants indoors, they also develop an appreciation for nature and its role in sustaining us. Programs such as the mini food forest initiative take this lesson further by showing kids how small-scale planting can support communities.

FAQs

    • What is a succulent? A succulent is a plant that stores water in its fleshy leaves, stems, and/or roots, allowing it to survive in arid environments where water is scarce. They are known for being drought-tolerant and are often low-maintenance, thriving on neglect and requiring well-draining soil.
    • Are Succulents toxic to pets? Some succulents are toxic to pets so it’s best to keep them out of reach.
    • What kind of succulents do you give to children? We partner with family-run nurseries that grow hundreds of varieties. Using the Google app, you can snap a photo to identify your plant. Common varieties include Echeveria, Christmas Cactus, and Crown of Thorns.
    • How much water should I give it? In general, succulents are very drought tolerant. We recommend watering when the soil is dry, or about 1-2 times a week. Be sure to water the soil itself, not the leafy part of the succulents.

About Neighborhood Forest

Neighborhood Forest is a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving every child the joy of planting and watching a tree grow. Since 2010, we’ve partnered with schools, libraries, and youth groups to distribute free trees to children across North America every Earth Day. Our mission is to instill a sense of wonder and responsibility toward the environment in young hearts and minds.

Here are some ways you can get involved:

Mini Food Forest Program: Teaching Kids to Grow Their Own Future

Our Mini Food Forest Program introduces children to permaculture by teaching them how to care for a mini food forest—a self-sustaining, multi layered ecosystem with edible and medicinal plants. Kids learn about regenerative gardening and how plants work together to attract pollinators, improve soil health, and provide food.

Through our corporate partners, we are bringing this program to life in communities across North America. Learn more in the video below, highlighting our partnership with Mortenson.

Introducing the Neighborhood Forest Mini Food Forest Program

Curious how your company can get involved? Reach out to us at info@neighborhoodforest.org

Every October, the world pauses to reflect on food security and sustainability. World Food Day 2025, observed on October 16, serves as a reminder that access to nutritious food is both a basic human right and a global challenge. For families and educators, this day is also an opportunity to inspire children to engage with nature, food systems, and the future of the planet.

Neighborhood Forest’s Mini Food Forest Program

As World Food Day 2025 approaches, there has never been a better time to inspire children to plant for tomorrow. Neighborhood Forest is dedicated to empowering kids by giving them free trees and edible plants every Earth Day, helping them connect with nature in their own neighborhoods, homes, and schools.

A mini food forest is a playful, hands-on way for kids to learn responsibility, care for the earth, and discover that when we nurture nature, it gives back to us. With roots in permaculture ethics (earth care, people care, and fair share), each mini forest allows a child to experience pride, ownership, and joy in tending their own little piece of the planet.

Here are some common questions about mini food forests:

    • What is a food forest? It’s a small, layered ecosystem of edible plants designed to mimic a natural forest.
    • How does a mini food forest differ? It is a potted setup with three permaculture-friendly edible plants, perfect for growing indoors or outdoors.
    • Why should kids be involved? Children’s garden projects teach responsibility, resilience, and an appreciation for nature.
    • Do you need a big yard? No. A food forest can fit into many spaces — even a small backyard garden or a sunny windowsill in your home.
    • Is it complicated to maintain? Not at all. Once established, the food forest design is largely self-sustaining.
    • How is this connected to World Food Day? It highlights local, hands-on solutions to global food challenges.

By connecting kids to the soil and seeds, we help them learn not just how to grow food but also how to nurture communities and ecosystems.

How Food Forests Work

A food forest is an intentional ecosystem designed to mimic the layers of a natural forest with a canopy, understory, shrubs, herbs, ground cover, roots, and vines, but every layer provides something edible or useful. Think apples in the canopy, berry bushes in the shrub layer, mint on the ground, and carrots underground. Because the plants are chosen to support one another, food forests encourage biodiversity and symbiotic relationships, creating self-sustaining systems that require little maintenance and few unnatural interventions once established.

This concept of food forests can be adapted for urban gardening and scaled to fit almost any space, even a single pot. Whether large or small, food forests are not only beautiful but also practical, offering children a living classroom where they can explore sustainable gardening firsthand.

Schools and communities across North America are already exploring these practices, with support from initiatives such as Neighborhood Forest’s mini food forest program.

Benefits for Kids

In addition to fruits and vegetables, food forests provide children with life lessons that go far beyond the garden bed:

    • Practical Skills: Kids learn how to grow food while understanding soil, water, and compost cycles.
    • Connection to Nature: Planting trees and tending gardens help children develop a lifelong love of the environment.
    • Healthy Habits: Tasting food they grew themselves often leads children to eat more fruits and vegetables.
    • Confidence and Resilience: Watching seeds sprout and trees mature gives kids a sense of accomplishment and patience.
    • Community Engagement: When a children’s garden project involves family or classmates, it strengthens social bonds.

The benefits ripple outward. Kids who engage with food forests are more likely to value planting for the future and support sustainable practices as adults.

How to Start a Food Forest With Kids

Getting started doesn’t require expertise or large spaces. Families and schools can create food forests step by step. Here’s how:

    1. Choose a Location: Look for a spot with plenty of sunlight (at least six hours a day), healthy soil, and easy access to water. A small patch of land, the corner of a schoolyard, or even a sunny strip in your backyard can become the foundation for a thriving mini food forest.
    2. Plan the Layers: A good food forest design includes:
      • Canopy (fruit trees such as apples or pears)
      • Shrubs (berries, currants)
      • Herbs (basil, mint)
      • Ground cover (clover, strawberries)
      • Roots (carrots, onions)
      • Vines (beans, grapes)
    3. Plant Together: Involve kids in digging holes, planting seeds, and watering.
    4. Keep It Simple: Start with a handful of plants and expand each season.
    5. Observe and Celebrate: Encourage kids to journal, draw, or photograph their progress.

Starting and maintaining a mini food forest is even easier, since it follows the same basic steps on a smaller scale. Instead of occupying a patch of land, a mini food forest can be contained in a single pot with three permaculture-friendly edible plants. This smaller version still teaches the same lessons about layers, plant relationships, and sustainable gardening, but it’s more manageable and accessible for young kids.

Learning Opportunities Beyond Gardening

Mini food forests become outdoor classrooms for much more than planting:

    • Science: Children witness pollination, soil biology, and water cycles in real time. Learning about trees and their health benefits helps deepen their understanding of the natural world.
    • Math: Measuring plant growth, spacing crops, and tracking harvest yields offer hands-on lessons.
    • Nutrition: Kids learn where food comes from and how fresh produce benefits their health.
    • History and Culture: They discover how communities have always relied on local food systems.
    • Social Responsibility: Sharing the harvest with neighbors or local pantries instills values of generosity.

These gardening projects help prepare young learners to see themselves as stewards of both land and community.

About Neighborhood Forest

Neighborhood Forest is a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving every child the joy of planting and watching a tree grow. Since 2010, we’ve partnered with schools, libraries, and youth groups to distribute free trees to children across North America every Earth Day. Our mission is to instill a sense of wonder and responsibility toward the environment in young hearts and minds.

This past Earth Day, over 112,000 kids at 1,500 institutions across North America received their very own trees and plants. Some even wrote names for their mini food forests, making them truly their own. If your institution hasn’t yet participated, now is the perfect time to join the movement and be added to our list for Earth Day 2026. Together, we can raise a generation that not only plants trees but also grows a culture of care, resilience, and sharing.

Here are some ways you can get involved:

 

2024 Annual Impact Report

We are so thrilled to share our impact, progress, and appreciation with you in our 2024 Annual Impact Report!

 

Changemaker Shoutout! – Barker Road Middle School Environmental Club

At Barker Road Middle School in Pittsford, New York, a group of young environmentalists is making an impact with their passion for sustainability and their dedication to making a difference. Kingston Marriott (8th grade), Neda Ozcan (7th grade), Alice Mou (6th grade), and Lochhan Guthikonda (7th grade) are key members of the school’s Environmental Club.

Together, these young environmentalists spearheaded a fundraising initiative that raised over $100 for Neighborhood Forest. They held a fundraiser by making paracord bracelets and offering them for a dollar donation. In addition to these student’s fundraising efforts, Barker Road Middle School participated in Neighborhood Forest’s 2024 Free Tree Program – planting over 70 White Cedar trees through the hands of students in their community!

Under the guidance of Gail Ballard, School Counselor and Advisor of the Environmental Club, these students have demonstrated that age is no barrier to making a significant impact.

Let’s hear a little more from these students and their thoughts on environmental stewardship and creating positive change.

Why did you want to do a fundraiser for Neighborhood Forest?

We wanted to fundraise for Neighborhood Forest because we wanted to help the earth by planting more trees. We also wanted to help Neighborhood Forest by encouraging other students in school to plant trees as well.

How did you come up with the idea to create and sell paracord bracelets? 

Paracord bracelets were easy for students to make and affordable. Also, kids like to wear cool bracelets.

Why do you believe planting trees / caring for the environment is important?

We think it’s important to care for the environment and plant trees because it protects the environment for future generations and animals. It also makes our environment healthier right now.

How do you think we can encourage more people to care about sustainability?

Our environmental club helps to spread awareness about environmental concerns by making posters for other students to see. We are also role models for others by recycling in school.  

Imagine a more sustainable world / future. What would it look like?

We would see more trees, less air pollution and less noise pollution. We would be using less plastic and living more with nature rather than just taking from it.

What makes you most proud of your fundraising efforts?

That we were able to encourage other students to buy and support a great organization.

What message would you like to share with other kids about taking care of the Earth and making a difference?

Be changemakers by role modeling and encouraging others to care for our environment.  One person can make a difference

Anything else you would like to share?

The book about how Neighborhood Forest started is really good. (In April, Neighborhood Forest launched our first book, printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, “Our Neighborhood Forest”)

 

Thank You Barker Road Middle School Environmental Club Changemakers!  

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Donor Spotlight – The Uldrich Family

Why We Contribute to Neighborhood Forest: Planting Seeds of a Better Tomorrow

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The Uldrich family, of Minneapolis, has a deep-rooted love for trees (pun intended). It’s a love that goes beyond themselves and into a hope of a better future for generations to come. We asked Jack Uldrich, a well-recognized global futurist, speaker, and author, “Why does your family give to Neighborhood Forest?”  His response was, “The short, simple answer is that our family loves trees. (As the photos below attest.) At a deeper level, however, our love of trees transcends time.”

A Question that Touched Their Hearts

The Uldrich family’s story begins with a question posed by the renowned Jonas Salk, the developer of one of the first polio vaccines: “Are we being good ancestors?” This question struck a chord deep within their hearts, leading them to contemplate their legacy and the impact they were leaving on the planet.

Their honest reflection yielded a qualified “yes,” recognizing their efforts to “walk as lightly as possible upon the Earth” but acknowledging that we should, could, and must be doing more.

From Acorns to Oak Trees

Three years ago, the Uldrich family embarked on a journey to plant trees. It started with collecting acorns in late summer and germinating them over the winter in their basement refrigerator. They nurtured the oak saplings through spring and summer, preparing them for a new home in the fall, where they would be safe from threats like squirrels and deer.

Reestablishing an Oak Savannahneighborhoodforest

Two years ago they began visiting Jack’s alma mater, St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota for few days every spring to plant Oak trees in an effort to reestablish an Oak savannah on the campus. This act serves a dual purpose: leaving a lasting physical legacy for future generations and mitigating, in a small way, the ravishing effects of climate change.

Joining Neighborhood Forest

Then, last year, the Uldrich family learned about Neighborhood Forest and the organization’s dedication to planting trees through the hands of children. They were thrilled to become sustaining members wanting to amplify their tree planting efforts and recognizing that more needed to be done especially due their family’s carbon footprint, which is larger than average due to Jack’s business travels. By supporting Neighborhood Forest, they found a way to help offset their carbon emissions and expand their tree planting efforts.

Jack shared, “Still, we know we must do even more if future generations are to have any hope of a better future, and we are eager to help Neighborhood Forest grow into a thriving organization that spans all of North America–and beyond.”

Living by a Beautiful Proverb

The Uldrich family’s love for trees and their dedication to planting them is beautifully encapsulated by an ancient Greek proverb: “Societies thrive when old people plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.”

“In short, we love Neighborhood Forest because it is living this proverb and, in the process, making the world a better place today and for future generations.”

A Call to Action

The Uldrich family’s story is an inspiring example of how one family’s love for trees can lead to meaningful change. They invite you to join them in supporting Neighborhood Forest or even becoming sustaining members. In closing, Jack shared one last quote that their family loves and aims to live by, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years. The next best time is today.”

Jack, Cindy, Meghan and Sean Uldrich

Minneapolis, Minnesota

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2023 Annual Impact Report

We are so thrilled to share our impact, progress, and appreciation with you in our 2023 Annual Impact Report!

Changemaker Shoutout! – Levi and Elizabeth

Levi Tracey (4th grade) and Elizabeth Sayler (3rd grade) are two students at Avon Montessori Academy in Avon, Ohio. Together they worked to plan and execute a bake sale raising over $700 dollars to donate to Neighborhood Forest! Julie Felder, Head of the School, interviewed these two students about their wonderful efforts. See their responses below!

 

WHY DID YOU WANT TO DO A FUNDRAISER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD FOREST?

Levi: It wasn’t always going to be for Neighborhood Forest. At first it was to buy trees and plant them. I found out about Neighborhood Forest through our local library and we did research about them and went on their website. We liked the organization and they have a good mission to get children trees.

Elizabeth: Because we were driving on a field trip and I was sitting with Levi. We saw a lot of garbage outside. And we thought it would be good to do a fundraiser to save the earth because there is a lot of litter and garbage outside.

WHY ARE TREES/THE ENVIRONMENT IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Levi: I like nature, it’s fun to be outside. And I want it to last longer.

Elizabeth: So that we can enjoy being outside instead of being inside. Climbing trees and being outside on nice days is so fun.

WHAT MAKES YOU MOST PROUD OF YOUR FUNDRAISING EFFORTS?

Levi: That we were able to get 150 trees to people through the organization. That’s a lot of trees for a lot of kids – it’s gonna be a lot of trees!

Elizabeth: That we raised a lot of money and a lot of people have supported us.

ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD?

Elizabeth: Thank you to everyone who supported us.

 

Thanks to Levi and Elizabeth’s generosity and hard work, Avon Montessori Academy will be receiving 100 White Pine Trees for all of their students to plant for Earth Week 2023! The rest of their donation will be used to provide more children trees in our program. We are so deeply touched and moved by this unexpected act of love, generosity, and service by these two young changemakers.

“The mission of Avon Montessori Academy is to cultivate and inspire each individual within the school community to excel as lifetime scholars, creative thinkers, and responsible citizens. Members of our school community act with respect, compassion, integrity, and heart. Weaving the Montessori philosophy with a warm and charming environment, we place emphasis on whole child development, peace education, and care of the Earth.”

Coordinator Program Guide – Guidelines & FAQs

Hello Coordinators!

Please click through our Coordinator Program Guide below to learn more about our program and answer some commonly asked questions.

Thank you for helping us spread joy, beauty, and goodness!