What happens on the schoolyard shapes how children feel, connect, and engage—every day.

Yet they remain one of the most overlooked drivers of student well-being, belonging, and school success.

Schoolyards For Thought, led by Dr. Lauren McNamara, focuses on how schoolyards function—not just how they look—examining the social, organizational, and environmental conditions that shape students’ everyday experiences.

Through research, policy, and applied partnerships, we work with schools and systems to design these environments that consistently support connection, inclusion, engagement, and mental health over time.

Why Schoolyards Matter

For millions of children, the schoolyard is where much of daily life unfolds—often their primary access to play, sport, nature, and social connection.

These experiences are not peripheral to learning. They shape how students feel about school, how they relate to one another, and how they engage in the classroom.

What students experience in schoolyards carries into classrooms—and accumulates over time, shaping belonging, well-being, and participation in school life.

Yet despite their importance, schoolyards have historically been underdesigned, under-resourced, and treated as separate from core educational priorities.

The Missed Opportunity

Efforts to improve schoolyards have often focused on physical design—adding equipment, upgrading surfaces, or increasing access to green space.

These shifts are important—but they are not sufficient.

Schoolyards are not simply physical spaces.

They are complex social environments shaped by:

How space is organized
How students are supported and supervised
What norms and expectations are in place
How access to activities and equipment is organized

Without attention to these conditions, even well-designed spaces can reproduce exclusion, conflict, and disengagement.

Improving schoolyards is not a design problem alone—it is a systems challenge.

What Changes When Conditions Are Designed Intentionally

When schoolyards are approached as integrated environments rather than isolated spaces:

Belonging and social connection strengthen
Conflict and exclusion decrease
Engagement in both play and learning increases
Opportunities for rest, creativity, and participation expand
Mental health and overall well-being are supported through everyday experience

This is prevention in practice.
Schoolyards shape conditions that support students before challenges emerge.

How This Work Comes Together

We work to redesign the conditions of schoolyard life—aligning space, supervision, and structure to improve how students experience these environments every day.

Research & Evaluation

Assessing schoolyard quality, access, and equity across physical, social, and organizational domains.

Policy & Systems Change

Supporting boards, governments, and organizations to move beyond design toward integrated, system-level approaches.

Advisory and Partnerships

Working alongside schools and systems to align space, supervision, and structure to support belonging, engagement, and well-being.

Professional Learning and Keynotes

Helping educators and leaders understand and act on the role of schoolyards as critical environments for development.