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Help kids avoid the “Summer Slide”



Try the TurfMutt Foundation’s lesson plans

Help kids avoid the summer brain slide


While kids are enjoying some time off from school this summer, it is also important to keep their minds active. Parents can help their kids avoid the dreaded “summer slide,” where students lose some of their academic gains from the school year, by encouraging their children to participate in TurfMutt’s Making a Difference program. 

The TurfMutt youth education lesson plans are free and aligned to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) standards for kids in grades K-8. The lessons are available on the TurfMutt website and in the USGBC Learning Lab. They are designed as a fun and engaging way for students to learn valuable science lessons in their own backyards, parks or school yards.

The lessons focus on getting kids outside to conduct interactive experiments and other fun activities. “Our lesson plans help kids learn how to care for the green space around us so they can learn early on how to be good stewards of the environment and why that is so important,” said Kris Kiser, President & CEO of the TurfMutt Foundation. 

In the lessons plans, superhero and Foundation spokesdog, Mulligan the TurfMutt is joined by her “outdoor power” pals Big Rooty, Water Warrior, Green Ranger, and Professor Botany. The superheroes battle the environmental “bad buys” including Carbon Creep, Dust Demon, Heat Freak, and Dr. Runoff.

READ MORE: Plant it for the planet

Mulligan is real-life rescue dog who was adopted by Kiser at the TurfMutt Foundation’s annual pet adoption event Mutt Madness. The event is hosted in conjunction with the Kentucky Humane Society and held at the Equip Exposition trade show each year. “No one loves and appreciates a yard and green space more than a dog like Mulligan,” said Kiser. “Parents and teachers know that kids are more likely to engage in learning when it’s fun, and that’s what the TurfMutt curriculum is, thanks to Mulligan leading the way.”

The arts are included in the lessons, as well. One of the plans provides an original drama script where students can act out parts for flowers, sun, trees, shrubs and environmental villains, such as Carbon Creep. By putting on the play as a class or for others, students can learn how green plants, trees and shrubs help our communities.

The TurfMutt lesson plans are free on the TurfMutt website and available via subscription from the USGBCLearning Lab. Prior TurfMutt lesson plans, created with Scholastic, Discovery Education and Weekly Reader, are also housed on the TurfMutt website. 

For more, sign up for Mutt Mail, a monthly e-newsletter with backyarding tips and all the news from the TurfMutt Foundation here. To learn more about creating the yard of your dreams, visit TurfMutt.com. Look for Mulligan the TurfMutt on the CBS Lucky Dog television show on Saturday mornings.

TurfMutt, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2024, was created by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute’s (OPEI) TurfMutt Foundation and has reached more than 70 million children, educators and families since 2009. Championed by Foundation spokesdog, Mulligan the TurfMutt, and through education partners such as Weekly Reader, Discovery Education and Scholastic, TurfMutt has taught students and teachers how to “save the planet, one yard at a time.” Today, TurfMutt is an official USGBC® Education Partner and part of their global LEARNING LAB. TurfMutt has been an education resource at the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Green Apple, the Center for Green Schools, the Outdoors Alliance for Kids, the National Energy Education Development (NEED) project, Climate Change Live, Petfinder and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2017, the TurfMutt animated video series won the coveted Cynopsis Kids Imagination Award for Best Interstitial Series. TurfMutt’s personal, home habitat was featured in the 2017-2020 Wildlife Habitat Council calendars. More information at www.TurfMutt.com.



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