Resources

Children love outdoor play. Now teachers can combine the magic and excitement of the outdoors with activities that encourage and support learning! This book includes more than 100 new teacher-created, classroom-tested outdoor activities that engage children's minds and bodies as much as they explore the limitless bounds of the outdoors while also building key skills in areas like math, literacy and language, science, art, and music. Perfect for ages 3 - 6. Activities include: counting, alphabet,… More »

Easily evaluate the quality of outdoor environments with this helpful and convenient Additional Scoring Protocols Preschool Outdoor Environment Measurement Scale. This tool is great for use in assessing the quality of early childhood outdoor environments. This POEMS scale can also be used as a design and planning guide for teachers and administrators. Set of 10.

Children are spending less time being outside in nature, playing, imagining, and learning about their surroundings. Instead, they're spending more time with tablets, televisions, and overly structured routines. This book shows practical and strategic ways educators can create rich, explorative, and interdisciplinary learning through extensive outdoor experiences. Learn how to develop and implement a nature-based curriculum to support children's optimal learning, from start to finish. Age focus:… More »

Designed as a self-study, this scale is intended to raise the quality of outdoor children's environments and promote their use in teaching, research, and practice. Includes a user guide, the scale and scoring protocol, reliability and validity information, and a technical assistance manual for program improvement and planning. Addresses environments for children age 3-5 years. (Additional Scoring Protocols sold separately.)

Recent research has drawn the link between children's brain development and time spent in the natural environment. Every child deserves a safe play to play, supportive adults to watch him grow, and an environment that offers them endless possibilities. In "Seasons of Play," Rusty Keeler takes readers on a photographic journey through real child care centers that have embraced his philosophy that natural play environments create new opportunities for children to explore and grow. This book… More »

The movement to connect young children with nature continues to grow, as more parents and educators become passionate about bringing learning outdoors and letting children explore outside the bounds of traditional lessons. In the full-color Learning Is in Bloom, teachers and caregivers will find 40 hands-on activities effective in engaging young children in investigating nature, both indoors and outdoors, on the school grounds, and on excursions around the neighborhood. Through fostering a love… More »

Packed with more than 70 ways to invigorate play with sand and water tables while encouraging problem solving skills, fine and gross motor creativity, and imagination. Children will learn creative ways to explore and discover on their own!

2 years & up. Take learning to the outdoors with these engaging Adventures Outdoors Idea Cards. This card set has been designed to offer portable inspiration whatever the weather. Printed on durable plastic, each pack contains 30 photographs with activity ideas on the reverse. This set encourages outdoor learning, exploration, and gross motor skills. The cards come on a sturdy metal ring to keep them organized.

As honeybees gather and store pollen, young children gather and store concepts through play and repeating patterns of movement. Sandra Duncan, Sue Penix, and Sally Haughey explore this concept with in-depth knowledge and share creative ways to brighten the youngest imaginations. The Honeycomb Hypothesis will grow your teaching practices with new ideas, materials and activities, celebrating the magic that happens when children and nature are brought together. The book includes The Honeycomb Hypothesis,… More »

3 years & up. "Why did that happen?" "How does that work?" "What will happen if . . . ?" Young children ask questions about the world around them all day long. They are filled with curiosity and the desire to learn. Bubbles, Rainbows and Worms teaches children about the world, using hands-on experiments about plants, the environment, air and water, and the senses. 111 pages.

With more than 125 activities, Science Adventures opens up a world of exploration through nature activities in urban, suburban, or rural settings. From Big Step Measuring and Rocks That Write to The Ant Restaurant and How Far Can You Squeeze a Squirt?, the engaging activities in Science Adventures make exploring the environment fun and easy! The authors have adapted the kindergarten science standards set by the National Academy of Sciences to make them developmentally appropriate for preschool children.… More »

"Adventures in Risky Play: What is Your Yes?" goes to the heart of risk-taking and children. As educators working with young children, we all have boundaries and feelings around what risky play is allowed. Rusty Keeler invites us to examine the cage of boundaries that we have created for ourselves and our children. He challenges us to rattle our cage and discover where the lines are movable. In our role as educators and caretakers, when we allow children to play and confront risk on their… More »