Have you seen the Growing Up Wild: Exploring Nature With Young Children activity guide? If you are in the early environmental education field and have not seen this you should check it out. But even more importantly if you teach or in anyway (hello moms!!!) work with little ones you should have this book on hand. I just got it and we haven't gotten a chance to test anything out but I am so impressed with the layout and all the information that is given.
For each topic you will find -
- A main activity with warm up and wrap up.
- "Wild Wonderful Words" which are related words they think are important for explaining the topic to this specific age level
- An outside component
- Art projects
- Ways you can have the children connect this topic to their homes
- A section on music and movement
- "Healthy Me" section that gives suggestions for physical exercise or other healthy habits that relate to the topic
- Conservation projects that can get the kids helping around their community
- Math concepts that could relate and be expanded on
- Snack ideas related to the topic
- "Centers and Extensions" - lots of ideas for classroom extensions and stations that can be set up for additional exploration.
One thing that I love about this book is that it really connects the topic to ever part of the child's life and possible area of interest or style of learning.
So get ready to see a lot of activities and fun projects coming out of this book soon because I cannot wait to dive in with the girls and explore all of the topics!
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The Nitty Gritty!
Growing Up WILD is a part of Project WILD. You can head over to their website and look into getting a training in your area. When you attend a training you will get a copy of the book for free. Or if you are like me and can't get that kind of time away right now you can check out Acorn Naturalist and buy a copy of your own!
This is such a great resource, thanks for sharing it!
Posted by: Family Wilds | 10/01/2011 at 11:39 AM
I like your sharing very much its really heart touching.I am nature lover and that is why i like your whole Article on environmental education.
Posted by: plumbers merchant | 10/02/2011 at 10:29 PM