Offers readers a variety of activities they can do to get outside in summer. Filled with fun facts about the season, bonus sidebar activities, and a “Get Outside!” special feature, this book is sure to inspire kids to explore the great outdoors.
Britain's countryside offers a host of varied habitats for the walker, the amateur naturalist, and the family in search of entertainment for children. This brand-new collection of reflections on the countryside from an author passionate about reconnecting both children and adults with nature offers ideas for a range of activities, all of which will enhance the reader's enjoyment of and engagement with the natural world. You'll learn how to watch "mad" March hares--and whether their boxing matches are for real. You'll discover the best places to see butterflies and how to encourage them in your own garden. Find out how to navigate using just the sun and stars, and the best places to run wild in the country. And take part in some ancient and often inexplicable country rituals including cheese rolling, maypole dancing, and wassailing. All the activities are tried and tested by the author and her family and illustrated with stunning photos from their many expeditions. Perfect for adults and children who enjoy climbing, investigating, den building, camping, and generally having adventures and new experiences, this book will encourage readers to have fun with nature.
"Angela Hanscom is a powerful voice for balance." —Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods In this important book, a pediatric occupational therapist and founder of TimberNook shows how outdoor play and unstructured freedom of movement are vital for children’s cognitive development and growth, and offers tons of fun, engaging ways to help ensure that kids grow into healthy, balanced, and resilient adults. Today’s kids have adopted sedentary lifestyles filled with television, video games, and computer screens. But more and more, studies show that children need “rough and tumble” outdoor play in order to develop their sensory, motor, and executive functions. Disturbingly, a lack of movement has been shown to lead to a number of health and cognitive difficulties, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), emotion regulation and sensory processing issues, and aggressiveness at school recess break. So, how can you ensure your child is fully engaging their body, mind, and all of their senses? Using the same philosophy that lies at the heart of her popular TimberNook program—that nature is the ultimate sensory experience, and that psychological and physical health improves for children when they spend time outside on a regular basis—author Angela Hanscom offers several strategies to help your child thrive, even if you live in an urban environment. Today it is rare to find children rolling down hills, climbing trees, or spinning in circles just for fun. We’ve taken away merry-go-rounds, shortened the length of swings, and done away with teeter-totters to keep children safe. Children have fewer opportunities for unstructured outdoor play than ever before, and recess times at school are shrinking due to demanding educational environments. With this book, you’ll discover little things you can do anytime, anywhere to help your kids achieve the movement they need to be happy and healthy in mind, body, and spirit.
A new book that encourages kids to go outside and play! Bursting with colorful pictures of children enjoying all the fun activities to do outdoors during summertime. Children will learn about different things they can experience outside and get excited about summer. Whether it's roasting marshmallows while camping, making sandcastles on the beach, or chasing butterflies, your child is sure to delight in the thoughtful graphic details at each turn of the page. Text is written in a simple rhyme format with a few questions and answers to spark curiosity and foster verbal interaction.
From the founder of the Fat Girls Hiking community, this inclusive and inspiring guide to the great outdoors will inspire people of all body types, sizes, abilties, and backgrounds.
It's time for plant lovers to dust off their houseplants, update their image, and discover just how exciting, trendy, and crucial plants can be in the home. The Unexpected Houseplant, by renowned plant authority Tovah Martin, isn't your typical, old-fashioned, dowdy houseplant book. Martin's approach is revolutionary—picture brilliant spring bulbs by the bed, lush perennials brought in from the garden, quirky succulents in the kitchen, even flowering vines and small trees growing beside an easy chair. Martin brings an evangelist's zeal to the task of convincing homeowners that indoor plants aren't just a luxury—they're a necessity. In addition to design flair, houseplants clean indoor air, which can be up to ten times more polluted. Along with loads of visual inspiration, readers will learn how to make unusual selections, where to best position plants in the home, and valuable tips on watering, feeding, grooming, pruning, and troubleshooting, season by season.
Woodland games, crafts, and other outdoor adventures from the Forest School—for parents and their children The rise of the grassroots Forest School movement in recent years is part of a groundswell of concern about the wellbeing of our children, with many media scare stories about child obesity, "nature deficit disorder" (as described in Last Child in the Woods), and lack of exposure to risk. This outdoor adventure manual is the antidote! Packed full of ideas, from making nature jewelry and whittling a bow and arrow, to building a shelter and foraging for food, it also celebrates the Forest School philosophy of encouraging self-esteem, confidence, and social skills through engagement with nature. The activities contain variations for varied age groups, small groups like play dates or birthday parties, as well as things to do with just one or two children. Parents are encouraged to guide the play but the activity instructions are written in a simple style with fun illustrations so that kids can take the lead as well.
“The children and nature movement is fueled by this fundamental idea: the child in nature is an endangered species, and the health of children and the health of the Earth are inseparable.” —Richard Louv, from the new edition In his landmark work Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv brought together cutting-edge studies that pointed to direct exposure to nature as essential for a child’s healthy physical and emotional development. Now this new edition updates the growing body of evidence linking the lack of nature in children’s lives and the rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Louv’s message has galvanized an international back-to-nature campaign to “Leave No Child Inside.” His book will change the way you think about our future and the future of our children. “[The] national movement to ‘leave no child inside’ . . . has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grass-roots projects, a U.S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a ‘green hour’ in each day. . . . The increased activism has been partly inspired by a best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods, and its author, Richard Louv.” —The Washington Post “Last Child in the Woods, which describes a generation so plugged into electronic diversions that it has lost its connection to the natural world, is helping drive a movement quickly flourishing across the nation.” —The Nation’s Health “This book is an absolute must-read for parents.” —The Boston Globe Now includes A Field Guide with 100 Practical Actions We Can Take Discussion Points for Book Groups, Classrooms, and Communities Additional Notes by the Author New and Updated Research from the U.S. and Abroad
From the creator of TheSurvivalMom.com comes this first-of-its-kind guidebook for all the “prepper” moms keen to increase their family's level of preparedness for emergencies and crises of all shapes and sizes. Publisher’s Weekly calls Lisa Bedford’s Survival Mom an “impressively comprehensive manual,” saying, “suburban mom Bedford helps readers learn about, prepare for, and respond to all manner of disasters. . . . From 'Instant Survival Tip' sidebars to a list of 'Lessons from the Great Depression'. . . Bedford's matter-of-fact yet supportive tone will keep the willies at bay.”