A Year of Forest School
A Year of Forest School

Author: Jane Worroll

Publisher: Watkins Media Limited

Published: 2018-05-15

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 1786781565

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Structured around the 4 seasons, this guide to outdoor learning and activities is packed with kids games, crafts, and skills to encourage your young ones to get outdoors—come rain, shine, or snow. The Forest School ethos of nature-based play and learning encourages children to develop confidence, self-esteem, and emotional intelligence—and it’s exactly what’s needed in an era when childhood problems such as obesity and anxiety are on the rise. Building on the success of the bestselling Play the Forest School Way, here is a brilliant selection of brand-new games, crafts, and activities to get kids developing new skills and exploring the natural world all year round. Structured around the four seasons of the year, each chapter is full of step-by-step games and activities that harmonize with the weather and seasonal nature patterns, including nods to seasonal festivals such as Easter and Christmas. Activities include: Spring: Nettle Soup; Wood-cookie-Man; Earth Day Birthday Cake; Dandelion and Lime Tea Summer: Bark Masks; Blackberry Ink and Feather Quill Pens; Nature Watch; Animal Tag Autumn: Evergreen Paintbrush; Baked Apples; Den Building; Leaf Stitching Winter: Elf Carving; Compass Treasure Hunt; Charcoal Pencils; Animal Track Casts At Forest School, children return to the same location again and again, building a lasting connection with a specific part of the natural world. Each of the four seasonal chapters in A Year of Forest School includes a description of an extended session (combining active and quieter activities, plus an idea for foraging/cooking), capturing this key part of Forest School play and providing inspiration for parties, themed learning days, and outdoor adventures.

Great Big Book of Children's Games
Great Big Book of Children's Games

Author: Derba Wise

Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional

Published: 2003-11-10

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780071422468

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450 indoor and outdoor games for pre-school to middle-school-age kids arranged by age group.

Outdoor Play for Healthy Little Minds
Outdoor Play for Healthy Little Minds

Author: Sarah Watkins

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-10-28

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13: 1000467171

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This essential resource is designed to help busy early years practitioners to support the mental health of young children through outdoor play. Promoting social and emotional wellbeing in childhood has never been more important, and outdoor play is a crucial tool to build resilience, develop healthy relationships, and boost self-esteem. Using relatable case studies that demonstrate achievable change, the book is full of practical advice and strategies for exploring nature in both natural and man-made landscapes, and includes guidance on how to co-create inviting play spheres with children. Each chapter provides: Adaptable and cost-effective activities designed to help children feel more confident and connected to the world around them. Case studies and reflective opportunities to prompt practitioners to consider and develop their own practice. An accessible and engaging format with links to theorists, risk assessment, and individual schemas. Outdoor play allows young children to explore who they are and what they can do. It supports them as they learn to think critically, take risks, and form a true sense of belonging with their peers and with the wider community. This is an indispensable resource for practising and trainee early years practitioners, Reception teachers, and childminders as they facilitate outdoor play in their early years setting.

The SAGE Handbook of Outdoor Play and Learning
The SAGE Handbook of Outdoor Play and Learning

Author: Tim Waller

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2017-06-19

Total Pages: 707

ISBN-13: 1526415518

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There has been a growing academic interest in the role of outdoor spaces for play in a child′s development. This text represents a coordinated and comprehensive volume of international research on this subject edited by members of the well-established European Early Childhood Education Research Association Outdoor Play and Learning SIG (OPAL). Chapters written by authors from Europe, North and South America, Australasia and Asia Pacific countries are organised into six sections: Theoretical Frameworks and Conceptual Approaches for Understanding Outdoor Play & Learning Critical Reflections on Policy and Regulation in Outdoor Play & Learning Children′s Engagement with Nature, Sustainability and Children′s Geographies Diverse Contexts and Inclusion in Children′s Outdoor Play Environments Methodologies for Researching Outdoor Play and Learning Links Between Research and Practice

Balanced and Barefoot
Balanced and Barefoot

Author: Angela J. Hanscom

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Published: 2016-04-22

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 1626253757

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"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.

Nature Play Workshop for Families
Nature Play Workshop for Families

Author: Monica Wiedel-Lubinski

Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA

Published: 2020-07-14

Total Pages: 147

ISBN-13: 1631598694

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National Outdoor Book Award Winner: A fun, practical guide to outdoor play that sparks a connection to nature vital to children’s healthy development. Today children and families are often plugged into electronics and disconnected from direct experiences in nature. This beautifully photographed resource offers tangible approaches to nature-based learning and play for children. Parents and teachers can discover the benefits of outdoor learning and simple ways to facilitate unplugged nature connection in every season. Inspired by nature preschools, forest kindergartens, and forest school models the world over, this guide also includes “Voices from the Field” with advice from experienced nature-based educators. Balancing nature play experiences with hands-on projects using natural materials, it’s an ideal jumping off point for immersive nature play. Examples include: Wildlife observation and tracking Nature sounds, songs, and poetry Gardening and cooking with wild edibles Printmaking, charcoal drawing, dyeing, and shadow play Journaling inspired by nature “Voices from the Field” includes more ideas and tips contributed by leading educators, including: Sally Anderson, Sol Forest School, Tijeras, New Mexico * Yash Bhagwanji, Florida Atlantic University * Lauren Brown, Asheville Farmstead School * Peter Dargatz, Woodside Elementary School, Sussex, Wisconsin * Monica French, Wild Haven Forest Preschool and Childcare, Baltimore, Maryland * Patricia Leon, Miami Nature Playschool * Sheila William Ridge, Shirley G. Moore Lab School, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota * Beth Savitz, Irvine Nature Center, Owings Mills, Maryland * Maria Soboleski, New Mexico School for the Deaf * Paige Vonder Haar, Bunnell House Early Childhood Lab School, Fairbanks, Alaska * Susie Wirth, Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Foundation

Let's Go Outside!
Let's Go Outside!

Author: Jennifer Ward

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2009-07-14

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 0834822504

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Engage your child in outdoor play, nature outings, and environmental explorations. Chase and be chased in a game of capture the flag. Use the power of the sun to craft your own shadow prints. Explore the stars on a late night walk. Create a field guide to your neighborhood. Through 52 ideas—some classic and some new—Let's Go Outside! offers a range of activities perfect for children ages 8 to 12. Whether you're in the country, the city, or anywhere in between, this book is sure to help you get outside—and run, dance, hike, or camp—with your preteen. Sections of the book include: • Back to Basics: Reconnecting with twists on traditional games and activities such as Capture the Flag • Making the Ordinary Extraordinary: Picnics, doing homework outdoors, and socializing opportunities outdoors • Outdoor Adventures: Canoeing, biking, and camping • Environmental Experiments: Ways to explore how nature works

Outside In
Outside In

Author: Deborah Underwood

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2020-04-14

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13: 0358330114

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A 2020 Caldecott Honor Book From the New York Times best-selling author behind The Quiet Book comes a mindful contemplation on the many ways nature affects our everyday lives, even when we’re stuck inside. Five starred reviews! Perfect for fans of Joyce Sidman and Julie Fogliano, Outside In reminds emerging readers of the ways nature creates and touches our lives in homes, apartments, and cars, and is the perfect homeschooling tool to reflect on the world’s connectedness. Outside is waiting, the most patient playmate of all. The most generous friend. The most miraculous inventor. This thought-provoking picture book poetically underscores our powerful and enduring connection with nature, not so easily obscured by lives spent indoors. Rhythmic, powerful language shows us how our world is made and the many ways Outside comes in to help and heal us, and reminds us that we are all part of a much greater universe. Emotive illustrations evoke the beauty, simplicity, and wonder that await us all . . . outside.