The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook for Kids, Families, and Classrooms

As a Park naturalist I am always looking for new books that help bring a child outside and ignite their curiosity and joy about Nature. My niece had a summer job at a child day camp and her specific responsibilities included setting up several Nature stations that groups of children would visit and engage in activities that would enhance their appreciation of the wood and the natural history all around them. She asked me for reference books that would help her plan out her summer as well as which activities would work for different age groups. I suggested this book as a good basic book to get her started.It breaks down according to seasons and activities to use according to what is occurring in nature at that time. The activities do not require a ton of expensive materials but instead ask the instructor and child to use their imaginations and creative abilities. This includes that child that will say "I can't draw" or something to that effect. These activities use each child's ability…to find a leaf, a rock, listen, use their senses to bring nature home in a basic but memorable way.My niece used this book all summer long and told me she considered it an invaluable aid. It went back with her to college.I highly recommend this book for all…whether you are a teach, naturalist, parent, or camp instructor. It is a lovely way to bring a person closer to the woods and nature no matter their age or background.

I bought this book to use over the summer to nature journal with my 2 kids. I ended up buying one for each of us as it is a consumable item (you actually write in the book). I was looking for something with drawing and journaling prompts as that is one of my weak areas- how to get my 9 and 10 yr olds to think and see more thoroughly what is around them and get them to spend more than 10 mins on a drawing and say they are done. This book really fits that criteria! We also use a Strathmore 5X8 in sketch book that we take on our hikes since this book is bit big to pack. I do think a smaller format would be amazing to be able to pack on hikes! I personally have loved reading through this and engaging in the prompts. The kids' desire to take time and ponder nature is still laborious but this book has definitely helped. We all work on the same page and can encourage and discuss as we go. The illustrations are gold, too! They are actually simple enough to recreate which is a great exercise in perspective and simplicity. We often just try to copy the drawing in the book to grow our drawing skills without the added pressure of drawing something new. This process really helps build our confidence. I would recommend this book to anyone wants their eyes and ears opened to the nature around them.

Really beautiful and lots of information + gorgeous sketches!! It makes us want to get outside and explore! :) I am using this book with my kindergarden / 1st grader as part of our homeschool curriculum. We are adapting it to her needs, but really its best for probably 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade. In a year or two when my daughter fully grows into this book we'll be able to do so much more with it - in the meantime, though, we are still loving it. My ONLY complaint is that the author seems to be from the far north east, so her seasonal activities do not match Texas weather at all. For example, she focuses on water in the summer whereas we are saving that section for next spring because summer is SO dry here. And in September she focuses on things getting ready to hibernate, etc. whereas in Texas September is still high 90's outside. So this would be PERFECT for anyone in the north, but requires a bit of adapting if you're in the south. Not a big deal, but I do drop it one star. I wish she'd matched her calander of activities with a more "moderate" US climate that would not require SO MUCH modification for us southerners!

Our 11 yo loves this book. He carries it with him to work in or just for inspiration for his own nature projects. He now loves to take observation walks with pencils and paper to draw what he sees, sketching trees, flowers, birds, butterflies, etc. He later makes connections with other books he has to determine what kind of plant or insect, etc, that he saw. I like that this book is encourages his creativity as well as his curiosity. There is a section for each month with projects and information that children, or anyone, might find interesting. Snowflakes, as an example, show different kinds of crystals. Activities are simple enough for young children to understand but also something that an older child could delve into more deeply, such as making a nature treasure map to show where a bird nest is or a path of daisies or a river or trail. With almost 300 pages, there is plenty to keep a child engaged.

This is very cute! I'm an outdoor educator and thought the exercises were inspiring for curriculum/discussion. Starts with a simple breakdown of what a naturalist is, how to get started nature journaling and has lots of general and seasonal activities for observing the cycles of nature with facts thrown in.

I love the way this makes learning together so simple and gives us so much to think about. It was just the guide I needed to encourage my family to learn together as we explore nature!

I'm buying another! One for each child. I can't wait to dive into this book. How fun! I am a homeschooling mom and I wanted something a little extra to enrich my child but also get them out the house and connect with nature. We live in Los Angeles county and it's a far cry from Alaska where I'm from, or Washington (the Green State!) where Grandma and Grandpa are at, so this book is going to help us out a lot to get ideas for where to go and what to look for. Nature is everywhere, even here, and I love that we'll be enjoying ourselves sketching, tracking the moon phases, looking for tracks of animals, studying trees, etc. This is awesome. Can't wait. OH! And even my friend who is an artist and daycare provider will be buying these for her kids at her daycare and wants to do this. How fun!

Lovely quality but not entirely relevant. This is a beautifully presented book, but too much of it relates to American wildlife and terminology. Not sure there's too many racoon footprints to be found in the snow round here! Because it's such a lovely book, I was tempted to keep it for visits by my home schooled 13 year old granddaughter, but decided there were probably better ones out there. The search continues.

I bought this for my whole family to use and was really impressed with the quality of the writing and suggestions. We started of using the introduction and are now working our way through spring and the book takes you through a whole year. Nice cover which is ideal for taking outdoors and the quality of the paper inside is good for filling in the sections where you can record your sightings. We take this with us on nature walks and trips to the woods and will eventually become both a reference book and a keepsake of our days out.

The Nature Connection is a great book - i bought it for my 9 year old grand-daughter to keep her occupied while she stayed with us, and she loved it. There is so much of interest in it that I'm sure she'll continue to use it for a long time.

this is a wonderful book for young people, full of many interesting facts . children can learn all about nature and wildlife, making it fun and interesting. great gift. trisha

Looking forward to using this book, how ever I didn't realise that it was very american, some of the references are about animals and trees not found in the UK