A fabulous little book from Usbourne Books (we got ours from our local Usbourne Representative here)
What the Publisher says….
The Usbourne site say, “Step outdoors with this book and wave goodbye to boredom! Open a bug hotel, read the night sky and go bird spotting, then learn to draw animals, write a nature poem, and do an outdoor quiz. With specially selected links to websites for even more fun outdoor activities. Wherever you are, wherever you go, there’ll never be a dull moment again!”
What we think as a family…..
We think this book is a really great introduction to outdoors activities for primary aged children and pre-schoolers. There are lots of activity ideas for all sorts of outdoor environments, urban, beach, rural, woodlands etc. It gives activities for insects, bugs, animals, tracking, trees, plants, weather, maps, in fact there are so many it would be impossible to list.
The boys love this book and it has helped us to alleviate any shuffling, ‘I want to go home’ tendencies on longer explorations, by me carrying it in the backpack and having a quick hunt for an activity when we stop for a snack!
What we think as an educator….
As an outdoor educator this book is great for when inspiration dries up, or if a school or nursery want a particular theme and I need a few gaps filling. It is a great little go to book for a quick activity grab.
I also leave the book out for inspiration in my self directed learning provision that I run. So far the book has inspired a few projects, including kite flying and now a pond build!
There are lots of activities which can be used to develop cross curricular skills, for example physical skills, drawing, creative skills etc and most activities focus on one skill, but with a bit of careful planning this can be extended quite easily!
What it is not….
It is not in depth nature analysis, but it would serve to light the sparks for further study down the line. For example there are a few constellations, the easy well recognised ones, but by looking for those in the night sky a whole raft of possibilities might come to pass and you would need the internet or further book purchases to continue the path of study.