Connecting Children To Nature Through Explorations and Investigations
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Getting children out into nature is important for their health, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. This ppt was part of a workshop for early childhood teachers attending the Austin AEYC Annual Conference in April 2015.
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Connecting Children To Nature Through Explorations and Investigations
- 1. Connecting Children To Nature Through Explorations and Investigations
- 2. Apprentice yourself to nature. Not a day will pass without her opening a new and wondrous world of experience to learn from and enjoy. Richard W. Langer
- 3. With a garden there is hope. Grace Firth
- 4. If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in. Rachel Carson
- 5. Whatever befalls earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself. ~Chief Seattle
- 6. He who plants a garden, plants happiness. Chinese Proverb
- 7. Leave part of the yard rough. Don't manicure everything. Small children in particular love to turn over rocks and find bugs, and give them some space to do that. Take your child fishing. Take your child on hikes.” ~ Richard Louv
- 8. Every child is born a naturalist. His eyes are, by nature, open to the glories of the stars, the beauty of the flowers, and the mysteries of life. R. Search
- 9. The world should be treated as one of the most important events in their lives. ~ Thomas Berry
- 10. Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright
- 11. Children are born with sense of wonder and an affinity for nature. Properly cultivated, these values can mature into ecological literacy, and eventually into sustainable patterns of living. ~ Zenobia Barlow
- 12. Childhood Memories of Nature
- 16. Nature play stimulates creativity, imagination, & problem solving.
- 17. Students learn to care for nature, & get a sense of the world around them.
- 18. Children & families cultivate a relationship with nature
- 20. Using the Senses to Explore the World Around Us https://animoto.com/play/mB ezgTWcAkKCAgTOafUh9A
- 21. Science Centers
- 24. Looking Closer
- 26. Sensory Tables
- 27. More on Sensory Tables
- 32. Art Center
- 33. Observing Nature from Inside
- 36. Outdoor Art
- 38. Plant a Garden
- 39. Square of Life
- 40. Rethink Weather
- 41. Nature Walks
- 43. Build a Nest
- 45. o Garden o Rocks o Water o Bird Houses o Digging Pit o Dirt Pile o Trees o Seating Imagine Changes to Your Play Yard
- 46. More Nature Activities & Investigations
- 49. Gail Laubenthal, Consultant glaubent@yahoo.com Robbie Polan, Childcare Liaison robbie.polan@austinisd.org
Editor's Notes
- Participants think about their own childhood memories Take a minute to think about a strong memory and share with your elbow buddy.
- Life is more complicated for our children for many reasons and they don’t have time to play, explore, and have unstructured time outside.
- Children will develop lifelong habits of fitness and recreation
- Unstructured, and free play. Many times, playground time is short and/or structured leaving children no time to be creative. Listen to the children during play time and use this knowledge to bring appropriate materials outside to extend this creativity.
- We can encourage families to spend unstructured time with their children outside. In the beginning, send home notes with ideas for activities to help families begin.
- Adding water could allow for sink/float activities.
- Children bring dirt samples from their homes to be compared and contrasted.
- Fine motor activity and exploring the giant sunflower
- Nature treasures inside picked up from the play yard
- Create a tree home in the classroom. Children pretend to be animals living in nature
- Children create still life paintings of flower arrangements
- Bird house that is attached to the window of the classroom.
- Work with your campus/site administrator and parents to allow children to experience nature in a variety of weathers.
- Talk about animal habitats. Build homes for different animals. This is STEM at its finest!
- Adopt a tree. Watch it through the seasons, explore it, measure, make bark etchings, collect leaves, acorns, seeds, draw pictures of the tree, etc.