Preschool Spring, Egg, & Bunny Books

My Top Five Favorites List:

An Egg is Quiet




The Sun Egg




Everything Spring




Marshmallow




First The Egg

Nature & Wonder Connections

If you haven't read Richard Louv's Last Child in The Woods yet, in honor of Earth Day, readreadread!

Growing Up WILD ECE Nature Curriculum

A few weeks ago, we hosted the brandspankingnew Growing Up WILD workshop at work. It was fun meeting more traditional preschool educators, and it was illuminating watching them reflect upon issues our nature-based staff routinely focuses so specifically on.

If you're a ECE teacher who's especially excited about nature, or who feels uncertain about how to expose little ones to Environmental Ed, you will lovelovelove Growing Up WILD. During the workshop, you'll dive into lots of hands-onsy learning, and attendees get a (free!) huge, pretty, glossy Growing Up WILD curriculum book filled with nature activities for children between the ages of 3-7. It's got crafts, art projects, music, conservation activities, reading and math connections, printables (in both English and Spanish) and tons more; plus, everything's correlated to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards (it even lists the specific Head Start Domains for each activity.) For more information about finding your local workshop locations and dates, visit the Growing Up WILD website.

Matchy Music:
Wild Horses mp3, Iron & Wine cover version, (via On The Spur of the Moment)

FREE! Earth Day Pretty Pollinator Nature Booklet

Download your own beesy, butterfly-y, read-with-mom-type booklet from Little Humbugs. It's filled with printable activity worksheets, coloring pages, games, and lots of fun naturey stuff.

Mother Nature's Child Documentary Trailer

Are you a producery thespian, or just curious to learn more?... Visit the filmaker's site for more info.

Sesame Street Sing-Along Earth Songs

This was a superfun/superfunny video that came out in the early 1990s. Sososocute (and educational, too!) Your kidlets will love it :)

Calling All Kidlets: The Great TV Rebellion

April 22 is Earth Day, and the Biomimicry Institute is sponsoring a wonderful week filled with greenish fun for kidlets. There's a fantastic, free activity workbook for teachers & parents, and a free companion Nature Journal for kids. Kids can also take the TV Rebellion pledge (complete with an official color-in-able certificate.) There are three animaly rebel levels:


1) Eagle TV Rebel: I will turn off my TV and electronic devices for Earth Week (April 19-25), go outside to experience nature, and complete each activity in my Nature Journal.

2) Fox TV Rebel: I will turn off my TV and electronic devices for Earth Week (April 19-25) and explore nature while the sun is out, then keep them off all day on Earth Day (April 22).

3) Rabbit TV Rebel: I will turn the TV off for all of Earth Day (April 22) and play outside in the natural world.

Download your materials now, and prep for an upcoming fun-filled week of Earthy exploration.

Hypoallergenic EasyPeasy Pet Rock Rings

What's more wonderfully silly than those goofy-fabulous pet rocks from the 1970s? How about making your very own smallish, portable, giggle-inducing ring version? It's a fun, nature-oriented, sensory-filled, kid-friendly project that can incorporate color, shape, and rock identification. Bonus: It's supersimple (and an ohsoveryperfect accessory for allergy sufferers!)

PLEASE REMEMBER: Tiny little fingers and tiny little mouths can sometimes add up to curious trouble. Smallish things (like these rings) can be tricksy business with kidlets who are still in that oral fixationy phase; so always trust your instincts and use care, common sense, & supervision with younger children under threeish. That having been said...

Here's What You Need:

A special little river rock, polished stone, or macho pebble.
Adhesive (I like Crafter's Pick The Ultimate Superglue because it's nontoxic)
An adjustable ring blank
Google Eyes

Here's What You Do:
1) Glue two google eyes onto your rock and let dry for a few hours.
2) Adjust your ring so it fits how you like;

3) Sand the back of your rock a little with sandpaper so it's nottoosmooth.
4) Glue your pet rock onto your ring blank, and let dry overnight.
5) Dream up the ideal rocksysortofname.

6) Wear.

7) Accept random compliments.

YAY! Children and Nature Awareness Month

Get yourself outside, and if you haven't already, visit Richard Louv's Children & Nature Network for details & celebratory links galore :)



"Listen to the music of the wind and the birdies sing. We're just one big family, and all of nature deserves to be loved-love-love-love-loooved!"

What a Wonderful World

"Skies of blue, clouds of white?... The bright blessed day? The dark, sacred night?"...

What are your favorite things in nature? What a Wonderful World , by George David Weiss, is a bright, colorful, wonderfully illustrated picture book based on Louis Armstrong's classic song, and it serves as a great nature conversation starter (and it converts well into an easy-to-make felt story, too.) I often use this book as part of an introductory preschool lesson plan, with the goal being to help kids look for and focus on the natural beauty that surrounds them. When noticing nature, children make personal connections with the environment, and they begin to develop a more defined sense of place. While the kids walk the trail, we think about our favorite animals, plants, and places. When we return to class, we write those favorites on heart-shaped pieces of paper, and tape them to a big-huge hanging classroom globe. The kids love coming in each morning to check on their little hearts.

Lots of teachers also use this song/book to introduce sign-language. Instead of doing the whole song in sign (which seems a little much for my 2-5 year-olds...), I pull out key words that are easy for the kids (and me!) to remember, like: Trees, Rainbow, Grow, I-Love-You, Wonderful-World, and Think-To-Myself. If you're superambitious, watch the whole thing in sign here.

Free Adorable EcoArt Wallpaper

Take a peek at the cutest planet-friendly wallpaper ever (the kind for you computers, not the wall kind.) It's free for the downloading at Jinjerup (and there's several other really adorable designs to pick from, too.)

Besides sharing her supercool wallpaper, Jinjerup also has a really darling (and free!) tree-shaped notepad tutorial (& template) @ Folding Trees. Gotta love that Jinjerup!

Happy Earth Day!

Celebratory Tunes:

Gallery of Globes

Have you heard about this supercool art project called Cool Globes? Here's a sample of some of the amazing pieces (some by artists, some by nonprofits, some by creative kiddos...) Visit the site for a complete project explanation, details about each individual globe, and to learn more about how you can help stop global warming...

Matchy Music:

World Turned Upside Down, by Coldplay (mp3 via Carl Sandburg Visits.)