The Kids' Outdoor Adventure Book

The Kids' Outdoor Adventure Book
by Stacy Tornio and Ken Keffer

I recently came across this book in my local library. It's packed with fun activities to get kids outside exploring and enjoying nature.

From Indie bound:

"Nature is a destination, but you don’t have to travel anywhere to find it. Just open the door and step outside. A fun, hands on approach to getting involved in nature, The Kids' Outdoor Adventure Book is a year-round how-to activity guidebook for getting kids outdoors and exploring nature, be it catching fireflies in the cool summer evenings; making birdfeeders in the fall from peanut butter, pine cones, and seed; building a snowman in 3 feet of fresh winter snow; or playing duck, duck, goose with friends in a meadow on a warm spring day."

The book includes checklists, challenges, projects, outdoor recipes and games. Organized by season, you can easily flip open to a random page a find something fun to do. It's a great addition to the many other books about sharing nature with childlren that I already highlighted on my Pinterest Board.

What other books would you recommend that focus on sharing nature with children?

Related posts:
Loose Parts Play
Author Interview: April Pulley Sayre
Nature Walks with Toddlers
Play Outside!

Winter Fun: Showshoeing

What do you do when a blizzard socks you in and leaves you without power or running water? Go out showshoeing, of course!

Really. Get out there. You won't regret it. Look at this fun:

I know, I'm kind of a dork.

If you don't own snowshoes, late winter to early spring is typically a good time to buy them because they go on sale. I've even seen them in discount stores like Ocean State Job Lot.  My kids sure were glad to break theirs in.

Do you own snowshoes? Have you gone snowshoeing?

You Might Also Like:

Snow Fun

Even More Snow Fun

AMC Great Kids, Great Outdoors

Before the holidays, I was interviewed for the Appalachian Mountain Club's blog Great Kids, Great Outdoors. The post, Fun Ways to Explore Snowflakes With Kids, ran on Tuesday.

I hope you'll hop over there and read it.

More Posts About Snow Exploration:
Snow Fun
More Snow Fun
Even More Snow Fun

Resources for Getting Outdoors

Happy New Year!

In case you're making new year's resolutions to get outside more, I thought I'd share some links that might be useful to you. This list focuses on website/blogs that offer ideas for getting in nature with your kids.

Go Explore Nature
This month features "31 Days of Backyard Fun" Debi Huang offers one activity per day to get outside with your kids. Each activity can be completed in 15 minutes or less in your back yard, neighborhood or local park. Poke around her blog while you're there- lots of great info.

Nature Rocks 
This site shares nature activities for families and provides tools to help users plan outdoor adventures. It also offers tips for staying safe in nature and has great FREE downloadable activity guides.

Children and Nature Network
An organization dedicated to creating "a world where every child can play, grow, and learn in nature." This website is a store house of amazing resources. If you're an educator looking for research to back up your efforts to get more "Vitamin N" (nature) in your students' lives, this is the place for you. Also check out the drop down tab called "C&NN Initiatives" for Natural Leaders, Natural Families, Educators, and Natural Service.

AMC's Great Kids, Great Outdoors 
An Appalachian Mountain Club blog that offers tips for getting outdoors in Northeastern USA. Most of the ideas suggested will work in other locations, though posts are seasonal.

Do you know of other great resources you can share? I'm particularly interested in hearing about regional blogs, etc. that might suit readers who live in or travel to other regions. I'll copy useful links from the comments into the post.

UPDATE 1/6/13: A reader in Michiana shared her blog, Inside Outside Michiana. It's loaded with great resources, including lists of outdoor spaces and natural resources in the area.

Related Posts
Play Outside
Help Build Children's Connections to Nature
Reading the Land

Wordless Wednesday: Zip Line Anyone?

All photos taken 28 December 2012 and 1 January 2013
by Michelle Cusolito 

Except this photo of me taken by Lisa Goldfeder

Wordless Wednesday: Throwing Rocks

Photo Taken 30 October 2012