Nature Exploration Play Activities for Kids
Children love to explore nature and the evolution of nature at a very early age. My toddler granddaughters and early elementary grandkids love to play in the garden and explore nature, smell various flowers, dissect plants, and observe insects and bugs per the following activities:
Materials:
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar book
- Bug box
- Dual lenses magnifying glass
- Big Bunch of Bugs kit
- Mini rake and scooper
- Kits for raising insects (i.e. Lore Original Butterfly Garden)
Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.
Welcome to our six-week summer blog reading series for parents and their children. Starting on Tuesday, July 10 through Thursday, August 16 we will provide three blogs each week using the Common Core Standards and STEAM activities per the following schedule:
College!
EJ has had an incredibly exciting and busy year as a college sophomore attending a university in the SF Bay Area. We have enjoyed our visits with him at school and during the winter break at home. EJ is now busy with his spring semester and taking a demanding course load.
Recently, I read an article about the increased level of student anxiety arising in our schools. National research indicates that one-third of teenagers will experience an anxiety disorder. It is expected that 8 percent of students will be seriously impaired due to anxiety. These results indicate an increase from prior decades.