Exploring Nature With Young Children An educator’s workshop Facilitated by:

Exploring Nature With Young
Children
An educator’s workshop
Facilitated by:
Natalie Elkins
WILD History
• 1983 Project WILD premieres
• 1987 Project WILD Aquatic Guide released
• 1992 Elementary and Secondary Guides updated
and combined into one K-12 volume; Aquatic
Guide updated
• 1999 Spanish Supplement of Project WILD Activities
and Correlations to National Education Standards
• 2000 Updates of WILD and Aquatic WILD including
25 new activities and new learning framework
released.
• 2006 The Project WILD program reaches the one
million mark for educators trained since 1983.
• 2009 The premier of Growing Up WILD for early
childhood educators.
Sponsors
• Co-sponsored in Michigan by the
• Department of Natural Resources
and Environment (DNRE) and the
Michigan Alliance for
Environmental and Outdoor
Education (MAEOE)
• Copyrighted, printed and
supported by the Council for
Environmental Education
Why are we here?
To give today’s children a
chance to reverse current
trends.
Children between the ages of 8 and
18 years spend an average of nearly
6.5 hours a day with electronic media.
Rideout, V. and Hamel, E. (2006). The Media Family: Electronic Media in the
Lives of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Their Parent. Kaiser Family
Foundation. (Note: Remember this was published in 2006 think of how
much bigger Facebook, Iphones and Ipads have become since then)
Children under 13 spend only 30
minutes per week outside in free style
play.
Louv, R. (2007). Mother Nature: Raising Healthier Kids. (interview with) USA
Today.
Children who play outside in natural
settings are less likely to suffer
obesity an less likely to contract
diabetes.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2007. CDC funds registries
for childhood diabetes. Press Release from CDC/ National Center for
Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion.
Studies have shown that stress levels
fall within minutes of seeing green
spaces. Even a view of nature helps
reduce stress in highly stressed
children. Children with these views
also demonstrate increased
attentional capacity.
Wells, N.M. & Evens, G.W. (2003). Nearby nature: A buffer of life stress
among rural children. Environment and Behavior (32) 6, pp775-795.
Children who have regular
opportunities for free/unstructured
play in the out-of-doors demonstrate
greater levels of creativity,
cooperation, conflict resolution and
leadership.
American Institutes for Research, (2005). Effects of Outdoor Education
Programs for Children in Califormia. Submitted to the California
Department of Education, Sacramento, CA
Students who play and learn in
outdoor settings perform better on
tests, have higher grade point
averages (GPAs) and cause fewer
classroom disruptions.
Chawla, L & Escalante, M. Student (2007). Gains from Place-Based Education.
University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences.
Goals
• Encouraging attachment and comfort with the
outdoors.
• Learning through active outdoor exploration and
play.
• Increasing opportunities for children to be outdoors.
• Assisting in the future development of nature
stewards.
• Meeting education and developmental goals and
standards.
• Prioritizing outreach to diverse and economically
disadvantaged children.
• Emphasizing literacy.
The Guide
• Targets educators for children ages 3-7
• Includes 27 activities
– field-tested
– hands-on
– nature based activities
• Table of Contents from simplest to
more complex
• Green sub headings for quick
reference
The Guide
• Foster learning in all domains
– social, emotional, physical, language,
and cognitive domains
• Correlated to the National Association
for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC) Standards
• Correlated to the Head Start Domains
Supports developmentally
appropriate practice (DAP)
• Guide uses a variety of teaching
strategies.
• Child-initiated and teacher-directed
learning experiences.
• Opportunities to learn through play
– “Take Me Outside”
– “Centers and Extensions” components.
Mighty Math
• Practice using math vocabulary
• Sort, compare and classify objects
• Display data with graphs and pictures
• Identify shapes, and
• Make measurements
Early Literacy
• Read-aloud fiction and nonfiction
books.
• Music & Movement
• Student Resource Pages
• Nature Notebook
• Wild Wonderful Words
Healthful Practices
• Healthy Me
• Snacks—fruits, vegetables and whole
grains
• Take Me Outside—include physical
activities like running games or nature
hikes
• Music & Movement—dance, role play
and other physical activities
Creative Expression
• Art projects use a wide variety of
materials and art forms.
• Many art projects involve free
expression.
• Many activities include ideas for
dramatic play.
• “Music & Movement” components
include songs related to the activity
topic.
Scientific Inquiry
• Activities encourage children to
explore the world around them.
• “Ants on Parade” models the scientific
method.
• “Field Study Fun” outlines a simple field
investigation.
• Many activities utilize inquiry.
• Tips for maximizing benefits of inquiry
included in front matter for educators.
Assessment
• “Warm Up” helps determine children’s
prior understanding of a topic.
• “Wrap Up” reviews what they have
learned.
• Nature Notebooks
• Graphing, artistic representations,
taking digital photos, creating field
guides
Explore Your Guide