Take Me Outside
Resources
Websites
Parker the Bear
For our younger Trail TRACKers, please visit our sister website.
Parker the Bear offers games and activities to help kids age 4-7 discover natural wonders from inside their home. Take what you learn on the website and apply it to the trail the next time you go for a hike.
Web Rangers
The Web Rangers website is the National Park Service's web page for Junior Rangers. Kids of all ages can play up to 50 different games and learn about our National Parks, share their stories and adventures in National Parks with other Web Rangers, and earn a Junior Ranger badge for completing activities.
Children and Nature Network
The Children and Nature Network website offers national stories, news and events geared toward getting our youth involved in nature.
Nature Rocks
The Nature Rocks website will help you find all sorts of nature activities, as well as provide tools to help you plan and guide adventures with your family. It also provides useful tips and information to help you get into nature without getting over your head.
Video Lessons:
Symbiosis Rap
Lichen Story
Recommended Field Guides:
Waterford Press Field Guides
Waterford Press field guides are small, lightweight, weather resistant, brochure type field guides that cover a variety of topics. There are Waterford Press field guides for bugs and slugs, wildlife, birds, trees and wildflowers, animal tracks, and more.
Look for the Kids in Parks "Parkway Kids" Waterford Press Field Guide... coming soon.
Recommended Books:
Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv
In this book Richard Louv discusses the link between the absence of nature in the lives of today's "wired" children to some disturbing trends in our children today: the rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Louv suggests that direct exposure to nature is the panacea for healthy childhood development, both physically and mentally.
Sharing Nature with Children, Joseph Cornell
Cornell's book, Sharing Nature with Children, offers tips and activities you can do with your child while exploring nature to make the experience more meaningful. Cornell's book offers a variety of games that appeal to children of various ages and abilities. The book also breaks the activities up into four categories (awaken enthusiasm, focus attention, direct experience, share inspiration) based on the mood of each activity and the timing that each activity should be performed.
Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature and Survival for Children
Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature and Survival for Children is a good resource for engaging your child's senses in nature.
-Rachel Carson
