I am going to continue sharing books to get your kids learning while having fun this summer. Today we are going to look at a series of books that no only is fun and educational but also gets your kids outside and enjoying nature! The Outdoor School series features three interactive nature guides as well as three sticker books, and two essentials guides. Whether your family is interested in animals, hiking, camping, rock collecting and more there is something for everyone and these books all start by saying step outside no matter where you live there is nature out there.
From the Publisher:
Rewild your life with Odd Dot's series of Outdoor School activity books, perfect for young explorers and nature lovers!With its metal corners and over 400 full-color, highly-illustrated pages by Emily Dahl, Mary Kay Carson's Outdoor School: Animal Watching is your indispensable guide to the wilderness.
Make every day an adventure with the included:
- Immersive activities to get you exploring
- Write-in sections to journal about experiences
- Next-level adventures to challenge even seasoned nature lovers
No experience is required—only curiosity and courage. This interactive field guide to animals includes:
-Animal tracking
-Identifying birds by silhouette, size, and color
-Reading animal range maps
-Bird nest spotting
-Essential animal-watching gear
-Identifying mammals
-Bird calls and animal sounds
-Finding amphibians, reptiles, and fish
-Spotting scat
-Recognizing eyeshine
-Recording animal behavior
And so much more!
From Me:
Each section of these interactive guides start with a "What would you do?" scenario like the one on the left page above. Then it goes on to talk about the subject of the section. This book has five parts: What is animal watching, Birds, Mammals, Amphibians and reptiles, and Fish. Each chapter in the section ends with activities that are divided up by level: Try It and Track It. Track It is more intense for the person who really wants to explore animals and get into animal watching. Now if you have been reading Crafty Moms Share for awhile you know my obsession with animals and in particular birds. Needless to say I love this book!!
I love that this book encourages kids to get outside and observe nature. It encourages them to look for animals as well as signs of them. It also teaches the reader about the animals and the science behind their behaviors and body builds, etc. Plus the sections end with an identification section where the reader can make notes about animals seen.
I love that this guide also is a journal for animal sightings. It really is everything you need to go animal watching. However is you want to take it one step further you may want our next booklet, Outdoor School Essentials: Animal Tracks. This is a 20-page booklet from Odd Dot.
This book is literally a guide to recognizing what animal made the animal tracks. It has pages talking about the difference in tracks between animal types.
As well as pages upon pages of animal tracks and information.
This booklet is small--pocket size so you can take it with you when you go animal watching, hiking, camping, etc. I love how it shares the animals tracks, a picture of the animal as well as the size and where you can find the animal in North America. This guide is recommended for ages 10 to 14 but really will work for anyone wanting to identify animal tracks!
Odd Dot also has some sticker books recommended for ages 8 to 12. The Outdoor School: Spot & Sticker: Animals one goes perfectly with these first two books. Whether you want the very realistic stickers for crafts or just for a animal journal, they are wonderful. The book has over 400 animal stickers in it!
The stickers range in size and shape and feature all types of animals including animals found in zoos or other continents. Also to go with our Animal Watching book I would suggest the Outdoor School Spot & Sticker: Birds.
This one features over 400 realistic stickers of different types of birds. Again it is recommended for ages 8 to 12 and is perfect for crafts or a sighting journal. And perfect for a bird lover like myself!
Now if you are planning on hiking and/or camping this summer the next guide is perfect for your family. It is Outdoor School: Hiking and Camping by Jennifer Pharr Davis and Haley Blevins and illustrated by Aliki Karkoulia.
This book is set up similar to the Animal Watching one. It is recommended for ages 10 to 14.
From the Publisher:
Outdoor School: Hiking & Camping is your go-to wilderness guide from Odd Dot, featuring sturdy, metal corners and more than 400 full-color, highly-illustrated pages from Aliki Karkoulia.Jennifer Pharr Davis and Haley Blevins help you rewild your life with:
- Immersive activities to get you exploring
- Write-in sections to journal about experiences
- Next-level adventures to challenge even seasoned nature lovers.
No experience is required—only curiosity and courage. This interactive field guide to hiking and camping includes:
-Planning Your Next Adventure
-Essential Outdoor Gear
-First Aid & Survival
-Navigation
-How to Handle Extreme Weather
-Crossing Dangerous Terrain
-Setting Up Camp
-Building a Fire—In Rain or Shine
-Games for the Trail
-Finding and Filtering Water
-Animal Tracks, Calls, and Sounds
-Bird Watching
-Plant Spotting
-Rock Hunting
-What to Do If You’re Lost
And so much more!
From Me:
I love that this book talks about planning your hikes and camping as well as making sure you are ready for the hike including activities to strengthen and exercise. It also goes into planning, mapping out trips and more.
It is set up with hiking activities first then setting up camp then it goes into flora and fauna and survival. This book also has the Try it and Track it activities. I love that it has the information about the plants and animals as well as first aid and more.
This is a pocket sized guide. It covers everything from making camp, starting a fire, poisonous plants and more.
The other book to go with Hiking and Camping is Outdoor School Spot & Sticker: Plants. It is recommended for ages 8 to 12 and is full of realistic stickers of plants.
Again there are over 400 stickers of realistic illustrations. They vary in sizes and are perfect for crafts, fun and for a sighting journal.
Our final book in this series is Outdoor School: Rock, Fossil, and Shell Hunting by Jennifer Swanson and illustrated by John D. Swanson.
Now this book is perfect for the rock and shell collector. It is also perfect for trips to the beach!
From the Publisher:
Writer Jennifer Swanson and artist John D. Dawson invite you to rewild your life! With metal corners and 448 full-color, highly-illustrated pages, Outdoor School: Rock, Fossil & Shell Hunting by Odd Dot is an indispensable tool for young explorers and rock collectors.Make every day an adventure with the included:
- Immersive activities to get you exploring
- Write-in sections to journal about experiences
- Next-level adventures to challenge even seasoned nature lovers
No experience is required—only curiosity and courage. This interactive field guide to rocks, fossils, & shells, includes:
-Digging, chiseling, hammering, and wading for rocks and minerals
-Identifying rocks & minerals by location, texture, color, shape and size
-Determining between rocks, geodes, and space rocks
-Finding fossils and setting up a dig site
-Searching and snorkeling for shells
-Storing and displaying your collection
And so much more!
From Me:
This one only has three sections: Rocks & Minerals, Fossils, and Shells. Each section starts with the "What would you do?" situation and goes through the science and more about each thing to be found. Each section ends with an identification section at the end.
Each section has the Try it and Track it activities as well. I love this book for the summer since it is one of my favorite times to collect shells and rocks on the beach. I love how this book explains the science as well as identifying the rock, fossil or shell. It takes the collecting to a new level. Plus it educates the kids!
So if you are looking to get your kids outside this summer but still want them learning, be sure to check out this series. I love how it takes the fun activities that kids already love and adds to them including some educational parts.
