Nature Teacher Summer Book Club

Nature Books to Inspire: 

Summer Reading Suggestions for the Nature Teacher 

Summer arrived a couple of weeks ago and by now you are probably rested up from the busyness of the year end school fun and ready for summer play. My home is tidy, the fridge is full and my beach basket is beside the door ready for summer play. Because I love books, I have already visited the library and have a short stack of favourite re-reads, a cookbook to experiment with and a couple of new authors ready for my summer reading pleasure. I also like to include a few professional books related to teaching and nature education. I find it inspiring and breathes new life into my energy for nature teaching and with a little luck a few of my nature teacher friends will be reading some of the same books.

Whether you read some of these books on your own or with a friend you’ll find them an easy and informative read. I chose a few books which were inspiring, easy reads and packed full of good ideas for a nature program.

A Little Bit of Dirt 55+ Science and Art Activities to Reconnect Children with Nature by Asia Citro, MEd

This book is formatted for easy reading with beautiful photographs and dozens of child-friendly, inexpensive outdoor playful science and art activities.  I found many of the activities easy to organize and were class favourites, repeatedly enjoyed by the students. This could be a family book but is a good fit for the nature classroom.

I Love Dirt: 52 Activities to Help You and Your Child Discover the Wonders of Nature by Jennifer Ward, Illustrator Suziie Ghahremani

This was my first nature book purchase and I still carry it in my pack back. I love that it is a well-made soft cover pocket sized book. It is organized by season and is intended to capture the family nature experience as it happens. In easy to read script it is well organized and shares simple to implement activities that transfer easily to the nature classroom.

Nature and Young Children: encouraging creative play and learning in natural environments by Ruth Wilson

Now in it’s 2nd edition this book comes with a wealth of ideas on how to foster creative play and learning in a nature-focused environment including bringing the outdoors in, the role of the adult and fostering academic goals. 

Outside Our Window: developing a primary nature program by Liz McCaw

This book is a practical guide to developing a nature primary program. If you are at the beginning of your journey in bringing your students outside, or well on your way, this book will guide you, set you up and even enrich what you already do ( written by Wendy deGroot). Of course I love this book as I authored it. Peer feedback consistently references this book as a user friendly and comprehensive guide to developing a primary nature program.

What are you reading this summer??