Generally, exploring and discovery is enough for kids, but sometimes even they can grow bored with that and become restless. Remember that they naturally have shorter attention spans than adults.

Fortunately, there are lots of tried and true activities you can do on the trail that’ll keep kids from getting bored. Among them is Game Show.

If you…

Six Spectacular Months for Planet-watching: March-August 2012

In Mar.-Aug. 2012, students, parents, and teachers can enjoy: The Moon passing as many as five bright planets and five stars of first magnitude or brighter each month; four bright planets Mercury-Venus-Jupiter-Mars visible simultaneously at dusk in late February and early March; Venus-Jupiter as a close brilliant pair at dusk around March 13 (and at dawn around July 1); Venus in…

The weather may be crazy this winter, but if it's nice, take advantage and get the kids outside to identify the early signs of spring with this Scavenger Hunt Guide.

Whenever I can, I connect a book to an experience for kids.  And "The Lorax" just has that natural connection that leads to learning about ecology.  It's a wonderful read-aloud for young kids who will appreciate why we need to 'tread lightly' and take care of the world around us.  And for teens, it conveys a great message about how the consequences of our behaviors can affect others, and the impact one person can make on the world. 

Here's a few ideas for linking the new movie…

Mission:Explore is a project that we in The Geography Collective started in 2008. Since then we've published three children's activity books and are currently working on our fourth. Each of these books are full of ideas to encourage more outdoor play and learning. A big part of what we do uses a much more…

What happens if a child picks up a stick in the forest? It's not a question of if, because they do and they will! When a child does pick one up, what does that stick become? Working with school teachers, this is one of the first concerns of being outside with a classroom of curious children. Do we let them play with sticks? And what does it look, feel, and sound like if 20 children are wielding sticks in the forest? Laying down a rule of "no picking up sticks" is like taking…

Exploring a winter creek

It's another…

We were delighted to receive this notice from the e-newsletter that goes out to all parents at Saint Joseph School in Seattle where MOTHER NATURE'S CHILD was screened last November. Hurray for Saint Joe's parents!!! This is an example of what parents can organize all by themselves. Sounds like fun!

Last year, Amy Chua managed to push a whole set of collective parenting buttons when she asserted in the Wall Street Journal, and later in her book…

Baby Barn Owl part of Hawk Creek's Barn Owl Breeding Project - (is that adorable heart-shaped face perfect for Valentine's Day!?)

East Aurora, NY - Find true love at Hawk Creek Wildlife Center! Feathered and furry wildlife in need want to become your Valentine this February. Buy the perfect gift and help save a life by adopting one of more than 80 resident animals at Hawk Creek like Canyon the handsome…