(Re)connecting children and nature with technology

[Daniel Raven-Ellison]

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 modern technology. The Mission:Explore website is a way for us to create quirky learning activities that we call missions. Using the website we can map missions to specific places (if we want) and ask questions to see if someone really is doing what they say they are doing. We see the site as a way of inspiring and rewarding children and families for doing new things, not least exploring and engaging with nature.

From March 1st we are releasing a new Private groups feature on Mission:Explore. This will allow educators to create missions that can only be seen by the members of that group. Here's what it's all about:

• Mission:Expore is an approach to learning. It's about taking learning outdoors and into the real world. It's appropriate for all ages.
• Geography, science, history, art and other teachers can use Mission:Explore to create outdoor trails, hunts and rewarding games.
• Subscribe to have your own affordable, secure and private group with its own reward system. Learn about our safety policy.
• Create an unlimited number of private learning activities.
• Choose to make mapped activities or ones that can be done anywhere.
• Set challenges as a creative homework or part of a local study.
• Share an account and learning activities across multiple schools for international, transition and other projects.

I have some free accounts to give away before March 1st when they go on sale. If you would like one please email me at [e-mail] and I'll get you set up.