This year, we’re partnering with a wonderful organization for National Get Outdoors Day on Saturday, June 8. Check out their website and see if there’s a GO Day event near you.

Through efforts which many of you supported, we raised enough money to send 150 copies of The Kids’ Outdoor Adventure Book: 448 Great Things to Do in Nature Before You Grow Up to GO Day events around the country where they will be given to kids and families who could use it. Around 40 of those books will be coming with Ken and I to the GO Day event in Minneapolis, Minnesota in Powderhorn Park. We’ll be coming up with a really fun, creative and ACTIVE way to give these books away during the event.

If you’re in the Minneapolis area at all that weekend, please stop by to see us. Or if there’s an event near you, go check it out. These non-profits have really worked hard to make these events filled with outdoor activities like fishing, games, learning to pitch a tent, etc. It’s a great (and free) way to experience nature. And if you don’t have an event near you, just make a point to get outside and do something fun on June 8. Go to a new park you’ve never been to. Try an outdoor game you’ve never tried before. Have fun! We’ll see you outside!

I come from a whole family of educators. My mom, grandpa, aunts…they are all teachers. My grandma was even a principal. I didn’t follow their footsteps exactly, but I do still share that passion for educating kids, especially when it’s related to nature and the great outdoors. I just love the look on a 4-year-olds face when they discover a ladybug or spiderweb. It’s true awe and wonder like no other.

Every once in a while, I come across a book that I just have to buy and give to someone. Early Childhood Activities for a Greener Earth is the book I’ve discovered recently. It’s by Patty Born Selly, a mom and educator from Minnesota. It is filled with project, ideas and activities for kids 3 to 8. While this book is a good resource for parents in general, I think it’s even better for educators…teachers, Sunday school classes, home schoolers, etc. It’s like this fantastic hands-on workbook. Each activity has a recommended age, a materials and supply list, activity goals and how the activity relates to the National Science Education Standards.

If you have an educator in  your life, I encourage you to have them check out this book. It’s an amazing resource, and everything is organized into lovely chapters like indoor environments, air, weather, food, etc. It doesn’t necessarily have flashy colorful pictures or a crazy design, but you’ll find activities in here that will keep kids busy for hours and will help them reconnect with the world around them.

Thanks to Patty for writing such a great book. Let’s start these kids as young as possible!

 

We love the motto of the CLIF Kid Backyard Game of the Year. Create! Play! Win! 

We’re still giddy with excitement to be judges for this year’s games. Do you already follow CLIF Kid on Facebook? You should. They offer great tips and advice. Plus, we’ll be sharing ideas for getting kids outside on their page during the next couple of months while they accept entires for the Backyard Game of the Year contest.

If you have a kid between 6 and 12, you really should encourage them to enter this contest. Even if they don’t win (the prizes are pretty awesome, though), it’s still a great experience to get kids outside and thinking about playing in their own backyards.

Also, if you’re a part of a non-profit group with kids 6-12, you should check out the Group category they have. It’s new this year, and the group with the top game could win $15,000 for their non-profit.

Seriously, encourage your kid or kids to get outside and give this whole “invent a backyard game” a try. They (and you) might be surprised at just how innovative, fun and easy it really is.

 

To celebrate the release of their new book, The Kids’ Outdoor Adventure Book: 448 Great Things To Do In Nature Before You Grow Up, Milwaukee authors Stacy Tornio and Ken Keffer are hosting an event at the Urban Ecology Center’s Riverside Park on Saturday, April 13.

This free event will feature activities from their book that celebrate nature. Kids and families will be able to start their own flower or veggie seeds, make their own trail mix, test out unique bubble wands, go on a scavenger hunt and get their faces painted.

The event will be held from 1 pm to 4 pm. Books will be available for purchase, and Stacy and Ken will be available for a signing beginning at 2 pm. The Urban Ecology Center Riverside Park is located at 1500 E. Park Place.

Virtual book tours are one of the most brilliant concepts to come from the digital blogging age. I love being able to connect with fellow writers, parents, educators, gardeners, birders and nature enthusiasts from the comfort of my couch. We are incredibly lucky to have an amazing group of bloggers join our virtual book tour for The Kids’ Outdoor Adventure Book: 448 Great Things To Do In Nature Before You Grow Up. (Enter to win your own copy at the Destination Nature giveaway.)

They will be posting reviews, guest posts, and samples from our book throughout the month of April. We can’t thank them enough, but we can encourage you to check out their blogs. (We’ll be posting links to their sites all month via our Facebook page.) These writers are fantastic. We encourage you to follow them and read them regularly. Without further ado, here’s the list of our rockstar bloggers featuring us this month.

April 2: Little House in the Suburbs 

April 3: Go Explore Nature

April 5: Birding with Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman

April 8: Slow Family Online

April 9: 10,000 Birds

April 10: Bring the Kids

April 11: Small Wonders

April 12: Garden Therapy

April 15: Outside Mom

April 17: Birdfreak

April 18: Exploring Portland

April 19: Cragmama

April 21: Prairie Birder

April 22: Colorado Mountain Mom

April 23: Birdchick

April 24: Tales of a Mountain Mama

April 26: Adventure Tykes