Nature Explorations

A visit to DuPage Children's Museum can be a wonderful learning experience, yet getting everyone outside as the weather warms and sun shines can be important too!  Below are some fun ways to enjoy the weather, develop a sense of curiosity and encourage earth science inquiry.

 

Rooftop Gardens in DCM's Creativity Studio

Find nature in surprising places.  Look for places to explore near where you live. Nature can hide in the cracks of a sidewalk, under the stairs, in abandoned lots, or on the edges of manicured lawns. Don’t worry if you don’t live near an open field, a forest, or desert.

Go for a nature scavenger hunt. Find something that:

•    Is a certain color
•    Is dry, wet, shiny, or pretty
•    Is tiny or huge
•    The wind blows
•    Crawls
•    Has no legs, four legs, or six legs
•    Or make up your own ideas!

 

Observe and sketch. Examine items carefully and draw what you see. For example, find flowers of different colors and point out the petals and other parts. Or find a variety of leaves and observe the different shapes, colors, textures, and veins. You and your child can imagine you are scientists, observing and documenting what you see.

Enjoy some of the great ways we bring the outside in! DCM Preschool Summer Camp offers Earth Science Explorers June 17-21, 2013. Summer Creativity Classes include My First Water Mess, A Day at the Beach, Lifting Color from Nature, Gone Fishing and more! Creativity Studio drop-ins offer Planting a Rainbow, the World of Insects, Flower Collage and more!

Information contained in this blog originally posted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, an excellent resource for educators, parents and caregivers! NAEYC promotes excellence in early childhood education.

The authors Donna J. Satterlee, Grace and Matt Cormons have collaborated since 1999 to implement the successful nature-based family learning program Shore People Advancing Readiness for Knowledge (SPARK). Satterlee, EdD, teaches child development in the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.