It’s Montessori Education Week! So to celebrate, this Wonder Wednesday activity is adapted from my book Wonder & Wander: An Early Childhood Nature Connection Guide. And of course what more favorite topic to focus on than nature journaling! I first began nature journaling with children in my own Montessori classroom, so I
“We are experiencing sublime conditions of horror, you know?” ~Erica Moiah James, an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Miami, founding director and chief curator of the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas. (citation) In light of the past week, this quote, and last month’s blog series
Idyllic, picturesque, awe inspiring, sublime. The words running through my head as I gaze upon a pristine natural spring in the forest. Right up until I hear my sister-out-law say, “Y’all!!! I almost just stepped on a pygmy rattlesnake!!!!!” We snap out of, “yay! a weekend getaway at a beautiful spring cabin,” mode and into hyper responsible
Summer officially begins June 21. Get ready for the solstice by boosting your summer reading lists with 5 nature inspired books and “Further Fun” ideas to go with each! Research shows that connecting with nature in person, and through nature reading, writing, and art making helps build empathy. This is such an important ability
Summer is on its way, and blue skies abound! So why not make a nature journaling project inspired by them? In all my years of loving all things cyan, I recently discovered the cyanometer. What in the world is that you ask? Great question! It’s a historic device that measures the blue of the
I learned a new word this week – ekphrastic. It means: “Ekphrasis, or ecphrasis, comes from the Greek for the description of a work of art produced as a rhetorical exercise, often used in the adjectival form ekphrastic. It is a vivid, often dramatic, verbal description of a visual work of art, either real or
Happy Wonder Wednesday 75! We’re in the home stretch of 2018, and as the days of the year and the length of daylight dwindle here in the northern hemisphere, it can be tough to squeeze nature time into the daylight hours. So to help you fit some creative nature time into the day, I created
The new Nature Journal Prompt Cards for Children, Edition 2, are here!!!! These cards are seriously so cool I can hardly even believe it. The whole package (deck, box, pamphlet, print and paper quality, color saturation – everything) exceeded my own expectations, and I set high bars for myself! Each Deck Includes: 36 Prompt
Today, a respected colleague said how as teachers, it’s important to get students thinking about what they are doing rather than offering a “Just Add Water” experience. She said she appreciated how my approach to teaching was not “Just Add Water.” What a timely compliment in a world of quick fixes, sound bytes, and
The World of Wonder Conference in Chicago last week was simply fantastic! I got so much inspiration and so many ideas I can’t wait to share them here. It was also so wonder-ful to meet so many awesome people working everyday to keep humans and nature connected in so many unique, mindful, fun ways.