Resources

Outdoor education is a way for students to explore and integrate all subjects, from art to math, using the outdoors as a tool to explore and learn through alternative teaching methods. Students participate in outdoor education through camps, outdoor schools, school gardens, and field trips. It also can happen in your own backyard, local parks, or even the sidewalk in front of your home! The natural world does not hide from the urban landscape and there is so much to explore, whether you live in the middle of the city or deep in the forest.

Research shows that playing and learning outside has powerful benefits for cognition and emotional learning.

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) Resources:

Websites

https://www.teachengineering.org/#homeschool - Engage at-home students with these easy-to-implement engineering design challenges.

https://www.nasa.gov/stem-at-home-for-students-k-4.html - NASA STEM @ Home For Students Grades K-4.

https://www.youngvoicesfortheplanet.com/for-kids/ - The mission of Young Voices for the Planet (YVFP) is to limit and mitigate the magnitude and impacts of climate change by empowering youth, through uplifting and inspiring success stories, to take an essential role in informing themselves, their peers and their communities—becoming leaders and changing laws, changing minds and changing the world.

https://journeynorth.org/ - Tracking and migrations and seasons.

https://learn.islandwood.org/ - The IslandWood Learn site is a collective commons of information important to IslandWood. The site provides a platform for Graduate students to easily access the myriad of curriculum, activities and information important to the program and also the core principles; Discovery, Environment and Community.

https://www.natureplaywa.org.au/resources/for-families/coronavirus-covid19-resources - Covid-19 self isolation resources for families.

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/ - TKSST is an unprecedented collection of over 4,500 kid-friendly videos, curated for teachers and parents who want to share smarter, more meaningful media in the classroom and at home. Selections are grown-up friendly, too. And thanks to our members, it's free for everyone.

https://campfire.org/covid-19-resources/ - These were created by our expert in-house Camp Fire Team for you. If you’re making the most of your time at home during COVID-19, download these creative resources with the form below. Simply select what you’d like.

http://teachers.thinkoutside.org/ - Learning Activities at Home.

https://www.generationgenius.com/ - Get instant access to hours of fun, standards-based videos, reading material, quiz games, simple DIY activities & more.

https://adventuresinfamilyhood.com/20-virtual-field-trips-to-take-with-your-kids.html?fbclid=IwAR2IIAVXkfFmt1dTF1s_Hqfc1KVKQ-a3doKu11oo5NRsKYRU7_6RR_4NnYI - Virtual field trips are a great way to expose kids to new places all from the comfort of home. In this age of technology, so many museums, zoos and aquariums have set up virtual tours and webcams of their facilities. Now more than ever, is it easier to visit destinations around the world from the comfort of your couch.

https://www.themeparkprofessor.com/2020/03/virtual-field-trips-to-take-when-homebound/?fbclid=IwAR0WGqbtVsOeZTi9fNhb9Ai9vEqm8uduGCxNmvpStlgSUDDLq-Zrpxf3yo4 - Virtual Field Trips to Take When Home bound.

https://adventuresinfamilyhood.com/virtual-field-trips-zoo-aquarium-farm-safari.html - Take a virtual field trip to see all sorts of animals without leaving home. You can visit zoos, aquariums, farms, and even go on a virtual safari all in the same day!

https://www.weareteachers.com/educational-netflix-shows/?utm_content=1584278383&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR11Xt6dS-7XrRZWRykgL4VHcvLBUOPErX7SKDOIa8mnG0Z77uw-XEq7h5w - 30 Great Educational Netflix Shows.

https://www.weareteachers.com/best-podcasts-for-kids/?utm_content=1584122203&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR03d7oHiHfdxEfYL_X-I5dudWD2PWuaxguYis_5kHaO0iGW9PFo-Yq9yNk - 26 Best Podcasts for Students in Elementary, Middle, and High School.

https://www.naturenet.org/crafts/ - The Environmental Learning Network.

https://artsed-washington.github.io/alic/ - Every Child Deserves Great Arts Education. Our Arts Lessons in the Classroom Curriculum is designed for K-6 teachers to integrate visual arts into their classrooms with ease.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EVMQiHHKugF4RQ071DzimkSKn1AuiBNOJ-i6xs1mBts/edit?fbclid=IwAR0fBHFrORC4Q5mi8Zd0sGFEZpyGcXDFCV-hLw2Wk75ffLhMGFhd8Y1g2hM - Ready to stay creative from the couch? Here is your guide to enjoying art at home! Art contests, museums, art games, digital art, art education, and art at home.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1obNACjs4L5Y8tNkz7y2epilZjctN9HSe - Coronavirus Virtual Sub Lessons for Art Teachers.

https://homeschoolhideout.com/art-lessons-on-youtube/?fbclid=IwAR1RgrPPBE0A6gtQ1HieTiqint_t8QJwkOliZzziNWF4NzUe1cuyrlNxnzg - 12 art lessons on YouTube Your Kiddos will love!

https://wonderopolis.org/ - Welcome to Wonderopolis®, a place where natural curiosity and imagination lead to exploration and discovery in learners of all ages. Each day, we pose an intriguing question—the Wonder of the Day®—and explore it in a variety of ways. Wonderopolis was created by the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) in 2010, and it has become one of the most popular education sites today.

https://kids.britannica.com/ - Britannica Kids is a premier resource that nourishes the desire for knowledge and the adventurous spirit in everyone. Feel confident letting your kids' imaginations run wild--digging deep to learn about homework topics or feeding their natural curiosity. With nearly 250 years of experience creating dependable content, Britannica offers a safe and trusted site that you entire family will enjoy!

Tumblebook via https://www.seattleschools.org/student_portal/online_student_resources - Our TumblePremium collection has over 1100 titles and is perfect for public libraries and elementary schools, with content most appropriate for those in grades K-6. It includes animated talking picture books, chapter books, videos, non-fiction titles, graphic novels, playlists, and books in French and Spanish.

https://storytimefromspace.com/ - Story Time from Space is a project of the Global Space Education Foundation, a nonprofit education foundation. We send children’s books to the International Space Station. While in space, astronauts are videotaping themselves reading these books to the children of Earth. These videos are being edited and placed on this Story Time From Space website- look under the heading ” Story Time Videos”.

https://www.storylineonline.net/ - The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Daytime Emmy®-nominated and award-winning children’s literacy website, Storyline Online®, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.

https://www.amazingeducationalresources.com/ - Amazing Educational Resources is a nonprofit program that was initially created to facilitate free sharing of resources among teachers. The platform has since grown to an all-inclusive hub for educational materials. Amazing Educational Resources facilitates access to and sharing of free high -quality resources among teachers, parents and students.

http://teachers.thinkoutside.org/ - This site, The Outdoor Teacher, is all about getting teachers to take their students outside for learning. Most of human knowledge came from observing the environment. We believe that it's still a great place to provide a context for most learning. It also offers other benefits.

https://studio.code.org/courses - Code.org® is a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by women and underrepresented youth. Our vision is that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science, just like biology, chemistry or algebra. Code.org provides the leading curriculum for K-12 computer science in the largest school districts in the United States and Code.org also organizes the annual Hour of Code campaign which has engaged more than 15% of all students in the world.

Apps

Nature Passport - The Nature Passport app is a mobile resource to help children play, explore and learn in nature – at school, at home, in parks and in wild places. With activities designed by experts in outdoor play and experiential education, the app is an awesome tool for both schools and families!

iNaturalist - Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. We share your findings with scientific data responsibilities like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data. All you have to do is observe.

Expeditions by Google LLC - Google Expeditions is an immersive learning and teaching tool that lets you go on VR trips or explore AR objects. Explore historical landmarks, go down to the atomic level, get up close with sharks, even visit outer space!

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab - Free, instant bird ID help for 6,000+ birds for North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

YouTube Channels

Artrageous with Nate - Artrageous with Nate is a six-time Emmy award winning video series. We travel the globe exploring where creativity is happening.

AsapSCIENCE - Making science make sense.

Flocabulary - Flocabulary is a learning program for all grades that uses educational hip-hop music to engage students and increase achievement across the curriculum. Teachers at 20,000 schools use Flocabulary’s standards-based videos, instructional activities and student creativity tools to supplement instruction and develop core literacy skills.

Crash Course Kids - Welcome to Crash Course Kids! This bi-weekly show from the producers of Crash Course is all about grade school science. We'll look at Earth, Habitats, Space, Chemical Reactions, Engineering, and much much more with host Sabrina Cruz. So, join us every Tuesday and Thursday for new uploads.

How Ridiculous - We drop stuff, we bounce stuff, we throw stuff, we catch stuff.

TeachEngineering - TeachEngineering is a FREE digital library comprised of hundreds of standards-aligned, design-rich, engineering curricula for K-12 educators to make science and math come alive through design thinking.

Home Science - You’ll find here a lot of amazing experiments, science experiments, chemical reactions and optical illusions.

National Geographic - Inspiring people to care about the planet! National Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure. Through their world-class scientists, photographers, journalists, and filmmakers, Nat Geo gets you closer to the stories that matter and past the edge of what's possible. WEEKLY YOUTUBE SCHEDULE: Sunday: History & Culture Monday: Nature Tuesday: Environment Wednesday: Exploration Thursday: Science Friday: Fun Facts Saturday: Travel & Adventure.

Mr. Hacker - Amazing experiments, tricks, life hacks and creative ideas from Mr. Hacker.

Math Songs by NUMBEROCK - We make animated math videos and educational songs for kids that make math more fun and teaching more effective! Up until today, we have created nearly 70 animated music videos that cover mathematical concepts for Kindergarden - 6th Grade; with concepts like; Rounding Numbers, Ordering Decimals, Subtraction with Regrouping, 3D Shapes, Angles, Place Value, Multiplication Times Tables and much more!

For Parents

Books

Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell - Ingenious games help children and adults experience what it is like to be part of nature. This sequence provides a simple framework that allows you to structure nature awareness classes for best effect. You can meet people where they are in interest and energy level, and then guide them step-by-step toward more meaningful and profound nature experiences.

Parenting with Love and Logic - Raise children who are self-confident, motivated, and ready for the real world with this win-win approach to parenting. Your children will win because they’ll learn to solve their own problems while gaining the confidence they need to meet life’s challenges. And you’ll win because you’ll establish healthy control—without resorting to anger, threats, nagging or exhausting power struggles. Parenting with Love and Logic puts the fun back into parenting!

Podcasts

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510342/life-kit-parenting-difficult - Is Santa Claus real? What happened to the cat? Why is that kid's skin color different? Raising children means facing tough questions. Sesame Workshop's child development experts have 50 years of experience with giving answers. They help us handle three sensitive subjects: magic, race, and death.

Websites

https://www.rebekahgienapp.com/start/ - Talk to white kids about race, raise kid activists, teach social justice, and find diverse books.

https://www.ahaparenting.com/ask-the-doctor-1/talking-with-children-about-racism-police-brutality-and-protests - Talking With Children About Racism, Police Brutality and Protests

https://www.caminoslab.org/onetalk - Providing support for Latinx American, Asian American, African American, and Black youth and their families to have conversations about race and ethnicity.