Check out a collection of traditional Indigenous games and activities that can be adapted for winter settings.
https://intranet.csf.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/12/ressources/EA_indigenous-games-for-children-en.pdf
Resources
Water Rangers Educational resources
Water Rangers have tons of resources for educators! Thier Education Testkit is specially designed for educators to teach about water quality and environmental stewardship. They also have free resources for educators. Here are some helpful links:
Outdoor Learning Mentorship Opportunity – rolling sign-up
Did you know that Take me Outside offers a Outdoor learning Mentorship Program ?
Learn more or register here: https://takemeoutside.ca/mentorship/?mc_cid=7ffa806972&mc_eid=1634b6d08c#registration
Winter crafts for classes and families
Check out some creative winter crafts to try this winter.
Cold Weather Basics | L’essentiel du froid
From the Child & Nature Alliance of Canada and Take Me Outside. This resource includes infographics for proper winter dressing and identifying hypothermia.
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De la Child & Nature Alliance of Canada et Take Me Outside. Cette ressource comprend des infographies sur les vêtements d’hiver appropriés et sur l’identification de l’hypothermie.
Canadian Wildlife Federation – Mission: Reduce your Carbon Footprint
Looking for ways to engage your students in environmental action? The CWF Education Kit is packed with lesson plans, resources, and action projects to help your class take real steps toward reducing their carbon footprint. 🌍💚
By participating, your students will not only learn about the environment but also take actionable steps toward a more sustainable future!
Follow the link to access the CWF Education Kit and start making a difference in your classroom today!
Inside education – K-3 Explorer’s Tool Kit
Download Inside Education’s Explorer Toolkit & Teacher’s Guide!
Looking for ways to get your students outside and connected to the natural world? Inside Education’s Explorer Toolkit and Teacher’s Guide offer fun, hands-on activities designed for students from Kindergarten to Grade 3.
These resources will help bring nature into your classroom with engaging outdoor activities that promote environmental awareness, exploration, and discovery.
Inside education is an Alberta-based organization with both a provincial and national reach.
SEATTLE PLAYGARDEN- Inclusion Learning Hub
Looking for resources to include kids of all abilities in activities?
Explore the Seattle Playgarden Inclusion Learning Hub—a comprehensive collection of lessons, workshops, and training designed to help you create inclusive, engaging environments for all students.
Whether you’re looking for practical strategies, creative lesson ideas, or professional development, the Inclusion Learning Hub has everything you need to empower your teaching and support children of all abilities.
SEATTLE PLAYGARDEN- Inclusion Toolkit
Download the Seattle Playgarden Inclusion Toolkit!
Looking for practical strategies to support all students, including those with disabilities? This toolkit provides actionable tips and strategies to help you say “YES!” to including kids of all abilities in your classroom or activities.
What’s inside?
- Effective strategies for fostering inclusion in diverse classroom settings
- Practical tips for engaging students with disabilities in various activities
- Tools to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for ALL kids
Empower your teaching with resources that make a real difference. Download the Inclusion Toolkit today and start creating an inclusive, supportive space for every student!
Nature Journaling Curriculum Version 2.0
Nature Journaling Curriculum Version 2.0
This downloadable guide was an early version of the work that lead to How to Teach Nature Journaling. The new book How to Teach Nature Journaling by John Muir Laws (also available on this site) is the most up-to-date resource on leading nature journaling activities.
Would you like to lead nature journaling activities with your class, homeschool group, or nature center? This guide gives an essential framework that will help you lead activities and motivate children (and adults) to use their journals.
Download for Free Here
The Naturalist Store (Free Downloads)
How to Teach Nature Journaling (free PDF download)
31 hands-on field activities to connect art, science, math, and critical thinking, while encouraging students and mentors alike to recognize and record the wonder and beauty in the natural world.
Expanding on the philosophy and methods of his last book, The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling, John teamed up with experienced curriculum developer and educator, Emilie Lygren, to develop this unparalleled and comprehensive guide to using nature journaling as a tool to engage young people with the outdoors. This teacher-friendly book combines curriculum plans, practical advice, and in-the-field experience so that educators of all stripes can bring journaling to their students or families. Full-color illustrations and sample journal pages from notable naturalists and novices show how to put each lesson into practice.
Best of all, it encourages the things we need most at this moment: routines and rituals, creative expression, observation and concentration, engagement with nature, and connection with each other (even if from a distance!).
Are green spaces near you closed or inaccessible? Nature journaling can happen anywhere, from a kitchen window to a neighborhood stroll. With the right tools and ways of observing, you can document the bird sitting on a telephone wire, the beans in your pantry, the flower blooming in your neighbor’s front yard, the weed pushing through the cracks in the sidewalk, or the vine creeping up the side of your apartment building.
Learn How to:
- give students step-by-step strategies for effective nature journaling
- manage student groups in the outdoors
- encourage participation from all learners
- modify instructions to meet your students’ needs
- teach drawing, math, writing, and scientific thinking
- connect journaling to educational standards
- incorporate journaling into longer lessons
Can be used with:
- 5E Instructional Model
- Charlotte Mason-Inspired Education
- Common Core State Standards
- Next Generation Science Standards
- Waldorf Education, Forest Schools, Outdoor Education, and more
A great way to get started is to watch this video workshop from a class I gave on how to teach Nature Journaling.
Free download! You can download the book today. If you like the book, consider also buying the full version and making a donation to directly support Heyday, Law’s amazing non-profit publisher. You may download the book for use in your home, classroom, or at your institution. You may not reproduce any part of the book for sale. The version with double-page spreads is best for viewing on a screen or device. If you plan to print the book at home, download the single-page version but be aware that for close to the cost of printing you can get the bound full-color book. Home printing is a good option if shipping the book is too expensive.
The Nature Playbook
The Nature Playbook is a strategy to connect young people with Nature in Canada. It is meant to guide and inspire actions that all Canadians can take to connect a new generation with Nature.
Pick up the Playbook. Plan your Plays. Make a difference.
https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/pc/R62-465-2016-eng.pdf
SDG Academy
Free educational resources from the World’s leading experts on sustainable development.
Mino-pimatisiwin: Living the Good Life
We are all born with rights that help ensure we are treated fairly. We all have these human rights and the responsibilities that come with them. Indigenous people have the right as individuals and as communities to protection for their languages, cultures — the ways of life that have been attacked and are still under threat. In Mino-pimatisiwin: Living the Good Life, students will learn about these rights and responsibilities, as well as about Indigenous role models. This special publication for Truth and Reconciliation Week 2024 will encourage readers to walk the good path as allies, inspired by artistic and community efforts that are fostering respectful relations.
To guide teachers in their own learning and to help bring truth and reconciliation into their classrooms, this magazine will be accompanied by supplementary educational resources available in English and French. The magazine, intended for students in grades 5–12, is offered in print and digital formats in both English and French.
Order your digital copy here:
https://www.canadashistory.ca/education/classroom-resources/living-the-good-life
Green Teacher: Teaching About Invasive Species
Teaching About Invasive Species is designed as a tool kit. You will find profiles of 12 different education programs associated with invasive species. Youth educators, whether they work inside or outside schools, will find innovative perspectives, program ideas, games and a total of 21 activities to engage young people from 6-19 years of age in this challenging topic. In the preparation of this book, we spent considerable time scouring North America for innovative programs and learning activities. The result is that we have contributors from Maine to California and Ontario to British Columbia, as well as contributions from 3 other countries.
Check out the book here:
Natural Curiosity
Created in collaboration with Indigenous educators and partners, the Natural Curiosity Program addresses a critical link between environmental and Indigenous education, supporting all educators to authentically respond to the calls to action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
This second edition of Natural Curiosity supports a stronger basic awareness of Indigenous perspectives and their importance to environmental education. The driving motivation for a second edition was the burning need, in the wake of strong and unequivocal recommendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to situate Indigenous perspectives into the heart of Canadian educational settings and curricula, most notably in connection with environmental issues.
Project Learning Tree Canada
Project Learning Tree Canada has activity guides and books for Educators on the theme of trees and forest stewardship. They also have online courses and free worksheets (some resources available in English only).
Let’s Talk Science Professional Learning
Let’s Talk Science’s virtual resources include ready-to-use, curriculum-aligned STEM resources. STEM learning activities and 30-minute workshops.
Disponible en français!
Les ressources virtuelles de Let’s Talk Science comprennent des ressources STEM prêtes à l’emploi et conformes au programme scolaire, des activités d’apprentissage STEM et des ateliers de 30 minutes.
Subject to Climate: A Database of Free Resources for Teachers
Browse the collection of credible, engaging, and unbiased climate resources. Search by themes such as oceans, human impact, and biodiversity. You can also search by language, region, resource type, and grade.
Subject to Climate is a United States-based organisation with both a national and a global focus.