Families

These flashcards provide easy to follow one-pager activities for different seasons. 

Download PictureThis, simply take or upload a photo of any plant and get instantaneous plant ID results! The website also has a massive plant encyclopedia and catalogue. 

Childhood By Nature's Mini Guide to Winter Nature provides images and information about the adaptations that animals have to survive in winter. The booklet also contains activities for students, such as identifying local birds. 

A web resource containing a guide to culturally important Blackfoot plants by season. 

BioKits are interactive activity books that can be printed and taken with your class on any outing in the community or natural parks! Activities connect to the various sights and sounds of the community, including signs of wildlife, and encourage students to explore the services in their community and think about topics such as transportation/green transportation, recycling/waste services, and more!

BioKits are also available in French. 

Canada's Outdoor Learning Store sells a variety of book bundles, guides, and kits to aid educators in taking learning outdoors. Search the shop by seasons, themes, type, language, and age level. It is run as a social enterprise which allows them to provide a return for outdoor learning non-profit organizations from across the country, and beyond.

In the article Nature Can Be as Engaging as Video Games — How to Help Kids Fall in Love With the Outdoors, which also contains a TEDx video and useful linkes, Scott Sampson encourages parents to help kids fall in love with nature just like he did: through direct experience. He recommends three steps that we — along with the children in our lives — can take to connect with nature. You don’t need to go to a national park to help your kids fall in love with nature; a walk around the block can be enough. Tech also doesn’t have to be the enemy. Instead, use it as a tool to enhance their awe.

How to Make the Most of Indoor Play When You Can't Go Outside is an article with advice, activities, and links on how to bring environmental education into the indoors. This article provides tips on how to redefine what “outdoors” can really mean for each of us. For those who only have access to a backyard or are fully homebound, check out this resource for activities to maximize a small space or bring the outdoors in! 

The Children and Nature Network maintains a collection of free toolkits, reports, infographics and advocacy tools is designed to help connect children, families and communities to nature. 

Learning Inside Out is a seven-week course of activities curated from the LSF's Resources4Rethinking database, with themes from the Step Outside Nature Guides and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which cover everything from climate change to equity. Different activities are listed for different age groups from K-12.