Introduction

The natural world is a giant, open-ended learning laboratory. Our children are innate scientists and love experiencing the sights, scents, sounds, and textures of the outdoors. Nature provides countless opportunities for discovery and to figure out things for themselves.

“We should not think of a child’s experience in nature as an extracurricular activity.  It should be thought of as vital to children’s health and development.” Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

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“A gift for the nature shelf” Kirkus

HELLO, CROW!

Candace Savage – Author
Chelsea O’Byrne – Illustrator

With patience and persistence, Franny befriends a crow.

Franny’s father calls her a “featherhead,” but what she’s paying attention to is the natural world.  Seated on a rock with her sandwich, she drops crumbs that attract a crow. The next day she purposefully brings food, and soon the crow begins to bring her small gifts in its beak. Like a red button! And a silver heart! Franny’s dad doesn’t believe her. He says crows and kids can’t be friends. But Franny knows better. How will Franny prove her new playmate is real? And what will the crafty crow bring next?   Eventually, her father recognizes that the crow is not imaginary; their friendship is real.


The illustrations celebrate the wonders nature offers this little girl. She finds “a dozen different ways to pass the time while she waited” for the crow to appear—climbing trees, swinging on a tire swing, reading in a hammock, looking through binoculars, drawing, making a daisy chain, even helpfully trimming a bush.

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Candace Savage has written another book about crows.  Yes, she is passionate about crows!  Birds have long been viewed as a symbol of  featherbrains—beautiful but dumb. But according to naturalist Candace Savage, this is absolutely not true.


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I love watching birds, and one my favorites is the American Crow.

“Are Crows the Ultimate Problems Solvers?”

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WE ARE PROBLEMS SOLVERS, TOO!

Here are two problems to solve with your family.  For each challenge:

  • talk about your plan

  • try it

  • fix it

  • share with us – send a picture

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YOUR PROBLEM:

 HANG UP A TENNIS BALL

YOUR ONLY TOOLS
 1 tennis ball, 4 toothpicks, 2 paper clips, 2 straws, one sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper and 2 rubber bands.

WORK TOGETHER
Talk about a plan

Build your device to hang a tennis ball

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BUILD A WALL MARBLE RUN

FAMILY TEAM DIRECTIONS: 

1.  Find some clear wall space, a large window or sliding glass door.

2.  Think about a design for your marble run before you start building. For example, will it zig-zag back and forth? Do you want to include any flat or even uphill sections? Also think about whether you want to use the whole tubes or cut them in half. Make sure your marble run starts high above the ground. Tape your highest tube to a spot that can be easily reached.

3.  Test as you go. Marbles move fast!!

 

YOUR ONLY TOOLS:

Cardboard tubes, painter’s tape, marble/s or small rolling objects, scissors, bowl or basket

1.  Think about how you want to build your marble run and what it should look like.

2.  Optional:  you can also decorate your tubes if you’d like.

 

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

1.  If the marble made it the whole way to the end, try to add more track segments to your track, or build alternative routes by connecting more cardboard tubes.

2.  If your marble didn’t make it to the end, try figure out why. Is there a spot in your track where the marble got stuck? Was the marble going too slow to make it over a hill? If necessary, make changes to your design, like adjusting the angles of your tubes or improving the tube connections and try again.

 

AND FINALLY, CLEAN UP!!

Remove all tape from the wall and recycle your cardboard tubes.