Nature Play Workshop for Families provides some really creative opportunities for structured learning experiences outside while still completely allowing for play, which happens with kiddos no matter how much of a schedule or agenda you have! I loved that element of this book - we live on a farm and are outside frequently, but sometimes I feel like I want slightly more structured projects or activities for all of us to do together. Nature Play Workshop provides that, and we had a blast doing some of the activities in here!

The book is organized by season and then has year-round activities. The authors also included resources for parents to learn more about nature play, AND, there’s a section about how to incorporate Indigenous perspectives into your nature play. My heart was giddy when I saw that. It is *almost* perfect, but I’m trying to figure out why they didn’t use an Indigenous person for that section. I love that Sally Anderson suggests people visit and consult with Indigenous communities local to them rather than homogenizing Natives, and I really loved the information. I do wish it had been a Native educator or activist, though. Just food for thought!

One thing I would say is that some of them were a little involved for my 3- and 5-year-old boys’ attention spans. We’d get partially through and then they’d just go back to using sticks for hitting everything in sight, because sometimes they took quite a bit of setting up. But I don’t think this is A) the fault of the authors or the activities in this book or B) a bad thing. Nature Play Workshop has activities that allow you to be as simple or as complex as you want, have time and energy for, and have the resources for. I also think as we do more and more of these activities, my own kids will get used to the idea of having more structure outside.

I also loved the way that the authors created activities so children can be really involved. Sometimes, activities end up taking SO much parental time and energy for not a whole lot of engagement for the kids, and those are pretty defeating. Nature Play Workshop seems to encourage kiddos being engaged every step of the way - whatever engagement looks like for your particular child. There are also templates for organizing observations and games, which will come in really handy.

Each parent and each child has a different threshold for the process of getting activities set up, attention spans, desire for creative vs. practical play and exploration, and experience with nature-based learning. This book will truly work for anyone. I can’t wait to pick up a hard copy so I have all of these ideas and resources at the tip of my fingers. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy!

There is actually quite a lot to love about this book. Firstly, there is so much vibrant colour throughout that you just want to keep turning the pages to discover more. The photos are also an incredible array of colour and discovery, drawing you in to keep learning and reading from the book.
The pages are neatly displayed with a description of the experience, materials you need, the process and how you can extend the experience further. I particularly like the 'Keep it Wild' section on each activity, which encourages you to give back and embrace nature, it's about discovering what happens when you let nature be. The book covers experiences for each of the seasons, as well as year-round activities that are not confined to time.
A section that many carers or preschool teachers will find quite beneficial is the 'Voices from the field' section. Nature-based educators have come together to share their wisdom on how you can explore nature with children while linking them with child development, social interactions and personal connections.
The templates at the end finish the book off so well. These can easily be photocopied to use with a classroom or with a group of children so they can observe nature and chart changes. There is a wonderful template for a scavenger hunt which does have a squirrel on it so it won't suit all countries but will give you great ideas for developing your own.
I think this book is going to be a fantastic resource for many. It has so many ideas that will spark your own imagination to try new and wonderful things in nature.

What a great book this is for the whole family - given the Covid 19 times, what a great time to get out with the kids, experience some nature, get some extra vitamins into the body via sun and learn about having fun outdoors.
This book is separated into the seasons and each task included Nature play Experience, Make it Wild, Keep it Wild and Extending the Experience. There are flowers, seeds, foraging, shelter, frost, returning to the soil, plant dyeing, and much, much more in this book of ideas for the whole family to spend some time and learn things from our surrounding, no matter what the season

I was disappointed in this book. Not many original/enlightening ideas and no reference to age appropriateness of the activities. That said, anything that encourages children to learn about nature is a good thing!

Lovely activities for each winter. Each spread has suggestions for nature play, creation "make it wild," experimentation "keep it wild," and a way to extend the experience beyond one day. My only hesitation with this book is that it does assume that you have ready access to a number of natural resources, which is not a given for most families.

Nature Play Workshop for Families is a wonderful collection of outdoor play experiences.

I appreciated that the activities discussed range in their goals, from purely open ended to more guided and with a final result like crafts. I know many families and educators struggle with how to engage in the more open ended, exploratory and at times risky play, and think this book can be a wonderful introduction to implement and guide.

There are experiences that develop a wide range of skills from fine motor, gross motor, dramatic play, to math and science. Beyond that, the experiences are accessible no matter your environment, requiring only a place to be outside. There is truly something for everyone here.

I will certainly use this book as an educator myself and would recommend it, or more specifically some activities in if, to parents.

This was certainly a fun book to read…and desperately needed to help families entertain and educate their children in this season of the pandemic. I consider myself pretty decent when thrown in the outdoors, and I loved how this book gave many very good projects to do with children in every season of the year. Most were simple…just get out and play with things you find. It was also pretty interesting how each activity could have extended impact also. The whole idea of the book was how to get outside with your family and see all the things that are at your fingertips…and mostly free. All in all, this is a very inspiring, uplifting book of activities to do with your family.

What a stellar collection of activities for kids and families! This will be a welcome addition to our Youth Services materials.

Nature play is quite popular right now (rightly so) and there are quite a few books like this that have been released recently. This is another good addition, with seasonal ideas for nature activities and lots of color photos.

I put out a free nature magazine for kids (http://magicalchildhood.com/wildkids/) and many of the ideas here are the sorts of things I've included in Wild Kids -- things like making a sun dial from rocks or shells, making a terrarium (ours was simply a jar from the recycling upside down on its lid, with moss transplanted from a shady area) and making a shelter (they call it a stick fort). Some foraging activities are included in the book but they are generally lacking in ID information. There are also the typical nature crafts -- make pine cone bird feeders, nature mandalas and mud pies, etc.

All in all this is a good book for families starting in their nature adventures, but might not hold a lot of new material for those who are already experienced in the matter. It's still a solid entry in the growing number of great nature themed activity books for families.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

'Nature Play Workshop for Families' is filled with a huge variety of projects for kids to interact with and understand nature. The book is divided by seasons with different projects including crafts, simple building, foraging, simple cooking, etc. This book is perfect for parents and educators as it does a great job explaining the benefits of nature play and provides additional resources and templates. Most of the projects are pretty reasonable in terms of instructions and items required. Overall, this had many neat project ideas to get elementary school aged children to consider the natural world.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group/Quarry Books for providing this ARC.

I simply cannot praise this book enough! Being out and involved in nature is SO IMPORTANT for us all especially are children. I love that this book aims to teach young people to explore, experiment and be involved in nature. There are so many things they can do that not only can educate but can be exciting and fun.

Highly recommend this book to families that are wanting to get there kids outside and active.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the beautiful photographs and the simple structure of the book. While the book is set up in an easy reading format the supplies needed for the activities are not as easy to find. This is definitely for kids with parent supervision. I also would have liked more ideas for each season seemed pretty limited.
Overall worth reading and sharing with younger kids.

"Nature Play Workshop for Families" presents a comprehensive collection of nature activities for families with children of all ages. An introduction to nature play opens the book, which is divided into sections according to seasons plus an additional chapter on year-round nature play. Colorful photos, step by step instructions, and a list of materials are included for each two-page featured activity. Activity extensions serve as a follow-up for each activity. The final segment of the book includes short essays on child development, urban nature projects, and differing perspectives on nature play. An appendix features templates that can be used as a basis for the projects. Emphasis is placed on enjoying nature in a variety of ways, with some structure but also room for unplanned and spontaneous interactions.

This book serves as an exceptional resource for any care-givers, parents, guardians, or teachers who seek a complete resource of outdoor activities to be enjoyed with children. Learning about nature and the environment add value to the nature play projects and activities.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.