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You are here: > Outdoor Education |
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Outdoor Education Activities, Games and Guides
This section contains a wide selection of hands-on activities, engaging games, outdoor curricula, mapping activities, leadership manuals and specialty items for outdoor educators.
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Outdoor Education and Sense of Place
Included in this section are a number of resources to help children and adults get outside to connect with their local environment, thus developing a stronger sense of place. In so doing, individuals often come to understand that their efforts really do make a difference and that their interactions with both natural and built communities influence their emotional and intellectual growth in a positive manner.
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Outdoor Exploration Packs from Acorn Naturalists
Acorn Naturalists Get Outdoors!® Field Packs are designed for children ages 7-11. Each contains a selection of books and equipment related to the topic. Packs are designed as "starter kits" that initiate interest in the field while teaching basic observation and identification skills.
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Outdoor Magnifiers, Hand Lenses, Two-way Viewers
This section contains a wide array of observation equipment for outdoor educators including magnifiers, jeweler's loupes, tripod magnifiers, magnifying glasses, linen counters, two-way viewers, hand lenses and lucite bug boxes.
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Outdoor Field Guides
Field identification manuals are an essential component of every outdoor enthusiast's reference collection. Acorn Naturalists carries the latest versions of the Audubon, Peterson, Golden, Stokes, Nature Finder, National Geographic, Simon and Schuster, Sibley, Kaufman, Newcomb, and Reader’s Digest guides. We also offer high quality field guide covers, custom designed to protect your guides while you are on the trail.
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Outdoor Education DVDs and Videos
Acorn Naturalists offers a wide array of outdoor education DVDs and videos. In this section you will find these resources conveniently categorized by title and subject area.
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Nature Knowledge Cards
These cards are perfect for groups as well as for individual study. Features 48 cards with up-to-date information presented in a fun, interactive manner that grabs the attention of everyone. Combines learning and fun for ages 9-adult.
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Tree Rings for Art and Dendrology Studies
Acorn Naturalists now offers a wide selection of tree limb cross sections for both art and dendrology study purposes. These quality rounds range in size from 2" to 5" across by 1/4"-1/2" thick and allow for clear reading of growth rings. Tree rings vary in size and appearance depending on growing conditions and species variations. Willow, ash, cottonwood are riparian species, tamarisk is an invasive species, oaks can be identified by their characteristic radial rays, pine and walnut and oak show classic seasonal dry/wet ring patterns. Tree rounds provide an ideal hands-on resource for introducing students to botany, forestry, dendrology and methods scientists use to determine past climatic conditions. Acorn Naturalists offers a varied selection of fourteen different tree rounds: six eastern/midwestern species are offered along with eight western species. Also available is a bark beetle life cycle demonstration kit and two tree round discovery kits (eastern and western).
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Animal Tracking Activities and Tools
In this section you will find an extensive selection of activity books, tracking tools, informative field guides, children's books on tracking and professional references.
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Track Identification Scarves (Bandanas)
These wearable field guides are perfect visual aids in the field or classroom. Each 21" square scarf features 14 labeled animal tracks that are 2/3x life size (bear, 1/2 life size). These scarves include representatives of the major taxonomic families of North American mammals: Bears (Ursidae), Bison (Bovidae), Cats (Felidae), Deer group (Cervidae), Dogs (Canidae), Pronghorn (Antilocapridae), Rabbit group (Leporidae), Raccoon (Procyonidae), Shrews (Soricidae) and Weasel group (Mustelidae) plus the Rodentia Order, represented by Beaver (Castoridae), Mice & Voles (Cricetidae) and Squirrel (Sciuridae). Available in a variety of colors.
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Scat Identification Scarves (Bandanas)
These unique educational scarves feature scat drawings that are twice life size, sketched from samples found in the field. Includes ringtail, shrew, bat, racoon, armadillo, opossum, mouse and vole, bear, rabbit and hare, prairie dog, porcupine, squirrel and chipmunk, gopher, marmot and woodchuck, beaver, muskrat, pronghorn antelope, fox, weasel, mountain lion, bobcat, mountain goat, river otter, pine marten, skunk, mink, badger, wolverine, bighorn sheep, elk, deer and moose. These wearable field guides are great for field trips, hikes, or as a conversation piece. Each measures 21 inches square. Available in a variety of colors.
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Bird and Mammal Calls
The calls we offer are the finest available, but don’t expect to imitate the animal perfectly the first time you try. The best way to learn is to head into the field and start practicing, listening to tapes or mimicking the birds themselves. Note: although the directions in these calls often refer to hunting, these calls are also effective at bringing birds and mammals closer for photography or observation purposes.
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Animal Replicas
Acorn Naturalists has the largest selection of life-size replicas available anywhere, including track, scat, skull, talon, claw, tooth, egg, leaf, insect, fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal replicas.
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Experiential Education - Learning for Life
Camps have long known about the transformation that takes place when children participate in experiential learning. This form of education is beginning to be recognized by mainstream schools as a means of increasing student interest in learning about their community and environment. This section includes both books on experiential learning theory as well as implementation.
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Orienteering Tools and Techniques
Features a wide selection of materials for teaching orienteering, including instructor kits, compasses, GPS systems, and training manuals.
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Outdoor Game Bandanas
Fun way to turn any outdoor activity into a great adventure. These durable, washable, 20 inch square scarves are perfect for “breaking the ice” when visiting the woods, fields, desert, prairie, lake, or beach. Perfect for naturalists, teachers, camp leaders, parents and children. Activities involve observations, scavenger hunts, clue games and identifications. Ages 6-adult.
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Storytelling Techniques and Activities
Prior to the development of written languages, individuals often communicated knowledge, values and traditions through storytelling. Children benefit greatly from storytelling, both in terms of language acquisition and in terms of human contact. This section contains a wide array of technique guides for both beginning and advanced storytellers.
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Nature at Night - Activities for all Ages
With appropriate guidance, children are fascinated by the outdoors at night. This section offers activity books that help interpreters, teachers, students, camper leaders and parents explore the diverse forms of life that emerge after sundown. For a complete selection of nighttime astronomy activities, simply type in the word astronomy in the search area at the top of each page.
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Astronomy Activities
In this section are resources for enhancing the nocturnal programs of outdoor educators, extending the day into the wonder and excitment of night hikes, constellation identification and associated storytelling.
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Take-a-Walk Series
These engaging activity books introduce children to the world at their doorstep, teaching them how to keep a field notebook on the plants and animals they discover. Using a hands-on approach, students also learn the skills to identify what they find. These guides are ideal for introducing children ages 8-13 to the world right outside their door.
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Pocket Naturalist Series
Each of the Pocket Naturalist activity guides features 64 pages of educational games and activities. Includes word mazes, origami, name and picture scrambles, word search, Who Am I, Spot the Difference, Color Me, Be an Artist, and Oddball-Out games. For teachers, outdoor educators, and parents looking for new, creative hands-on learning activities for ages 7-13.
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Waterproof Paper, Field Notebooks and Pens
Acorn Naturalists offers a wide selection of all-weather paper designed specifically for use in the outdoors. These papers repel water and are favored by artists because they can respond well to pencil sketching and shading. Manufactured by a company that knows that everything can’t stop just because it is raining - they are located near the Olympic Rain Forest in the Pacific Northwest.
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