Are you wanting to help the children in your life engage in nature, but it seems too complicated or time consuming?

Researchers are finding more and more these days the importance of engaging kids in nature experiences, yet how can we do that in today’s busy and nature opposite world?  Richard Louv , author of The Last Child in the Woods, outlines in his book “the benefits of a strong nature connection—from boosting mental acuity and creativity to reducing obesity and depression, from promoting health and wellness to simply having fun.” ( http://richardlouv.com/)

Engaging kids in nature CAN be simple, and fun-to-boot! Here are some EASY low-prep ideas to get started:

1. Plant Something. Plant a few small seeds in a garden pod or small cup. Put it by a window to water and watch. You could even plant a tree together, in your yard or school grounds.
2. Easy accountability. Have a simple plant journal where kids record their daily plant growth (Here’s a Free Simple Plant Journal you could use!) You could even do an easy nature scavenger hunt to increase awareness.
3. Get outside everyday. Consistency in the out-of-doors overtime really creates awareness and momentum to engage in future nature encounters. A simple walk on a wooded trail, while asking questions about the area, is a great place to start.
4. Take time to observe. During your daily outside time, set aside a place or time to just watch nature quietly. This skill will probably take some time to develop, but make it fun by sharing with each other your observations (including sounds of birds etc).
5. Create a space that is their own. If you have a garden space at home or school (community gardens are a great option as well), think about creating a special section that children can take ownership of. Children love to engage in planting, watering and harvesting. Consider planting some of each child’s favorite foods that they could pick and eat right out of the garden.
6. Keep it simple. Whatever you decide to do, remember to keep it simple. Try not to over think, over prep, or expect too much (aka too many materials, hike 16 miles our first day, etc).  The important thing is to simply expose kids to nature and have it be a positive experience. Our first goal is to awaken their curiosity to the natural world.

Engaging kids in nature is so important, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. What are some of your favorite ideas to get kids connected with nature?

Check out my Earth Day Unit for more fun nature-focused resources and printables:

Sanity Savers -Tips that make work life easier

1. Treat your time like a budget….which essentially is making a schedule and sticking to it.  Schedule work time, family time, down time (if it’s not in the budget, you won’t have enough money…errr..time for it).  It’s also important for me to give myself a little flexibility in this area.  In budgeting money you can have a spot for a “blow fund” meaning if you know you’re going to blow your money, you may as well have it in the budget.  Same with time, if you know you need to waste some time on Facebook, Instagram, watching T.V. etc, you certainly can…just put it in your schedule 🙂

Here are some great FREE teacher planner resources:

Daily Planner Template

Teacher Planner Calendar

Teacher Organization Planner

2. Balance feels best. Doing things we enjoy outside of our career makes us happier, well-rounded individuals. If you value family, incorporate more family time…you love sailing?? Be sure to get out and do that.  All work and no play is not good for anyone.

3. Work Smarter not Harder – Don’t try to reinvent the wheel (at least not the whole wheel 😉 ) These days with Pinterest and TpT etc there’s almost an overwhelming amount of resources on any given topic.  These resources are there to make our lives a little easier…don’t feel like you always have to be coming up with something new to be a good teacher. Focus your energy on interactions with the kids or another area that you feel will make a lasting difference.  Find your “most important thing” and do it.

4. Find your purpose/passion and use it as fuel. Sometimes it’s easy to lose focus on your “why” when you’re neck deep in paper work, staff meetings, professional development, disgruntled parents or kids etc… Think back to your motivation when you became and teacher. Was it to invest in leaders for tomorrow? Was it to help poor and impoverished children have a chance to make sometime of themselves? Was it simply to pour love into the life of a child? To give an excellent year of education to students at your school? Whatever it was, bring it back to the surface. Post it where you can see it every day and use it on the days you are feeling down and out.

5. Get Organized at the beginning (a Sunday well spent brings a week of content). The more time I spend at the beginning of the year organizing my yearly plans, goals, classroom set-up, management systems etc. undoubtedly pays dividends during the year.  The same is true for planning time spent for the next week.  I looooooovveeee to get to the “fun” part of projects, the crafty part or action of setting up the room.  When I dive in without a plan I usually end-up with a headache and more work for myself.  Put the time in at the beginning of the year and week to plan and you won’t regret it.

6. Surround yourself with positive uplifting people.  This post is about keeping your sanity in your work.  I feel like negativity and insanity are words that could almost be used interchangeably on some levels.  Find those people in your life that lift you up and spend the majority of your time with them. By the way, you become who you hang out with, so make sure you’re someone that’s lifting up others too.

What are some ways you make work life easier?

I’m joining Blog Hoppin’ this week for Teacher Week 2015.  Today’s link-up challenge is to share 5 Fun Facts about myself…mine kind of turned into 6 facts. Ha!  Let’s dive right in 😉

1. I taught 1st & 2nd grade for 7 years and am now a WAHM full-time :).  After our first child was born, I taught for one more year in the classroom.  We now have two little ones and I’m teaching them full-time 😉  and creating fun products for teachers all over the world through TpT. I LOOOVE knowing that I’m still impacting children and classrooms AND that I’m able to be with my kids, while they’re young especially (my dream!). So blessed!

2. My husband and I met on our college Acro-Gymnastics Team.  We actually started dating after a big gymnastics trip we went on (it wasn’t bad that the trip happened to be to the Bahamas).  We recently went back to our alma mater for a huge gymnastics team reunion and we were able to participate in their gymnastics Home Show. It was such a blast to be able to be back on the mats again…AND it certainly reminded us of our age (we were SO sore the next day) and how we can’t flip around like we did when we were 20. We loved it anyway!

3. I play the guitar and love singing on our Praise Team at church. I used to think if I weren’t a teacher I would want to be a professional christian musician (LOVE me some Kari Jobe). I loved singing with my class and now enjoy sharing my love for music with my own kids. (I honestly think all my years of watching Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and all of those Disney favs played a big part in this…..Wish I could be, paarrrrrrrtttt of that wwwwwooorrrrrlllddd! HA)

4. We live full-time in our vintage Airstream trailer and travel around during the year seeing family and friends. I know we are crraaazzzzyyyy!  After we had our daughter my husband and I both knew that I wanted to stay home with her.  We prayed a lot about it and felt God was leading us to this fun adventure as a way to be able to do that.  We sold all of our stuff, I quite my teaching job (and started TpT), and moved into 26″ 66′ Vintage Airstream.  It’s been a crazy ride, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You can read more about our adventures on our family blog Livin’Lightly.com

5. I love to travel, especially traveling with a purpose. In college I took a year off to teach Kindergarten on the island of Palau in the Pacific Ocean. It was one of the hardest years of probably the most growth in my life. I learned so much about myself and really grew up, while experiencing some of the world’s best scuba diving, traveling to China and the Great Wall, and having 15 little people walking around with a piece of my heart for the first time (but certainly not the last). 

6. I’m a green-friendly makeup enthusiast. HA! I’m always looking for the next best affordable makeup products that have the least amount of chemicals possible. My current favorite is the Pacifica brand. I love that you can buy it at Target too! (I actually love most green-friendly things; green smoothies, DIY cleaners, organic food (but it’s so dang expensive, I don’t like THAT)…and all things health and fitness. I’m sort of a closet hippy–minus the fact that I live in an airstream… maybe I’m not so “closet” after all). 😉

I would love to know more about you! Leave a comment below telling me some fun facts about yourself OR let me know if you linked up too, so I can head on over to your blog to read all about you!

“Do not underestimate yourself by comparing yourself with others.  It’s our differences that makeus unique and beautiful.” – Robert Tew

This week I’m joining in The Creative Classroom‘s GRAND celebration! She has reached 1,000 followers (A GRAND 😉 ) on TpT and to celebrate we’re all joining in to give away $100 to TpT!  WAHOO!!!

This GRAND giveaway begins Today and runs till midnight Saturday. Winner will be announced Sunday!

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter.  If you get a chance head on over to The Creative Classroom’s blog and give her a huge congratulations on her amazing (and GRAND 😉 ) milestone.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post was originally a guest post I did for Trina @ beginnerbeans.com. I thought it would be helpful here for those of you heading back-to-school with your own kiddos or for teachers to share with parents who may want some extra tips in easing into the new school year.

1 | Set a routine.

Night-time (getting to bed at a decent time is so important), clothes laid out, baths, breakfast, out the door time, etc. I love the visual schedules for kids that have pictures of what they need to do to get ready in the morning.

2 | Make time for a quality breakfast.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Try to make it a priority to give your child a nutritious and filling breakfast. It’s a long time before lunch and a grumbling stomach makes it very difficult to concentrate in the classroom.

3 | Create a quiet space with adequate supplies for “homework”.

Continue to be involved in their learning by reading with them, asking what they learned in school that day, and communicating with their teacher. A parent is a child’s first teacher after all!

4 | Stick to the list.

It actually is important that you purchase the brand that the teacher requests on the supply list. I feel slightly bad telling you this, since I am a frugal to the core person myself, but trust me on this one.  If you skimp on glue sticks and crayons…you just may be receiving a letter from your teacher soon letting you know they have broken (or never worked in the first place), and it’s time to replace them. Don’t say I didn’t tell you so. 😉

5 | Allow your child the freedom to have school be their space.

Wait for them to invite you into their world. This may include letting them say good-bye to you at the door, allowing them to carry their own backpack and supplies, and respecting their newfound independence. They still love you and want you to be proud of them!

6 | Give your child (and yourself) some grace!

With test scores, readiness outlines, and grade expectations, it’s easy to get caught up in the go-go-go of trying to measure up. If your child’s teacher has suggestions for improvement, take them of course and do your best…but infuse it with grace, love, and patience towards your child and their personal developmental pace. (You’ll be glad you did.)

7 | Speaking of grace…your child’s teacher could use some too!

Remember that we’re all human and make mistakes; your child’s teacher is no different. At the same time, they’ve committed their life to pouring themselves into children and specifically into your child, so give them grace and thank them when you can. Don’t forget you’re both on the same team for your child!

8 | Make it special.

Think of a special way to let your child know you love and support them this year. It can be committing to place notes in their snack or lunch boxes every day, setting aside special time when they get home to have time to talk about their day, or a special handshake or signal when you drop them off that is just for them. It doesn’t have to be much, but knowing that mom or dad is rooting for them during the day can give them the confidence they need to tackle those difficult tasks at school.

Back to school time can be a tough transition time for everyone involved, but being positive and having an open mind with your child and school can make all the difference. This year will be what you make it.

If you think this will be the best year yet (or the worst ever)… you’re right. Make it a good one!

Merry Christmas!  I just love the Holidays and this time of year.  I remember as a kid driving around the town with my parents to see the beautiful christmas decorations and lights.  What drew me in, even more than the lights and reindeer displays, were the various nativity scenes  sprinkled here and there.  My thoughts took me back to that night so long ago and I tried to imagine what it must have REALLY been like.

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Hey Everyone!!  I’m joining in with Blog Hoppin’ and the HUGE Christmas in July Sale!!  Each day different items in my TpT store will be on sale from July 15-26.  You can check in each day on my TpT Store and click the Christmas in July banner and it will take you to the items on sale for that day.

I’ll update my Facebook page daily with the items that are sale too, so be sure to “like” my FB page and click “get notifications” to see what the daily deal is.

Can we have a Christmas in August too??  While we’re at it how about September, October…etc? 😉

Merry Christmas in July,