Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, lamented that children suffer from a nature-deficit. Children need to play creatively outdoors exploring, discovering, experimenting, learning to enjoy themselves in nature. I know we are supposed to turn off the cartoons but it can be hard some days. Additionally, corporate America has sent a call to parents. Young professionals are showing scars left from a childhood raised by helicopter parents. Loving parents are pushing their way into grown childrens salary negotiations. Johnny shows up late at the office because Moms phone was out therefore he didnt get his wake up call. This book offers 101 fresh ways for a care-taker of young children to take five minutes of set up time initiating creative, independent play outdoors using everyday objects found in the house or yard. These activities should not replace time spent with parents. The value of love and attention from a parent is undisputable. Rather, these creative play ideas are meant to become one part of your childs day when she can explore and experience nature independently. No need to purchase more toys, batteries or DVDs. Its all within your child and the yard. Its time to play outside!

"Angela Hanscom is a powerful voice for balance." —Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods In this important book, a pediatric occupational therapist and founder of TimberNook shows how outdoor play and unstructured freedom of movement are vital for children’s cognitive development and growth, and offers tons of fun, engaging ways to help ensure that kids grow into healthy, balanced, and resilient adults. Today’s kids have adopted sedentary lifestyles filled with television, video games, and computer screens. But more and more, studies show that children need “rough and tumble” outdoor play in order to develop their sensory, motor, and executive functions. Disturbingly, a lack of movement has been shown to lead to a number of health and cognitive difficulties, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), emotion regulation and sensory processing issues, and aggressiveness at school recess break. So, how can you ensure your child is fully engaging their body, mind, and all of their senses? Using the same philosophy that lies at the heart of her popular TimberNook program—that nature is the ultimate sensory experience, and that psychological and physical health improves for children when they spend time outside on a regular basis—author Angela Hanscom offers several strategies to help your child thrive, even if you live in an urban environment. Today it is rare to find children rolling down hills, climbing trees, or spinning in circles just for fun. We’ve taken away merry-go-rounds, shortened the length of swings, and done away with teeter-totters to keep children safe. Children have fewer opportunities for unstructured outdoor play than ever before, and recess times at school are shrinking due to demanding educational environments. With this book, you’ll discover little things you can do anytime, anywhere to help your kids achieve the movement they need to be happy and healthy in mind, body, and spirit.

Piggie can't wait to go and play in the sunshine. But will a rainy day ruin all the fun? Told entirely in speech bubbles with a repetitive use of familiar phrases, this original book encourages children who are just learning to read.

What's worse than getting dumped? Not even knowing if you've been dumped. Joy got no goodbye, and certainly no explanation when Zan-the love of her life and the only good thing about stifling, backward Haven, Utah-unceremoniously and unexpectedly left for college a year early. Joy needs closure almost as much as she needs Zan, so she heads for California, and Zan, riding shotgun beside Zan's former-best-friend Noah. Original and insightful, quirky and crushing, Joy's story is told in surprising and artfully shifting flashbacks between her life then and now. Exquisite craft and wry, relatable humor signal the arrival of Emily Wing Smith as a breakout talent.

Imagine a life where your toddler or preschooler is happy to do what you ask, and is able to move on, easily, when disappointed. • Imagine getting all of your housework done while your child plays, or happily helps alongside you. • Imagine truly enjoying your time with your child, and creating a life that feels fulfilling for both of you. “These things are possible for parents and children,” asserts author Faith Collins, even with a child who is extra sensitive, demanding, needy, belligerent, or all at the same time. Collins is a preschooler teacher, parent coach and mother, who has witnessed such transformations repeatedly over many years. Her book is a treasury that provides readers with powerful, practical and positive tools to achieve harmony and joy in their own families. Her blog and popular online classes are available at (http://joyfultoddlers.com). The unique contribution of this book is its focus on creating a mutually responsive relationship—meaning that both people respond quickly and positively to each other, even when they cannot do what the other person wants. In a warm and easygoing style, the author guides parents and caregivers in establishing and maintaining such mutually responsive relationships with their young ones, creating the basis for discipline, education, socialization and a happier life together. Helping our children to develop these skills becomes a game-changer in all parent-child dynamics. Rare and precious! Faith’s book will very likely leave you feeling, “Yes, I can do this.” —Kim John Payne, author: Simplicity Parenting. A BOOK FOR PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, EDUCATORS, CAREGIVERS, AND ALL INVESTED IN THE LOVE AND GUIDANCE OF CHILDREN. A MUST FOR PUBLIC, SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES.

The Book That Launched an International Movement Fans of The Anxious Generation will adore Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv's groundbreaking New York Times bestseller. “An absolute must-read for parents.” —The Boston Globe “It rivals Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.” —The Cincinnati Enquirer “I like to play indoors better ’cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are,” reports a fourth grader. But it’s not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It’s also their parents’ fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools’ emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime. As children’s connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity. In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply—and find the joy of family connectedness in the process. Included in this edition: A Field Guide with 100 Practical Actions We Can Take Discussion Points for Book Groups, Classrooms, and Communities Additional Notes by the Author New and Updated Research from the U.S. and Abroad

If you are a family or educator with a toddler or young child then you have come to the right place. This book will teach you how to convert play and everyday routines into activities that are both fun AND beneficial for a child’s speech and language development. With little tweaks to your interactions and the everyday routines you are already engaging in, you can increase opportunities for learning and growth for your child. This best part is it’s not a lot of extra work. In the Playing With Purpose book you will learn: The basics of language development Why play is important for a child’s growth in the early years How children learn during play and familiar routines Tips for boosting speech and language skills during play Tips for boosting speech and language skills in everyday activities