Autumn comes to the Forest...
It is Autumn! The little Woodland Creatures are building looking for winter dens, storing up food and preparing for the long winter ahead.
The Thornton Burgess Books, such as Old Mother Westwind, are just full of charming woodland creatures that bring the forest to life. Read the stories of these forest animals aloud to your children and then begin creating your own Green Forest filled with Woodland Creatures.
You will find stuffed animals to represent Chatterer the Red Squirrel and a little further down his hollow tree.
You will also find a stuffed animal version of Little Joe Otter and further down the Smiling Pool where Little Joe Otter and the otter children love to slide and dive.
Welcome to the Woodlands.
Woodlands Table of Contents
- Thornton Burgess' Woodland Creatures
- Little Joe Otter and the Smiling Pool
- Chatterer the Squirrel and the Hollow Tree
- Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
- The Nature of Unschooling
- Get 'em Outside (Youtube)
- Games to Play in the Woods
- Wild Animal Cards
- Games about Woodland Creatures on eBay
- Exploring the Woodland Habitat
- Lessons from Mother Earth
- Tree Rubbing
- Fireflies, Fireflies, Light My Way
- Adoptable Woodland Creatures!
- Woodland Creature Petting Zoo
- Woodlands Animal Art
- Thornton Burgess tells tales about the Forest Animals
- Woodland Creatures in the News!
- How do you teach about the Woodlands ?
- Animals of the Woodlands
- Follow me on Twitter
- About the Author
Thornton Burgess' Woodland Creatures
Learn about the Forest and the animals that live there through the Books by Thornton Burgess
Thornton Burgess first published these books about the animals of the forest and Old Mother West Wind in 1913.
You can now find these books in very inexpensive paperback with large type that makes them easy for Beginning Readers to read.
The stories are about entertaining adventures of forest animals such as Jimmy Skunk, Paddy the Beaver and White Foot the Woodmouse.
My children particularly loved these books and read them over and over again.
The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel (Dover Children's Thrift Classics)
Delightfully told tale chronicles escapades of a bushy-tailed little mischief-maker who decides to leave the Green Forest for a new home, only to find that curiosity, carelessness and mistrust can lead to a heap of troubles.
Amazon Price: $2.50 (as of 10/12/2008)
Adventures of Little Joe Otter
Old Mother West Wind has a lot of friends in the Green Forest, among them Reddy Fox, Happy Jack Squirrel, old Mr. Toad, Billy Mink, Little Joe Otter, and Jerry Muskrat. And, of course, she and the Merry Little Breezes (all members of her family) are always ready to help if trouble comes their way. And one day it does!
Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)
Stuffed Woodland Creatures of The Green Forest
Dramatic Play & Imagination
Children's natural work is to imitate life around them. They use objects, actions and story lines to symbolize the things that concern them. In the process, they are building thinking skills and developing social, emotional and language skills. Dramatic play is a very important context for learning.
Soft plush toys, realistically looking and exceptionally detailed, are perfect toys for dramatic and imaginative play!
Chatterer the Red Squirrel
Great news for all animal enthusiasts! This is a d more...4 points
Peter Cottontail
The ears tell the tale - this jackrabbit puppet's more...0 points
Old Grandfather Toad
Mud colored, warty and spotty, this Toad puppet's more...0 points
Old Man Coyote
He's a trickster in Native American mythology but more...0 points
Whitefoot the Woodmouse
This is a Folkmanis Mini Pet Mouse Finger Puppet. more...0 points
Little Joe Otter
Our joyful river otter squiggles with delight when more...0 points
Reddy Fox
Whether reaching for sour grapes or jumping over l more...0 points
Whether reaching for sour grapes or jumping over lazy dogs, this popular figure from folktale and fable comes to life as a puppet when you animate his muzzle. With an unobtrusive entrance for your hand and soft velveteen paws, not even the Hound of the Baskervilles will be able to catch this Fox.
20" long hand puppet
0 points
Johnny Chuck
Whether or not you believe in the weather-predicti more...0 points
Woodland Habitat
The place where the forest animals live
You can increase the feeling of a woodlands' habitat by including a rug resembling a pond, a hollow tree, strings of falling leaves and the Laughing Brook. You might also like to add Grandfather Tree or a Hollow Tree Reading Nook from River Otters or an amazing puppet theater tree like the one at the Seminole Community Library above.
Little Joe Otter and the Smiling Pool
Woodland Creatures at the Pond
Little Joe Otter and the Otter Twins love to swim in the Smiling Pool. You can easily turn you reading rug into a dramatic play center with several stuffed otters in a bin by the rug. Add a few stuffed fish and you will see the children acting out the stories that you have read to them while applying the knowledge of otters and the riverbank habitat.
Chatterer the Squirrel and the Hollow Tree
Woodland Creatures of the Upper Story
Chatterer the Red Squirrel and the Hollow Tree is another easily set up dramatic play center. Adding Sammy Jay and Mocker encourages the children to make up more stories with the characters they are learning about in the Thornton Burgess books.
I have a maple tree just outside the window where the squirrels love to scurry around and make nests in the spring. The children love to watch their activities so I have paper and pencils there for writing down their observations.
I have a plush hollow tree with a hole for Chatterer the Red Squirrel. Sammy Jay sits on the branch.
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
Fewer young people are experiencing the joy of playing outdoors and exploring nature, says a noted author, who shows how such neglect can be harmful and how programs like Scouting can help to reverse the trend.
Do today's kids have "nature-deficit disorder"?
by Sarah Karnasiewicz
- Do today's kids have "nature-deficit disorder"?
- Jun 2, 2005 | In the not-so-distant past, kids ruled the country's woods and valleys -- running in packs, building secret forts and tree houses, hunting frogs and fish, playing hide-and-seek behind tall grasses. But in the last 30 years, says journalist Richard Louv, children of the digital age have become increasingly alienated from the natural world, with disastrous implications, not only for their physical fitness, but also for their long-term mental and spiritual heath.
In his new book, "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder," Louv argues that sensationalist media coverage and paranoid parents have literally "scared children straight out of the woods and fields," while promoting a litigious culture of fear that favors "safe" regimented sports over imaginative play. Well-meaning elementary school curricula may teach students everything there is to know about the Amazon rain forest's endangered species, but do little to encourage kids' personal relationship with the world outside their own doors. And advances in technology, while opening up a wealth of "virtual" experiences to the young, have made it easier and easier for children to spend less time outside.
The Nature of Unschooling
Woodlands Education
By teaching about the Woodland Creatures, children can once again become comfortable with nature and learn to love and appreciate the natural environment and protect the Woodland for the creatures who live there.
The Nature of Unschooling
thoughts on learning from an unschooling parent - what happens when you skip school and play outside? Dundas Independent Video Association (DIVA) (c)2007 http://dundastards.blogspot.com
Runtime: 2:47
2931 views
10 Comments:
Get 'em Outside (Youtube)
Kids Can Identify 1000 Logos, only 10 Plants and Animals
Whatever happened to the field trip ... getting kids involved in learning is the best way to teach ... kids will *remember* their lessons if they're interested and think its fun stuff ...
Get 'em Outside.
http://www.nclicoalition.org to increase environmental education opportunities at your school. Celebrating environmental education and its impact on children's learning, health and leadership.
Runtime: 5:35
52431 views
10 Comments:
Books about the Woodlands and Woodland Creatures on Tape
How to Play Capture the Flag
The Woods can be a great place to play this game.
- How to Play CAPTURE THE FLAG
- Capture the Flag is a great game for Homeschoolers and other large groups of kids of mixed ages. Gather on the edge of the woods, agree on the boundries and you're all set for a great day in the woods. You might even see some woodland creatures as you are playing.
For more games check out Fun Educational Games.
The Peaceful Woodland Creatures Game
Children love to pretend to be Forest Animals when they play
The Peaceful Woodland Creatures Game: Make a board game with woods and a graph pattern overlaying it. Glue a Woodland scene or glue green felt to the board and use a permanent black marker and yardstick to make a grid on the felt. It could look like a checker board. Make pictures of various animals with their names printed underneath and glue them to squares of cardboard. Make a photo album with the same names and blank squares for the photo to go. Make large black squares to represent darkness. Use a wooden 1" natural block to make a die.
Use the river rocks for Fung Shui counters. Using natural materials gives a peaceful feeling. Put the flannel board trees around the board. Place the pictures of woodland creatures around the board. Roll two wooden dice and move the stones through the Peaceful Woodlands where they encounter woodland animals. Each time they get to an animal's home they get to collect a picture of the animal. Children work together trying to collect a picture of each of the animals and put them in the photo album before darkness. If you roll a number one darkness begins to fall and you must cover up one section of the board. Rolling a six means that you can uncover one section.
Garner Rix may have made up games like this.
These items can be used to make The Peaceful Woodland Creatures Game
Games to Play in the Woods
Play games with your child often. Play builds the imagination. Pretending, or imaginative play , is one of the cornerstones of childhood and not just for the youngest children. Children of all ages need to play. Play is the business of childhood, allowing the children free rein to experiment with the world around them and the emotional world inside them. Encourage imaginative play. Let children dress-up and make their own props. Let children create a world of their own and then join in on the play.
Woodlands bookmarks
Woodland Games
Each of these woodlands games will help children learn about different aspects of the Forest Habitat and the animals that live there. Set them up in centers or incorporate them into Literacy Bags.
Rivers, Roads, and Rails
2 points
River Crossing
2 points
Magnetic Weather Board
2 points
Wild Animal Cards
Time to Shuffle the Woodland Creatures Deck
By paying attention to the words, children can work on spelling and other language arts skills such as sorting the cards into piles of 1.2 and 3 syllable words.
Wild Animals Playing Cards
Amazon Price: $5.58 (as of 10/12/2008)
Games about Woodland Creatures on eBay
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Forest Animal Games: An Online ABC order Game
Hold the left mouse button down on a word and move it to the correct place in ABC order.
- Animals From Stranger In The Woods
- Online ABC order Game for First Graders
Woodland Water from the Smiling Pool or the Babbling Brook
Set up stations to explore water. Don't forget the bathtub and shower. What happens when you try the same thing with snow outdoors? How about on ice?
Collect water from a nearby brook, pool or even a rain puddle. Hold it up to the light and observe it very carefully. Make notes of what you see. Compare with others.
For more water related activities check out Frogs.
Exploring the Woodland Habitat
Learn about where the Forest Animals Live
The River Otters have lots more ideas related to rivers and water.
Nature Tube: River
Nature Tubes feature an assortment of phthalate-fr more...2 points
Step2 River Run Waterpark
Your child loves water - then this River Run Water more...1 point
Lessons from Mother Earth
Learn how to care for the Woodland Environment
Excerpt:
As we walked, Grandma talked. "I was taught that if you take more plants than you need, they will never grow back. But if you don't pick any and just leave them sitting year after year, they will slowly wither away and die. To pick just enough is the secret."
"While you're picking, say a little prayer thanking Mother Earth for these beautiful gifts. Be careful, Tess, that you don't trample the bushes, especially the berry bushes. Once they are trampled and broken, they don't grow again."
Linda Ludke highly recommends Lessons from Mother Earth as a good environmental discussion starter for primary grades.
Because of reading this book my children have learned to be more thoughtful and caring of the plants in the woodland habitat. We are starting a journal of various plants we see on our walks through the woods and plan to note when certain plants first come up in the spring, when they bud, flower and produce fruit as well as when they finally die down in the fall. It will be exciting to compare our observations as the years go by.
Lessons from Mother Earth
Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)
Tree Rubbing
Learn about the trees that make up the forest where the animals live.
- Bark Rubbing
- Where did each leaf come from? Where do you think that leaf was in the canopy of the forest?
Why are some leaves fuzzy and others not? How does the fuzziness of a leaf affect its ability to hold water?
Why are some leaves pointed like a needle and others flat like paper?
How do each of these leaves capture rain drops?
Are all the leaves of one tree the same? How are they different?
Are any of the leaves discolored or missing a piece? What caused these irregularities in the leaf?
Fireflies, Fireflies, Light My Way
There is just one predictable line on each page making is a very good Beginning Reader.
To extend the story make cards of each of the animals and write their names below each picture. These cards can be used to:
1. Put them in order along the chalk rail to retell the story.
2. Put them in ABC order.
3. As reference on how to spell the words during Writing Workshop.
Fireflies, Fireflies, Light My Way (Picture Puffin)
Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)
Adoptable Woodland Creatures!
Cute lil' AsciiArt pets taking over your Woodland Writings!
BATTY
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|\_/|
(^.^)
(> <)
This is Batty. Post her on any writing to assist her in getting the bugs out!
SQUIRRELLY
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|\_/|
(^.^))
(> <))
This is Squirrelly. Post her on any writing to assist her in gathering up new words!
OTTERY
--------------------------------------
|\_/|
(^.^)
(> <)>
This is Ottery. Post him on any writing to assist him in sliding in new ideas!
BUNNY
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.()_()
(^.^)
(> <)
This is Bunny. Post her on any writing to assist her in hopping into new styles of literature!
To adopt, simply let me know which one you are adopting by signing the guestbook at the bottom and then you can use your Adoptable Animals in any writing!
Woodland Creature Books
Favorite Books about Forest Animals
After reading these books to the children I like to make them available to take home in Take Home Literacy Bags.
Watching Water Birds (Watching Wildlife With Jim Arnosky) by Jim Arnosky
Naturalist Jim Arnosky's lively first-person text more...1 point
Naturalist Jim Arnosky's lively first-person text and captivating, full-color artwork give young readers an intriguing close-up look at the habits, habitats, and distinctive features of loons, gulls, herons, and other water birds. Includes lots of fun facts and details that reinforce natural science concepts taught in elementary school.
1 point
The Adventures of Reddy Fox (Dodo Press) by Thornton W. Burgess
Thornton Waldo Burgess (1874-1965) was a conservat more...1 point
The Hobbit: 70th Anniversary Edition
A new edition of The Hobbit with a short introduct more...1 point
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) by J.K. Rowling
Read by Jim Dale
8 hours 17 minutes, 6 cassettes
Har more...1 point
My Side of the Mountain Trilogy (My Side of the Mountain / On the Far Side of the Mountain / Frightful's Mountain) by Jean Craighead George
In 1959, Jean Craighead George published My Side o more...1 point
Redwall (Redwall, Book 1) by Brian Jacques
A special release of one of the most beloved fanta more...1 point