Resources for Outdoor Adventures & Online Learning

• A Solstice Fairy Folk and Wee People Walk for Children
• A fun early spring activity - a frog that can quack!
• Earth Day Tree Walk
• Excellent Evergreens!
• Essex National Heritage Area - Heritage At Home
• Tower Hill Botanic Garden Online Educational Resources for Kids
• Children and Nature Network
• No Child Left Inside: Connecting with Nature, Right Here, Right Now was filmed on March 15, 2018 at Memorial Hall Library

Scheduled hikes & other activities

• Andover Trails Guide 5^th Edition
• Andover Conservation Division
• Bay Circuit Trail Maps 
• Andover Trails
• AVIS
• Appalachian Mountain Club
• Essex County Greenbelt
• Friends of Harold Parker Forest
• Friends of North Andover Trails
• Mass Audubon
• The Trustees

Letterboxing is a “treasure hunt” outdoor activity, using clues and ink stamps. You can learn more at www.letterboxing.org, which has info on getting started and a kids’ section.

For Bird Lovers

• The free phone app Merlin, produced by the Cornell Ornithology Lab, offers an easy way to identify birds with your kids. Just notice the bird’s location, size, and feather colors, and Merlin instantly gives 5 likely matches for your bird, plus recorded calls and bird songs.
• Memorial Hall Library subscribes to Birds of the World, available at home to Andover library cardholders.
• Audubon sponsors The Great Backyard Bird Count for birdwatchers of all experience levels and ages.
• Project FeederWatch lets kids and adults record data as they watch birds in their backyards or schoolyards. Their observations help scientists track movements and trends in bird populations.

Books

• The Nature Connection by Clare Walker Leslie - an invaluable outdoor workbook for kids, families and classrooms
• Fun with Nature and More Fun With Nature are both take-along nature guides with multiple authors and great illustrations
• The Frightened Frog - an early reader book written to educate elementary children about the environmental issues affecting amphibians; National Garden Club, Inc.
• The Saved Seed - Follow the journey as a seed from a Halloween pumpkin becomes a seedling, a vine and then a new pumpkin!
• The Kid’s Guide to Exploring Nature, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 2015.  This award-winning book inspires kids to explore their world the way a naturalist does, whether in a city park, at a lake, a beach or forest.
• Gardening with Young Children, Sara Starbuck, Marla Olthof, Karen Midden, St. Paul, Redleaf Press, 2014.
• Nature Play at Home: Creating Outdoor Spaces that Connect Children with the Natural World, Nancy Striniste, Portland, OR, Timber Press, 2019.

Read More about Children's Nature Deficit

• Last Child In the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2008
• Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness, Dr. Quing Li, Waterville, Maine, Thorndike Press, 2018.The idea behind the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku is simple—that simply being in a quiet forest reduces stress and has healing and rejuvenating qualities.
• Association of Nature & Forest Therapy Guides & Programs
• CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECTS featured on http://pbskids.org/scigirls/citizen-science (a great website!). One example is Budburst, which lets kids observe one shrub or tree at intervals and upload notes to a national database tracking changes in the timing of plant growth. Observation sheets, background info, stories and more get kids excited about participating.

School Gardens & Outdoor Classroom Resources

• https://www.aginclassroom.org/
• https://sites.google.com/site/nationalschoolgardennetwork/homeLast http://www.massfarmtoschool.org/
• https://edibleschoolyard.org/node/9791
• http://www.qrsd.org/our-schools/high-school/extracurricular-activities/composting-and-organic-gardening/
• http://quabbincompostingandgardening.org/
• http://www.handstoearth.com/
• http://thegreenteam.org/
• http://www.msgn.org/

Outdoor Education & Connections

• Appleton Farms - Ipswich
• Broad Meadow Brook – Worcester
• Discovery Museum - Acton - borrow the Memorial Hall Library pass
• Drumlin Farm - Lincoln
• e-Awakening
• Gaining Ground - Lincoln
• Groundwork Lawrence
• Growing Places – Leominster
• Habitat Education Center – Belmont
• Harvard Forest – Petersham
• Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
• Kestrel Educational Adventures
• Mill City Grows – Lowell
• Nashua River Watershed Association
• Nature's Classroom
• Project Adventure
• The Farm School – Athol