Enter the Sting Zone With Coyote Peterson
Follow the exploits of Coyote Peterson as he adventures into the Sting Zone, a quest to experience the most painful insect stings on the planet.
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Tag: Nature
The Whispering Giants Thanksgiving Road Trip
Whispering Giants are massive, solemn sculptures. You’ll come upon them unexpectedly—or, if they’re in your neighborhood, you’re probably used to them; they’re part of the local scenery, waiting and watching.
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10 Reasons You Need to Drop Everything and Build a Fort… Right Now
One time, as a child, I built a fantastic fort that withstood four New England winters.
I was so proud of it! I would spend entire afternoons holed up in that sacred place. I’d get lost in an imaginary world, or while away the hours lost in a favorite book. I’d love to know how many books were read in that space!
Of course, my brothers and I built many forts over the years, both indoors and outdoors, but the outdoor forts reigned supreme.
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50 Ways to Fight Nature Deficit Disorder This Fall and Winter
You can’t go very far these days without hearing about Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but have you heard of Nature-Deficit Disorder?
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My Favorite Drug Commercial Ever
Tired of suffering through those long commercials for pharmaceuticals? Here’s one you just might enjoy. I’m serious.
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Kickstarter Alert: 'Evolutionary Tales': A Child's First Book on Evolution
‘Evolutionary Tales’ is a new book by Matt Cubberly with beautiful illustrations from May Villani that just launched on Kickstarter. ‘Evolutionary Tales’ showcases ten very different animals and how they evolved and is a great introduction to evolution for young children.
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Bonsai Woes and the Sad Gardener
Get some bonsai and garden tips from the author, who learned a hard lesson after vacationing.
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How to Raise a Wild Child
A review of the compelling and engaging ‘How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature’ by Dr. Scott Sampson about how to connect kids with nature.
Continue ReadingLive Every Week Like It’s Shark Week With ‘Wild Kratts’
If your child is already a big fan of animals, chances are they’re already fans of the Wild Kratts.
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Teaching Your Kids How to Track Animals at Home
Identifying animal tracks in your own yard can be a quick (or slow) nature activity with kids.
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Citizen Science Valentine for the Birds
Great Backyard Bird Count is an easy, annual family nature project.
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4 Things Parents Should Know About Disneynature’s Bears
The new nature documentary from Disney hits theaters today. What are the bare facts about it?
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What It’s Like to Die in a Black Hole
Just in case you sit around pondering questions such as this…in this month’s issue of Nature, Zeeya Merali discusses the latest in a debate on how black hole death might be: in one corner is “spaghettification” (being ripped apart), the other corner is “the wall of fire” (getting burned alive at the event horizon).
Continue ReadingReview: Disney’s Secret of the Wings
Secret of the Wings. Tinker Bell is back and she’s freezing!
Continue ReadingSmart Summer Fun: 30 Ideas For Your Geeklets
Keep brains active 30 ways this summer.
Continue ReadingFractal Broccoli for the Gardening Geek
Yes, math really is everywhere. Having just spent the last few hours of daylight preparing containers for our eventual heirloom tomato harvest (Black Krims, Brandywines, Pears, and Baby Brandywines) I happened to swing by Etsy to check out their home …
Continue ReadingRaising a Gamer: Nurture or Nature?
When my son was first born, we were determined to get him on an appropriate sleep schedule. So after the first month or so of getting everyone adjusted to some kind of “normal,” we began. We had no guide for this until he was about four months old, until then we just wanted him […]
Continue ReadingThe Wild Life Of Our Bodies
Our bodies, minds, and societies are haunted by the nature we left behind, according to The Wild Life of Our Bodies: Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today. In this the finely researched and eloquent book, biologist Rob Dunn explains, We often view ourselves as separate from nature, but here is the rub: […]
Continue ReadingForsooth: Funky, Flourishing Fungi
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve held fungi in high esteem. There’s something innately mysterious and otherworldly about fungi, and thankfully I’m not the only one who things so. Discover Magazine has collected some rather fantastic images of the …
Continue ReadingFibonacci: It’s Not Pasta
Did you count thirteen petals on the Black-Eyed-Susan? It’s fun for kids to count petals on blooming flowers “springing” out of the ground. It’s also a lesson in higher math. Last week I attended the NSTA Conference in San Francisco where I met Sarah C. Campbell, author of the picture book Growing Patterns. Sarah presented […]
Continue ReadingCrocus Sighting: Happy Vernal Equinox
Sometime last week I saw a friend’s Facebook status: “crocus siting!” What a thrill to read. So, of course, I started looking for mine.
Continue ReadingNature Shadowboxes: A Great Weekend Project (GeekDad Weekly Rewind)
During a recent weekend, we spent some quality geeky time at a friend’s house. I played my first game of Magic: The Gathering. We had a Big Bang Theory marathon. But before we headed over, my friend called and asked …
Continue ReadingNature Shadowboxes: A Great Weekend Project
During a recent weekend, we spent some quality geeky time at a friend’s house. I played my first game of Magic: The Gathering. We had a Big Bang Theory marathon. But before we headed over, my friend called and asked …
Continue ReadingGeekMom Secret Origins: Jenn Hansen
Beneath the tree called Grandfather, standing tall in a small copse of trees amid the sweet grass of the eastern plains of Colorado, I listened to leafy tales. Hiding in a lilac hedge along the fence-line in my backyard, I made my home with faeries and many insects, closely observing the natural world. More often […]
Continue ReadingGrab Your Kids and Be Out There™, Enjoying Nature
With summer essentially here in most parts of the country, it’s a great time to be outside. There are more hours of daylight, kids are out of school (or soon will be) and nature is in full swing. To encourage …
Continue ReadingTech Fest This Weekend At The Dallas Museum of Nature and Science
The Dallas Museum of Nature and Science will be hosting Tech Fest 2010 this weekend. From the smallest conveniences to the biggest innovations, this annual event encourages visitors to rethink technology and get excited about future scientific discoveries and achievements. …
Continue ReadingHow to Get Your Kids Out Drawing from Nature
A page from Carol Coogan’s new book Backyard Naturalist Vol. III Even in chilly upstate New York, nature artist Carol Coogan tries to sketch outdoors whenever she can. Carol writes and illustrates a weekly column for my local newspaper called …
Continue ReadingThe Buck Stops Here
Sometimes a learning opportunity comes about when you’re least expecting it to. Sometimes a moment of beauty takes a mundane experience into transcendence. And sometimes you get truly lucky and get both at the same time. Such was the case …
Continue ReadingNature at Its Closest
This spring and summer, we’ve gotten to watch two clutches of American Robins grow up literally just outside our front door. Even though these birds are ridiculously familiar, seeing their development close-up has been incredibly neat. It’s gotten us to …
Continue ReadingFinally, a Credible Free Online Source for Science Education
There are lots of places to find information online—the problem is how to gauge the reliability of the information you find. I like Wikipedia as much as anyone, but the grain of salt its openness requires can lend the information …
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