Hands-On Nature from the Vermont Institute of Natural Science Edited by Jenepher Lingelback and Lisa Purcell (Review by Brett Tillman)

Don’t let this book’s East Coast bias scare you away. It is a great resource and truly has it all - arts and crafts, background info, hard to find themes, games, activities, projects, assignments and, yes, even puppet shows! All of these activities are geared primarily for elementary aged kids, and, as the tile suggests are all hands-on and interactive in nature!

Hands-On Nature is organized by theme, making it very easy to use. And I have found some themes in this book seldom touched upon in other activity guides - everything from the basics of habitat, trees and the water cycle to the more specific topics such as skulls, bee dances and even galls. Each theme follows a similar structure. There is some brief yet detailed background information, followed by several activities and games, culminating in a puppet show. Yes, there is a puppet show for each topic! Which you can eas-ily adapt into a little skit or play. I have used puppet shows, ranging from metamorphosis to cloud types, to great effect.

One of the highlights of the book has to be the many simple and elegant diagrams and illustrations. They are great for photo-copying and using in your lessons and out on trail for your more visual learners. And if you need a little help understanding some of the concepts or subjects in the book, they are a great resource for you, too.

Hands-On Nature is able to simplify many concepts and subjects we may find difficult understanding, let alone having to teach them to our students. For example, how many of us have “ughed” when we have to teach about the exciting, compli-cated and convoluted topic of weather? This book has one of the best series of weather-related activities I have come across. And it is so simple! Students will have the opportunity to make their own simple weather vanes, directly observe the signs of weather around them such as wind and clouds, and finally make predictions about tomorrow’s weather. And the puppet show is hilarious!