The forest is at once familiar and fascinating. Many children have experienced trees, squirrels, deer,and skunks, but they never grow tired of them. There are many types of forests in the United States, each one with it's own specific plants and animals. Mammals, birds, and trees are the most obvious forest life groups. However, don't neglect the worms, insects, amphibians, ferns, mosses, and wild flowers of the forest floor. One fun activity is to place a hula hoop on the forest floor and then observe everything that you find inside the circle. This is a simple adaptation of what is called a plot survey. Play squirrels and trees, a non-competitive version of musical chairs where half of the children are stationary trees and half are squirrels that scramble from tree to tree when the music stops.
There are many forest/woodland resources:
1. One Small Square: Woods by Donald Silver and Patricia Wynne (Paperback - Sep 1, 1997)
This book identifies many forest plants and animals with attractive illustrations.
2. http://www.arborday.org/ Their mission is to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. There is a complete section on nature study with children.
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