From the ocean to the forest, from snails to seaweed, from rocks to spiderwebs, this is an incredible resource for encouraging kids to get out there and engage with nature.
Fully illustrated throughout, there is something to draw, make, colour, grow or discover on every single page. Projects range from making your own herbarium to painting patterns on pebbles, from threading a daisy chain (an activity that was one of my favourite ways to pass the time when I was a kid), to growing an avocado tree, or learning to blow a grass whistle.
Kids are encouraged to closely observe and really connect with the natural world by drawing feathers they find, tracing the patterns of veins on leaves, or simply lying down in the grass or on the sand and drawing what they see around them. Various aspects of the natural world are explained in short bursts of facts, with accompanying tasks enabling children to further explore what they've just read about.
This is an English publication so some of the birds and animals featured won't be immediately familiar to Australian kids, but the skills that are being taught are universal and will easily transfer from robins to kookaburras, from badgers to kangaroos.
Literally hours of entertainment and education are contained in the pages of this book. Particularly recommended for the budding naturalist but great fun for everyone.
Title: Hello Nature: Draw, colour, make and grow
Author/Illustrator: Nina Chakrabarti
Publisher: Laurence King Publishing, $29.99 RRP
Publication Date: January 2016
Format: Paperback with flaps
ISBN: 9781780677347
For ages: 8+
Type: Activity Book
