A potent new book examines the overlap between our ecological crisis and video games Video games may be fun and immersive diversions from daily life, but can they go beyond the realm of entertainment to do something serious—like help us save the planet? As one of the signature issues of the twenty-first century, ecological deterioration is seemingly everywhere, but it is rarely considered via the realm of interactive digital play. In Playing Nature, Alenda Y. Chang offers groundbreaking methods for exploring this vital overlap. Arguing that games need to be understood as part of a cultural response to the growing ecological crisis, Playing Nature seeds conversations around key environmental science concepts and terms. Chang suggests several ways to rethink existing game taxonomies and theories of agency while revealing surprising fundamental similarities between game play and scientific work. Gracefully reconciling new media theory with environmental criticism, Playing Nature examines an exciting range of games and related art forms, including historical and contemporary analog and digital games, alternate- and augmented-reality games, museum exhibitions, film, and science fiction. Chang puts her surprising ideas into conversation with leading media studies and environmental humanities scholars like Alexander Galloway, Donna Haraway, and Ursula Heise, ultimately exploring manifold ecological futures—not all of them dystopian.

“A magnificent resource for transforming backyards into stimulating environments which enhance children’s creativity, learning, and fun.” —Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, The Nature Principle, and Vitamin N Access to technology has created a generation of children who are more plugged in than ever before—often with negative consequences. But there is a solution. Unrestricted outdoor play helps reduce stress, improve health, and enhance creativity, learning, and attention span. In Nature Play at Home, Nancy Striniste gives you the tools you need to make outdoor adventures possible in your own backyard. With hundreds of inspiring ideas and illustrated, step-by-step projects, this hardworking book details how to create playspaces that use natural materials—like logs, boulders, sand, water, and plants of all kinds. Projects include hillside slides, seating circles, sand pits, and more.

When absorbed in deep play our sensory awareness is heightened, we become immersed in the present moment and feel intensely alert and alive. Because play is fun and rewarding, we operate at the peak of our mental and physical capacity. Let Joseph Cornell, one of the world's most popular nature educators, empower you with the tools to maximize play, and transform it from mere entertainment into a doorway to enhanced living, creativity, and concentration.

From adding richness and variety to learning, to redesigning a playground, this highly accessible text will provide early years practitioners with a wealth of ideas on how to foster creative play and learning in the outdoor environment with a focus on interacting with the natural world. Nature and Young Children contains many simple ideas on the type of materials that can be added to encourage observation, exploration and dramatic play, as well as guidance on what early years practitioners can do to help children meet early development and academic goals through outdoor learning activities. Relating to every-day early years settings throughout, the author of this inspirational text addresses topics such as: gardening with young children choosing plants for safety, variety and active learning making outdoor activities and play spaces accessible for children with disabilities involving parents in appreciating and developing the outdoor space and outdoor activities dealing with fears, safety and comfort issues. Presented in an effective way to develop environmentally responsible attitudes, values and behaviours, Nature and Young Children is recommended for all early years practitioners and students.

The Book That Launched an International Movement Fans of The Anxious Generation will adore Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv's groundbreaking New York Times bestseller. “An absolute must-read for parents.” —The Boston Globe “It rivals Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.” —The Cincinnati Enquirer “I like to play indoors better ’cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are,” reports a fourth grader. But it’s not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It’s also their parents’ fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools’ emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime. As children’s connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity. In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply—and find the joy of family connectedness in the process. Included in this edition: A Field Guide with 100 Practical Actions We Can Take Discussion Points for Book Groups, Classrooms, and Communities Additional Notes by the Author New and Updated Research from the U.S. and Abroad

National Outdoor Book Award Winner: A fun, practical guide to outdoor play that sparks a connection to nature vital to children’s healthy development. Today children and families are often plugged into electronics and disconnected from direct experiences in nature. This beautifully photographed resource offers tangible approaches to nature-based learning and play for children. Parents and teachers can discover the benefits of outdoor learning and simple ways to facilitate unplugged nature connection in every season. Inspired by nature preschools, forest kindergartens, and forest school models the world over, this guide also includes “Voices from the Field” with advice from experienced nature-based educators. Balancing nature play experiences with hands-on projects using natural materials, it’s an ideal jumping off point for immersive nature play. Examples include: Wildlife observation and tracking Nature sounds, songs, and poetry Gardening and cooking with wild edibles Printmaking, charcoal drawing, dyeing, and shadow play Journaling inspired by nature “Voices from the Field” includes more ideas and tips contributed by leading educators, including: Sally Anderson, Sol Forest School, Tijeras, New Mexico * Yash Bhagwanji, Florida Atlantic University * Lauren Brown, Asheville Farmstead School * Peter Dargatz, Woodside Elementary School, Sussex, Wisconsin * Monica French, Wild Haven Forest Preschool and Childcare, Baltimore, Maryland * Patricia Leon, Miami Nature Playschool * Sheila William Ridge, Shirley G. Moore Lab School, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota * Beth Savitz, Irvine Nature Center, Owings Mills, Maryland * Maria Soboleski, New Mexico School for the Deaf * Paige Vonder Haar, Bunnell House Early Childhood Lab School, Fairbanks, Alaska * Susie Wirth, Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Foundation

The Sharing Nature movement has expanded to countries all over the globe. Cornell and his work have been recommended by the Boy Scouts of America, the American Camping Association, the National Audubon Society, Japan's national school system, and many others.

Teaching Off Trail describes the transformation of Peter Dargatz, a national board-certified teacher, and public school coordinator, from an anxious assessor to a fair and fun facilitator of learning. It shares his personal professional journey detailing his evolution as an educator while simultaneously offering strategies for readers to implement Peter's unique teaching philosophy to increase opportunities for play, creative expression, and personalization in both the indoor and outdoor classroom. In his own classroom, Peter brought learning outside by creating a nature kindergarten program that emphasizes community partnerships, service learning, and meaningful and memorable experiences in the outdoors. Teaching Off Trail aims to inspire educators, administrators, and parents across all levels to turn their outrage for today’s educational system into outreach that promotes passionate and purposeful problem-solving. He incorporates techniques often seen in private educational settings like Reggio and Montessori—student-centered, self-directed experiential approaches to learning) and shows how they work within a public school system.