A Little Bit of Dirt: 55+ Science and Art Activities to Reconnect Children with Nature

by Asia Citro

Dandelion Bubbles, Rain Drums, Seed Bomb Lollipops and more!

Bursting with creative hands-on outdoor science and art activities, A Little Bit of Dirt is full of motivation to get outside and explore. Whether you're investigating the health of your local stream, making beautiful acrylic sunprints with leaves and flowers, running an experiment with your backyard birds, or concocting nature potions, you'll be fostering an important connection with nature. The engaging activities encourage the use of the senses and imagination and are perfect for all ages. Discover more about the natural world waiting just outside your door!

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Parenting, Science, Art, Childrens, Pre K

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2016

Reviews

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is full of great hands-on activities and DIYs that are simple and easy to do and don't need a lot of expensive or unnecessary items. There's a little something for nature-loving kids of all ages!

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a trove of easy, low-input science and art projects to get kids outside. I will be keeping this one in my back pocket for kids' programming at my library in the future.

[Andee Marley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas!

[Vernon Area Public Library KIDS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource for fun art and science activities at home or camp during the summer months. Recommended for caregivers/teachers with children grades K-3. Check out The Outdoor Classroom in Practice by Karen Constable for younger children in preschool, as well as Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens by David Sobel for more creative outdoor activities. Reviewed by: Alyson D., Youth Services, Vernon Area Pubic Library

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book chock full of ideas for art projects involving the great outdoors! The author takes the time to not only lay out the project with a list of all needed materials and step-by-step instructions, but she also explains what can be learned from completing the project! There are also full-color photos accompanying each project, so there's no guesswork.

I highly recommend for parents of preschoolers and/or early elementary schoolers.

Our family went to the mountains this fall, and I took the necessary materials for one of the projects from the book. My toddler had great fun placing paper in an aluminum baking pan, squirting with paint, and rolling different found objects from outside (such as small rocks and acorns) around to spread the paint. In fact, not only the painted paper but the now-painted rocks as well became treasured souvenirs from our trip!

[Jessica Thurlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asia Citro has done it again! We absolutely love 150+ Screen Free Activities and now we love A Little Bit of Dirt too. So many wonderful ideas for outdoor fun and learning in the spring / summer / fall! I love the inclusion of extension ideas and that the activities appeal to a variety of ages.

I wish there were more activities geared towards kids 1-2.5 (that’s the age group my daughter falls into). There are several and my copy is thoroughly bookmarked and will be in use heavily in the next few months likely but a few more would have been ideal.

I also was hoping there might be a winter section. That’s the season in which I have the most trouble finding different ways to interact with nature. Maybe there’ll be a separate volume filled with fall / winter ideas - my fingers are crossed there will be!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting little book with some good ideas.

I appreciated the extension ideas, the discussion of invasive plants, the recognition that people have different abilities to access different types of natural areas, the use of items from the recycle bin, the variety of ideas, the exploration of natural areas, the thoughtful notes on the legal and moral constraints on gathering nature items, and the accessibility and doability of the ideas.

For me the drawbacks were that many of the crafts rely on glue guns, and asking an adult to help with the glue gun; and most of the ideas are for very young children, with very few for older ones.

Over all a solid resource. I got my copy from the library but am adding it to my to-buy list. I am also looking forward to reading Citro's 150+ screen-free activities for kids.

[Anuradha Baliga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asia Citro is a passionate ex science teacher and her books reflect that passion. She knows her stuff and gives detailed info for each activity. In this book she has presented several outdoor activities that you can do with your kids. Most of it are for kids 5 and above but some of them can be done with younger kids as well. For younger kids she has listed some common ones like sink or float, treasure hunts, collecting nature objects, painting with nature objects , making mud pies etc For older kids she has more interesting ones like testing stream water quality, soil study etc. It's a good read to get some ideas . I am going to read her other popular book curious kids science experiments next . Definitely read this one

[Eunice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of great ideas for ages 6 to 12. It would make a great addition to our nature club and that is how I intend to use it. I will tell you about some activities that I look forward to trying. Make a boat out of nature finds, obviously near some kind of water. Sticky nature bracelets using card stock and double-sided sticky tape for a little ones to put on the wrist and stick things as they walk to keep them entertained. Rainbow photo challenge: over the course of a year have the kids pick one color and as you go on your nature journeys have them take as many picks as they can find something in nature with that color and at the end of the year make a collage of your color in nature. And the one that my daughter and I are especially excited to try is acrylic paint sun prints

[Bethany Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Glancing through it I'm not super impressed. Some of the activities are clearly for much older kids then mine, and maybe more appropriate for a school setting or homeschooling than pure play. Some of the activities that could be preschool appropriate seem overly complicated- cardstock and contact paper to make a nature bracelet, instead of just a piece of duct tape sticky side out. Or using an actual pressing thing to dry flowers instead of a thick book/phone book. I may try a few activities from the book but it definitely isn't what I was hoping for to help me get my preschoolers engaged in creative nature play.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There weren't too many activities I liked here. "Screen-Free Crafts Kids Will Love: Fun Activities that Inspire Creativity, Problem-Solving and Lifelong Learning" had much more activities I liked, though was still pretty sparse.

Although I wanted to like the outdoors activities they didn't seem that fun and also required more waste than I was hoping for. True there was less waste then normal activity books, but this seemed to be constraining nature into a pre-existing framework than working with it.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some fun ideas for sure. But for a book about nature, there are a lot of plastic supplies needed. But I suppose for someone who has no idea of how to incorporate nature into crafts, this would be a good starting point.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

such cute ideas! save for later use

[Annelise · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many great, easy, and accessible ideas to engage kids with nature. I will definitely be buying this one!

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great activities. I can't wait to try some with my 4 yr old students.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many wonderful, fun, learning projects!

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the variety of fresh ideas for getting kids outside. I also appreciated that a few of the activities are educational. The colorful photos are fun.

[Jenny GB · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some fun ideas in here! I look forward to trying them out with my kids someday.

[RC · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of great science and art activities that use the natural world around you. Although written for the child's point of view, this is one that adults are going to want to read ahead of time or with children. Portions of the activity that should be done by adults are clearly labeled, and explanations of the science or sensory value are added to almost every activity. Activities range from easy to involved and are best for K-3rd graders. Many of these involve gathering natural materials, so take a look at the note on that process at the beginning of the book and identify which plants in your area are not safe to handle!

[Abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you want to create an under water viewer? Make crafts and play games outside? This book is really cute and doable. This would be a good book to own.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book filled with fun projects and activities to get outside and appreciate nature! So glad we bought a copy!

[Sarah Sloan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some new tweaks on a lot of activities preschool teachers do everyday and gorgeous pictures, but most of these ideas are on Pinterest.

[Sarah Stanners · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some fab ideas in this book. I've tried a couple of things but loads of new ideas and inspiration.