Earthways: Simple Environmental Activities for Young Children (Paperback)

~ (Author), Donald Cook (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Dig your thumbnail into a dandelion stem. Watch the milky juice ooze out and feel it, sticky, on your fingers. Then thread the next hollow stem through the slit. Making flower wreaths used to be a wonder-filled way to spend a springtime afternoon! First, the gathering of the blossoms, then the task of wreath-making finally the transformation as you and your friends each assume a royal role, flower crowned for the pageant! Today these simple activities that brought children in close contact with their natural world have gone by the wayside. . . .

Now a new activity book designed for classroom use and for families has revived many old-fashioned nature activities and supplied an updated view on the importance of providing opportunities for children to interact with dirt and bugs and wool and plants real things as opposed to Barbie dolls and Ninja Turtle figures. Earthways is devoted primarily to craft ideas based on natural materials that can be frown, gathered, baked, woven, molded, and sometimes used in dramatic play. These crafts are unusual in that they can be shared in the doing and the giving and the eating. They can be enjoyed for the process and the product, which often turns out to be an object of simple beauty. . . .

the organization of this book makes it possible for a teacher or parent to move directly to a particular season to find a variety of activities, each geared to a minimum age level (i.e., age 3 and up). Every seasonal section begins with a short introduction chock-a-block full of ideas rooted in concern for a wide range of environmental issues. Special heading identify projects that "supply missing links,' helping children to make connections (e.g., tomatoes grow on vines, not in cans) and apply the skills they are learning as they garden and work with art materials. Throughout the book, each project is outlined in clear, concise language and illustrated with Donald cook's charming, soft black-and-white drawings that make it easy to follow the instructions.

A particularly noteworthy feature of Earthways is the resource section in the back, which contains useful lists of suppliers of art materials, garden tools, books, and toys. "Green" organizations are listed so that teachers can network their ecological concerns and acquire additional information. . . .

Petrash is Waldorf trained, and readers familiar with the Waldorf School and Rudolf Steiner's philosophy of education will recognize certain gentle components of that system of ideas: a project for sewing felt gnomes; the use of beeswax, watercolors, and carded wool; a preference for wooden toys. A sense of peace and centeredness is fostered throughout the book. . . .

As an introduction to another way of doing things, another way of viewing our world, this is a timely book, because it is solidly grounded in an awareness of the urgent need to do something to reverse the unfortunate results of our rampant materialism. Earthways makes the hopeful statement that one person can make a difference. By raising children with an understanding of the fragile beauty of their surroundings and helping them to assume a joyful responsibility for protecting this precious environment, a teacher, or a parent, can change the world. -- Holistic Education Review

Early childhood author Carol Petrash has gathered more than 100 classroom activities designed to help preschool children grow in what Rachel Carson called "the sense of wonder." The difference from other children's craft books is signaled by the first chapter, which describes setting up an "earth-friendly" home and classroom and breaking the throw-away habit. The activities are organized by season and age groupings (3-plus to 5-plus). Making leaf crowns, nut people, seasonal gardens, drying and roasting pumpkin seeks (after the usual carving) are activities that can help children become creators in rhythm with the Earth in a way deliberately focused away from consumption of purchased materials. A section on creating a more natural outdoor play space in a bare asphalt schoolyard is especially interesting. A find resource for people working with young children. -- Earth Ethics (Washington, D.C.)

Earthways is a treasure trove of developmentally-appropriate, imaginative activities in science, nature and art designed to empower young children to feel a joyous kinship with nature. Organized by seasons, this resource book devotes large sections to various nature crafts and natural toys with which young children can celebrate the gifts of the seasons and experience the rhythms and changes of their world. A sampling of seasonal crafts include wheat weaving and leaf crowns in the fall, star windows and snow scenes in the winter, dish gardens and press flower cards in the spring, and paper birds and walnut boats in the summer. Each craft is well-organized, clearly written, and beautifully enhanced by soft, pastel, pencil drawings. Although many of the hands-on activities and crafts are self-directed, some activities do need adult supervision (building an outdoor bean tepee playhouse using five-foot sticks or bamboo poles, or baking a berry shortcake or cobble). . .

Young children are born with the sense that their natural world is good and beautiful. Earthways provides simple and enjoyable activities for fostering these positive feelings for the earth. By engaging in these suggested activities, young children can increase their sense of natural wonder and learn to treat the earth not as a commodity to exploit and damage but as a cherished gift to love, respect and protect. -- Chicago Metro AEYC Connections

Product Description

Spark children's imagination with over 90 environment-friendly activities. These instantaneous art and nature activities encourage the understanding and appreciation of the earth and other living things.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 206 pages
• Publisher: Gryphon House (July 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087659156X
• ISBN-13: 978-0876591567
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #203,023 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is GREAT!!, January 5, 1998

By A Customer

As a homeschooling mother, I'm always looking for simple, easy learning activities that can benefit my children from preschool age to late elementary. Earthways is one of the best books I've seen on this topic. The activities are geared toward younger children (preschool/early elementary), but even my pre-teen enjoys the varied activities.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We LOVE this book!, April 30, 2001

By	K. Vollweiler "Mom from CT" (New England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is such a Wonderful Book! It has Easy and Fun ideas for crafts to do with children! Everything from making a small fairy garden with real grass, to Easter crafts, to interesting Harvest time crafts! We have had this book for a few weeks now, and have enjoyed making three of the projects so far! My seven year old daughter adores sitting and reading this book to get ideas for us to work on together next! We own several craft books...But this one is by far the easiest and most creative for children to use! I love the fact that everything is nature based! A must buy, for nature loving families!

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful help with the gradual transition, June 12, 2006

By	waldorf_curric - See all my reviews

While this book is chock-full of ideas which any homeschooling family can use, or anyone who spends time with small children for that matter, I think its best fit is for the preschool teacher in a traditional classroom. I bought it after having quite a library of Waldorf books and didn't find it as useful, but after having read through it several times over, I can definitely see its niche -- and it does a tremendous job once you have it in the right slot. If you are already working with children and have decided to gradually transform your classroom into a Waldorf environment, this book is absolutely the one to buy. Combine it with A Child's Seasonal Treasury by Betty Jones and you'll have a Waldorf kindy classroom in a bottle. (Betty Jones includes lots of verses, rhymes, fingerplays, and other movement activities plus art and recipes but doesn't give much of a context for how they are done -- while this book covers mainly handwork projects but gives more help with making the transition. They complement each other perfectly.)

Carol Petrash, a warm and inspiring writer, takes you by the hand at the beginning of Autumn. With ideas for how to gradually transform your classroom environment, she introduces each season and has you start making changes -- first a little in Autumn, then more ideas for Winter, continuing on with new changes in Spring, and so on -- and shares her ideas for "Bringing Nature In" (self-explanatory) and "Supplying the Missing Links" (which focuses on re-establishing connections that children are missing with the natural world, such as how butter is made), both recurring categories throughout the book.

She also gives general craft ideas organized by season throughout the book (such as Wheat Weaving, Leaf Crowns, Lanterns, Star Windows, Finger Knitting, May Baskets, Shooting Star Streamer Balls, Walnut Boats, Paper Birds) but "Bringing Nature In" and "Supplying the Missing Links" are the real heart of the book -- and what makes it such a gem. Some examples are Creating a Seasonal Garden, From Wheat to Bread, Pumpkins, Indian Corn, Beeswax, Butter, Wool, Gardening with Children, Building Playhouses Outdoors, Berries, and Basket Weaving. For each, she gives several ideas so you really get to explore the topic. Instead of just one activity, it is more like a "weekly theme" on Berries, perfect for how a classroom teacher would use this book. She even includes a sample field trip slip.

If you're familiar with Waldorf there's not a lot here that will be new, but if you are just starting out, this books covers a lot of ground at a very reasonable pace -- and a reasonable price. Instead of tearing your hair out trying to replace all your children's toys at once and learning how to bake from scratch, etc., try this book and let it slowly help you find your way. Enjoy this year of change, and by the summer you'll be proudly observing the transformation in your home and in your lives and you will take much pleasure and pride in watching your children grow, learn, and flourish.