Review: "Outdoor Math" by Emma Adb†åge (Childrens Nonfiction)

	Outdoor Math by Emma Adb†åge Publisher:Kids Can Press Genre:Childrens Nonfiction Publication Date: April 5th 2016 (Affiliate links)
Description from Publisher: In this innovative book, Emma Adb†åge encourages children to get outside, where they can have fun interacting with the natural world while learning math. Adb†åge has created twenty-two outdoor activities, organized by season. Through play, children will learn about numeracy and arithmetic, as well as math concepts such as shapes, time, greater/less than, even and odd numbers, patterns and grids. The activities have simple-to-follow instructions and are accompanied by adorable illustrations that provide clear visual demonstrations. The natural materials required --- stones, pinecones, snowballs, worms --- are easy to find in many environments. Supplementary spreads introduce the numbers 1 to 10 and further explore addition/subtraction and multiplication/division, with simplified explanations and illustrated examples. Studies have shown that learning outdoors helps kids retain information and skills, and that physically active children perform better in a variety of subjects --- including math. This book could be used alongside other math coursework all school year, since the activities have direct curricular applications. While the thrust of the book is math, there are also science lessons here, particularly regarding the properties of nature and how things change during the four seasons. Many of the activities can be done in pairs or groups, promoting teamwork and cooperation. A list of activities in the back matter indexes the activities and categorizes them by the math skills they develop.
My Rating: I received a digital ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.com for an honest, unbiased review. My opinion is my own. As a mom who loves new ways of teaching her preschooler through play, this book was especially intriguing to me. I think that it would be great for anyone interested in fun, outdoor, educational activities, from parents to teachers. My son (3) and I intend to hit up our local park later this afternoon to gather some rocks for the paint & numbers activity. I love that something so simple is a fun activity while we are out, will be an art activity, and then we will have a 'toy' at the end to play with numbers. The biggest thing keeping this from 4 stars for me is that we live in Southern California, so basically all of the "Winter" activities are irrelevant unless we travel to the snow. I would also like some activities that were more water-play based. Over all, though, a great book with some fun ideas!