I made a BUNCH of cool nature-stuff for YOUR family!
Welp, you blinked and now it's Summer! A wonderful time of vacations, new movies and ice cream... also, a wonderful time of shady forests, blooming prairies, and dancing dragonflies!
Seen here looking super cool.
Summer is a great time to get outside and enjoy all the beauty Ohio has to offer: our animal brothers and sisters, plants, and places! As you may have read in an earlier blog post , I have ADHD. Part of that is the fact that I make a lot of cool things, but then quickly move on to the next one... leaving useful things behind. So for THIS blog post, I wanted to offer up a bunch of cool nature-connection tools I've made through the years for your family to connect with each other and with the outdoors:
The Pocket Nature Tool
Print this with the margins made as small as possible
This handy-dandy guide was made to help parents and kiddos get a crash course in what's going on around them! It includes basics of observation, tracking, bird language, and a pictoral guide to dangerous plants (the goal here is to show you that not EVERY SINGLE PLANT is Poison Ivy). Print and fold this, laminate it (or put in a ziploc) and bring along on your next walk... let me know what happens! (Find link to original Google document here)
I also created a very full but helpful 1-page guide about the what/why/where to plant native plants in your yard! You can find it here. Also, checkout this blog post about our partnership with my friend Peter. Speaking of which, have you seen the beautiful native gardens at BFA Reed, BFA Dublin Perimeter, LDBB Harrison West, and BFA Clintonville?!
My Books
3 books, 2 mushrooms, 1 goal: connection!
One of my dreams a long time ago was to write and illustrate children's books. Among many other goals, LDBB helped me achieve this one back in 2018. Illustrated with bits of nature from around my land, the 3 books follow Mooshy Moo & Grumpus, brother and sister mushrooms who learn the basics of observation, tracking wildlife, and understanding what birds are saying. Each book includes activities for your family to try in your backyard. You can order here!
My NEXT Book
Wouldn’t it be cool if bugs really did wear little hats?
Speaking of books and dreams, in 2020 I had an idea for how to get kiddos excited about native plants and ecosystems: make it a party! Each plant is like an invitation, bringing different animal brothers and sisters to your yard! Milkweed brings Monarch Butterflies, Penstemons bring Bumblebees, Royal Catchfly brings Hummingbirds etc etc. I pitched this idea to THE Doug Tallamy (founder of the native plant movement) and he loved it! He set me up with his illustrator colleague Kimberley Shropshire and we got to work- I wrote the book and she painted the pictures. The book follows the journey of two neighboring gnomes, as one discovers native plants and pollinators, and the other is not so sure.
Here’s a few more samples from our book:
As you can see, she's very talented and I'm so excited about this project, but we've hit a wall: We cannot even get responses from most publishers/agents. Unfortunately, Tallamy's publisher doesn't do children's books and Kimberley is having no luck either. So, I'm curious: do YOU know any publishers who could be interested? The book is tentatively titled: Garden Party: Every Bee's Invited. If you have any leads, let me know at my email: Jared@ldbb.care
My Songs
You’ve probably heard your little one singing our “Nature Time Now” song once or twice… or a million times! Perhaps you’ve heard our “The Earth is Good to Me” goodbye song… but, did you know there are more? Here are 3 you can find on my YouTube channel:
How to Play the Nature Time Now Song
That same YouTube Channel also has a bunch of episodes of my nature show from the early days of the pandemic (mostly focused on Spring).
Oh, and a Sunday School Curriculum
I've also created a nature-connection-based Sunday School & Homeschool curriculum using Mooshy Moo & Grumpus. You can find it here!
So there you have it.... a bunch of stuff I've made that can hopefully help you and yours connect with each other and with this beautiful place we live in... Ohio!