The Best Books and resources for Learning about Nature

These books and resources are the best of the best for learning all their is to know about Nature! They are perfect to accomodate any Nature related unit study, homeschool group or homeschool co-op lessons, or whatever Nature related learning you are doing at home with your kids. These books and resources will work for any homeschool family, classroom, or for the Nature loving child in your family!  

Some of the books are resource books and guides, some are story books, some are activity books, and some are picture books.  Don't bypass or discount the picture books for your older children though, almost all the picture books in this list all have very good educational information in them. Many times picture books contain information that is a bit over the comprehension level of the younger children they are intended for.  So next time you come across a picture book, check out the content inside.  You may be surprised to find very valuable educational facts and information in them! 

In this invaluable collection below, I also included Professor Noggin's educational trivia card games and a few Fandex family field guides. They are a fantastic resource. Professor Noggin's card games are a fantastic and fun way to learn about various subjects of study. They are a perfect pairing to any lesson or unit study. 

I have two blog posts that show you different ways to use Professor Noggin's card games. Stay tuned for more posts about how to incorporate Professor Noggin's card games into your homeschool or classroom day!

You can find them here:
Why all Homeschoolers should own Professor Noggin's Card Games
How I use Professor Noggins card games with Echo Dot for Homeschool

I hope that you will find this list of books and resources to be of great help for your homeschool or classroom! I have been homeschooling my twins since they were tiny tots and I have three grown up children all in their 20's. I give each one of these books and resources my seal of approval.  My kids and I have first hand experience with every item on this list. We either own them, have checked them out of the local library multiple times, or have borrowed them from another local homeschool family. In the books and resources below, you will find excellent information that is presented in a great format with tons of gorgeous illustrations and photos. A great number of the books are considered living books. They are perfect for those who are Montessori, Waldorf, or Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers.

Many of these books should be available at your local library. If you are looking to purchase the books, I have provided an Amazon.com link to each book in the photos below. 

If you are looking to buy these books used, I suggest checking your local library used book stores, goodwill, yard sales, Facebook Marketplace, Facebook used curriculum groups, and Ebay.  I do not recommend the thriftbooks website or the brightlight books store because in my experience each book I looked for on thrift books or brightlight books cost significantly more or about the same price as they do on Amazon.  

What I like about Amazon is that if the book shows up damaged you can get it replaced right away for no additional cost. If you just decide the book is not going to work for you, you can always return it within the time limits of their return policy.  I would also like to advise that you take note when searching on Ebay for books.  Check the price at Amazon and if you have free shipping for Amazon, it may be more cost efficient.  Oh and don't forget to check if the version of the book you are looking at is newer or older.  Sometimes you may find a cheaper price on Ebay, but then you find out that the cheaper priced book on ebay is a much older version.

You can also check out the stores I have listed in this blog post.  Some of them may have discounts, deals, and better prices than other places you have checked. Where to buy Homeschool Supplies and Toys


I have also included several really great nature related games and activities at the bottom of the list as well. It's a long list, but worth the time to check out everything on the list!


These books are such excellent resources.  They are some of our very favorites.





Excellent and beautiful books in this section as well.





Professor Noggins are a must!  I highly recommend them all!  More HERE!




Bees are a very important subject! 




Excellent resource books! I love the Animals and Ocean Visual encyclopedia books




 
These books are super cute and beautifully illustrated




Fandex family guides are amazing!  They are so cute, the way they are made too! Each one is a shaped cut out at the top with a beautiful illustration. They fan out to see each one together in each Fandex.  There are few other great activity gooks and guides in this section too.




These books are excellent resource books.  I especially love the Smithsonian guide books.






I included some nature related poetry books in this section.





The one small square books are great little resources for animal and nature related unit studies. They are not packed full of a lot of information, but still have some great content.





These take along guides are the separated version of two books up there at the top of the list. The Fun with Nature and More Fun with nature books.




I love love love the Nature Company Guides! They are such beautiful books packed with information!




I also wanted to recommend these nature related games, toys, and accessories




OK so this makes 151 items on the list.  This product is not sold on Amazon. Think of this as your bonus recommendation!

This is another excellent Nature related item that is great for any kid to have. They are called stick-lets and they are reusable and flexible rubber connector pieces that are for building forts with sticks in nature.  You can find them at https://stick-lets.com/  They would be excellent with some playsilks or recycled fabric.

Fun with Light, New Roylco Products, and a discount code

I have some new light table activities to share with everyone, and a discount code! Roylco has created several really awesome light play activities over the years. Roylco sent us their new constellation cards, light learning games, and color beams peg board kit.  They also sent their stained glass frame and some beautiful frosted glass paper. I am really loving these new products for a number of reasons.  

The Constellations cards are just gorgeous.  They look awesome on the light cube, or any light table for that matter. We also found that they look super cool when held up in front of a himalayan salt lamp.  The warm amber glow just looks amazing!  The Constellation cards can also be held against a sunny window in the daytime, or in front of a black light in the evening.  They make a perfect companion to an astronomy unit study too! We have an astronomy unit study coming up and look forward to incorporating the Constellation cards into our unit study.  #homeschool  #astronomyunitstudy

The Color Beams Peg Board Kit is really great for fine motor! My favorite thing about the kit is that the pegs are perfect fine motor for an older child. They are not just great fine motor for younger children.  Most of the products that you find in stores or online are specialized for toddlers, preschoolers, and lower elementary age children.  I love that the Color Beams Peg Board Kit is challenging enough for upper elementary age children, as well as middle school age children. They would be great for any child with Autism as well. They can be used with or without the colorful inserts they come with. You can come up with all kinds of games for them too!  Stay tuned for a special upcoming post featuring how to use them for math, language, and more! #finemotor

The Light Learning Games are so awesome! They are great for a rainy day. Sometimes when it is rainy and dark outside in the daytime kids have a tendency to get moody. Playing with a light cube, light table, light box, or light panel can really break that mood and give the kids something awesome to do. I love how they included Tic-tac-toe with the Light Learning Games!  In this kit are Bingo with emoji faces, Tic-tac-toe, and a counting snake game that includes character pieces and really adorable butterflies, bees, and lady bugs. #rainydayplay

We also really enjoyed making fun insect crafts with the Stained Glass Frames and Frosted Glass Paper.  They are a fun and easy craft for any age!  Younger kids can easily do this craft, but it works well for an older child too because older kids can make their craft for detailed and intricate. You can use large or small bits of the Stained Glass Paper, or Frosted Glass Paper that Roylco makes for the project.  You could also opt to use tissue paper squares, kite paper, translucent origami paper, or anything else you can think of!  #kidscrafts

You can see all of their amazing Light Learning products here

https://roylco.com/product-category/shop-categories/light-learning/

So here is the awesome news: My readers and members of The Ultimate Light Table Guide Facebook group receive 15% off their purchases from Roylco.

Please check out my videos below, and stay tuned for more photos and videos on Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook.

I also linked each of the products below along with an example of each product!

Constellation Cards

Stained Glass Frames

Color Beams Peg Board Kit

Light Learning Games

Frosted Glass Paper

Stained Glass Paper

Be sure to follow Roylco on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube too!

There is also a #roylco hashtag on instagram too!