Spring Has Sprung! Celebrate With An “Explore The Outdoors” Giveaway (ends 4/26/16)

 

The calendar tells me that it SHOULD be spring time (the official start of spring is March 20th), but the weather outside tells me otherwise. When is it going to warm up? We have blue skies, but frigid temperatures.

After a long, cold winter, we look forward to the spring. Personally I love to see the return of the Robins, tulips, green grass and blue skies. It makes me want to get outside and soak in each and every moment of it because the bitter weather will be back before you know it.

As a mom, I always did my best to encourage my kids to explore the outdoors. I grew up in upstate New York. We had woods in our backyard. Me and my cousins were always exploring the woods, creating forts, digging for dinosaurs (in our case it was cow bones from an old farm) and going on adventures.

I consider my kids “city children.” They can’t appreciate the great outdoors. They don’t even like to get dirty! And I won’t get started on bugs. They are afraid of bugs – even at their ages. They freak out when they see a Ladybug. Sigh…

When they were younger I would take them to local parks to enjoy and explore the great outdoors. I tried to get them to do the things I did growing up and having fun far from television and electronics.

I love to encourage children to go outside and explore and enjoy the real world. I think all children should be afforded those opportunities.

National Geographic Children’s Books recently debuted three new books that are perfect for inspiring youngsters to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors.

Get Outside Creativity Book (ages 6-9, $12.99) – This big, bright spiral-bound activity book encourages kids to get outside and play! It’s chock full of stencils, stickers, pull-outs, games, trivia, puzzles, and cutouts that encourage exploration and learning in the great outdoors. It’s the perfect gift for any parent wanting to foster creativity and imagination, while encouraging kids to unplug, get off the couch, and get to know the world around them. The format engages readers with a combination of fun and whimsical design and National Geographic’s world-famous photography.

I LOVE this book! I work with young children (grades 1st – 6th) and I have found many great thing I can share with them. This is more than just a book to get children to go outside – it’s an all around activity book.

The stencils are awesome. They can be enjoyed year round.

The stickers are fun too because you can use them in a variety of backgrounds/scenes found in the book.

This would be the perfect book to take with you when traveling. It would keep your child/grandchild busy for hours.

Even as an adult I found this book to be interesting and fun.

Ultimate Explorer Field Guide: Birds (ages 8-12, $12.99) – Photo-filled and fact-packed, this one of a kind bird guide will make kids Stop! Look! and Listen! to find the feathered friends right in their own backyards. From ducks to hawks, sparrows to sandpipers, kids will learn how, where, and when to spot birds all over the United States. With tons of info and interactivity prompts, it’s the perfect companion for backyard or field trip, camping or vacation. Durable and portable, it’s just right for pocket or backpack.

This book is made for children ages 8-12, but to be honest with you “I” learned a lot from this book too.

The book is filled with beautiful photography that you would expect from a National Geographic book.

This book provides you with a lot of information about the various types of birds, including mapping out where you can find each type of bird in the U.S. and detailed illustrations to help you with identifying each species.

I often find myself looking at birds and wondering what type of bird it is. Some I know just from looking at them (Bluebird, Cardinal, Crow, Pigeon, Robin, Chickadee…) but others are not as easy to identify. One such bird tends to go after people in our condo complex (assuming they are near the next). It’s too fast for me to get a good look at it in order to identify it properly. I think it’s a member of the Thrush family, but I’m not 100% sure yet.

This is an easy to read and understand guide that both children and adults can enjoy.

Look & Learn: Caterpillar to Butterfly (board book, $6.99) – A durable board book that is made for tiny hands and curious minds!  Preschoolers and their parents follows a monarch as it develops from a cute caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly in simple, age-appropriate language.

I love butterflies. I hope to get a butterfly tattoo one day (Monarch butterfly).

This is a beautiful book that introduces children to the life cycle of a butterfly. The book is filled with beautiful, up close photography that is labeled making it easy for young children to know what they are looking at.

This book is easy to read. I would think an elementary aged child should be able to read this with no problem.

All of these books encourage children to get outdoors and explore the wondrous world around them. Not only can these books be enjoyed now, but they can be enjoyed and used all summer long too.

Look for these and other National Geographic Children’s Books where ever books are sold.

To learn more about these and other National Geographic Children’s Books visit NGChildrensBooks.org as well as the National Geographic online store.

You can also check them out on social media – Facebook and Twitter.

National Geographic Children’s Books would like to give a lucky winner all three books as well as an awesome pair of binoculars. The National Geographic binoculars are water resistant, rubber armored and perfect for wildlife watching, birding and exploration. They have a retail value of $63.

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end on April 26, 2016. The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via email and will need to reply within three days or a new winner will be chosen in their place.

To enter please comment on this post and tell me which book you are most interested in?

For extra entries you can use the Rafflecopter widget (below) but you must complete the initial entry requirement or the additional entries won’t qualify.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kimberly

*I received the same prize package to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.