The Best Field Guides for Kids
Our nature walks are my favorite part of the week. It’s amazing to me how much the kids can learn by walking away from their school books. A couple years ago, it was enough for us to just go on a walk to see what we could see- to look at the flowers, and seeds and animals. Now that the kids are older, all of our walks come with tons and tons of questions. It’s not enough to see a bug- they want to know exactly what that bug is called, and what kind of a butterfly has black wings and what that animal is going to eat for dinner.
I love their curiosity, but I can’t tell the difference between trees or one crawling beetle from the next. I am learning, but I am SO grateful for the many field guides available here. (Did I tell you about how miserable it was to not be able to find a field guide for the german plants, birds and bugs? I couldn’t find any in English, and we never did figure out what many of the proper names were for our favorite nature walk finds)
Field Guides: Insects
National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America
Fandex Family Field Guides: Bugs
The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs
Field Guides: Birds
Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists: Backyard Birds
Golden Field Guides: Birds of North America
Field Guides: Flowers
Take-Along Guide: Wildflowers, Blooms, and Blossoms
Jeffrey Glassberg Field Guide Series: Wildflowers in the Field and Forest
Field Guides: Trees
The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-ups
Field Guides: Seashells
DK’s Smithsonian Handbook: Shells
Summer is ending, but don’t rule out Nature Studies yet! Fall is our favorite time of the year to get out to admire all nature has to offer. It’s a little cooler, but the leaves are changing, trees and plants are seeding, and there is so much life still to see before winter arrives!
