Giveaway: Smithsonian Natural History

by Erica Johns | May 8, 2016 | Freebies

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As I was thinking about some of our most favorite things that I wanted to share with you all, this was one of the first things that came to mind.  We actually have two copies of it at our house, and I can assure you that two copies is not too many!

This gorgeous book is basically a visual encyclopedia of the natural world.  As is typical of most DK books, the photography is stunning.  You’ll see crisp, large, detailed images of everything from minerals, fossils, microscopic life, plants of every type, and of course every type of animal on earth.  Each page is amazing and inspirational.  If you and your children didn’t already have a grand appreciation for all of creation, you will after looking at the photos in this book!

We have used this in a variety of ways.  Most of the time we have one copy that sits on a side table in our living room, open to a page that is inspiring or interesting to us.  Sometimes the kids change the page to display something they like.  We use a book stand for this purpose and that makes it a really nice focal point, and keeps the book safely open and not falling over.  (This is the book stand we have.  Love it!  I bought it for our homeschool a few years ago and am thinking about getting another one. It looks beautiful, and is sturdy and well-made.)

At times we have used this book for copy work.  Each child picked a page that was of interest to them and copied the text into their nature notebooks, and tried to draw the item as well.  One son got super interested in tarantulas and worked for weeks getting each section copied perfectly and drawing each picture!  We really like the nature notebooks where you can draw on the top half and write on the bottom lined half. Here’s one example for younger kids, but there are varieties for older children as well.  Prismacolor colored pencils are perfect for the drawings, too.

Of course Natural History is also great for extra research or to learn more about something we’re studying.  

I’ve decided to give away a copy of this book to one lucky winner!  The winner with receive the actual physical book, fresh off the shelves at amazon and delivered to your home!  (USA addresses, including military, only.) Just a little something to spark some fresh joy and learning from our homeschool to yours.  Simply enter your email address to be included in the giveaway!  I’ll contact the winner after the giveaway closes on May 20, 2016.