Sandra Duncan

Nature can teach us limitless lessons if we only take the time to open our eyes and look at its beauty—open our ears and listen to the many sounds and songs that are rippling through the breeze—and open our minds and hearts so we can learn from the Earth and its wondrous and amazing creatures.

Many of nature’s lessons are larger than life. Think about how a small insignificant acorn can grow into a strong and magnificent oak tree. Consider how salmon valiantly swim upstream returning to their birthplace to spawn. Or, marvel about how monarchs courageously flap their fragile wings and fly as far as 3000 miles to their winter homes. From these marvelous creatures, we can learn huge life lessons such as perseverance, patience, tenacity, or fortitude. But, because nature is wise in so many ways, it can teach us smaller, but not any less important, lessons about designing environments or habitats for young children.

What exactly can we learn from nature? What can sea turtles, a bunch of grapes, lighting bugs, mushrooms, or jellyfish possibly tell us about designing early childhood classrooms? Although it may sound far-fetched, we can actually learn a great deal. This book explores how nature is a wise and noble teacher and offers valuable as well as very important lessons about how to design children’s environments.