Keeping up with the natural world is a lot like catching a fly with chopsticks. Bugs and birds skitter across the ecosystem, flowers bloom and blow away into seed, and the trees and sun practice a shadow dance every day.

As children learn the patterns of nature with this "Outdoor Artists" WorkBook, they will engage in interpretive and artistic activities and experience the thrill of exploration. One minute they are drawing from a bee's-eye view, the next they are on a scavenger hunt collecting nature's many textures and turning found objects into art.

They will research masterful Dutch painters to learn the secrets of still life, and take inspiration from John James Audubon and the Wright brothers to forge connections between art, science and design. From inventing their own bugs in hairy detail to building a birdhouse from scratch, their imaginative side will blossom from real insights.

This is where education and entertainment go hand in hand. With Backyard Pioneers, children follow their own curiosities to forge big-picture associations and experience the same sense of wonder and respect that early explorers, natives and artists had for the environment.

They will come to know how the natural world is a source for food, tools and inspiration. Capturing the essence of the outdoors in clay reliefs, on paper, and through sculpture gives them many perspectives from which to broaden their knowledge.

Give children the outdoors to foster their confidence, comprehension and compassion, and they will find new ways to express and respect the magic of the spaces we share. .