Esther Railton-Rice Releases PUMPKINS AND PETUNIAS

San Francisco, CA

What can children do in gardens that are already planted? Why should they be outdoors? How can gardens become a classroom in which all the subjects can be taught using the materials that are already there? "Pumpkins and Petunias: Things for Children to Do in Gardens" (published by Xlibris) outlines many things for children between two and eight years old to do in a home garden, public garden, landscaped park or tiny plot of ground.

After explaining how various types of gardens can be joyful playgrounds and learning centers for young children, 48 carefully selected activities are presented in an easy-to-grasp outline. Each lesson includes the objectives, a brief word to the leader, materials, activity directions, relation to the subject standards and suggestions for related activities. While strong in science, the book's subject areas combine all of the disciplines and the teaching strategies of inquiry, playing, questioning, creating and constructing. The activities, collected from outstanding teachers and the authors' childhood, use inquiry learning in response to the importance of being outdoors with children.

At the end of the book are charts that match the things to do in accordance with the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards and the curriculum standards of The National Association for the Education of Young Children. This is an informative book that utilizes the many advantages of playing outdoors in gardens.

"Pumpkins and Petunias: Things for Children to Do in Gardens"
By Esther Railton-Rice and Irene Winston
Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 176 pages | ISBN 9781483688527
Softcover | 6 x 9in | 176 pages | ISBN 9781483688510
E-Book | 176 pages | ISBN 9781483688534
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author
Esther Railton-Rice is Professor of Education Emerita at California State University, East Bay. She is an internationally known professor of environmental education, with experience in the primary classroom, environmental education, national parks and playgrounds. Her many previous publications include "Teaching Science in an Outdoor Environment" and many articles and chapters in anthologies.

Irene Winston is a science teacher with a master's degree in botany and education. She is a docent at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. She wrote an activity guide for that California native plants garden in addition to several other articles on plant adaptations and lichens. Winston's interactive children's exhibit on lichens for the annual California Lichen Society's display at the San Francisco Mycological Society's Fungus Fair is so popular that it is repeated annually as well as presented at the University of California, Berkeley's Jepson Herbarium.

Xlibris Publishing, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider created in 1997 by authors, for authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles. For more information, visit xlibris.com or call 1-888-795-4274 to receive a free publishing guide. Follow us @XlibrisPub on Twitter for the latest news.