Do you remember those days in college when Spring introduced warmer temperatures and greener grass, and as a treat, your teacher suggested that class be held outside for a change?
Sitting in the quad/oval/commons, basking in the sun, being distracted by bikes or birds, the lecture seemed to be less boring. More inviting.
I relished those rare occasions when class was taken outside. There’s just something about sitting on the earth, absorbing knowledge, that’s just easier to swallow than in the confined walls of a classroom.
Somehow I think I would have loved being a student of Ms. Frizzle and her Magic School Bus.
Back when my son first gained enough attention span to read books longer than your standard picture book, the first series we embarked upon was The Magic School Bus.
Led by a kooky teacher named Ms. Frizzle (who gives the kids hints about what kind of adventures they’ll encounter by the outfit she adorns), the class takes some pretty crazy field trips, journeying through all sorts of exciting landscape as they take their learning outside the classroom, way way way outside the classroom, in a morphing school bus.
If you haven’t read this series with your children, I highly recommend it. Magic School Bus series does a wonderful job of weaving education with creative storytelling. My son was able to absorb scientific facts about space, the human body, or the ocean without even realize he was learning.
To celebrate Earth Day this year and give your child a taste of Ms. Frizzle and her zany scientific antics, I’m giving away a Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVD The Magic School Bus: All About Earth.
This DVD animates three all-new, never-before-released tales of the zany Ms. Frizzle and her classroom: “The Magic School Bus Goes to Seed”, “The Magic School Bus Blows its Top”, and “The Magic School Bus Goes on Air”. And as a bonus, it also features the episode “The Magic School Bus All Dried Up”.
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is enter the Rafflecopter below by Wednesday, April 24th at 11:59pm EST. Open to continental U.S. residents only.
my company is donating to a few eco conscious organizations and I was a critical part of this effort.
That’s great!
No plans.. but i did get some filtered water bottles for the family..
Any action you do to reduce waste is a great one, right?
clearing my yard up from winter
Mine? It’s a disaster. Need to get on that next weekend!
Spring cleaning and cleaning the yard and helping the neighbors with their yards. thank you for the giveaway
That’s so generous of you to help your neighbors. Any chance you want to come over and pull out all of my overgrown weeds?
We worked in the garden.
That seems to have been a popular way to celebrate Earth Day!
i loved Magic Schoolbus. Not when I was a kid, but when I was in my early 20s and nannying in NYC. I really loved that there was a little girl named Keesha in it, and she spelled her name the way I do!
keesha recently posted…
It really is a fantastic series. Though I don’t know if Ms. Frizzle would fly in a traditional public school system, what with No Child Left Behind and all. But I love the premise. And you’re right, the cast of characters is diverse – there’s bound to be a kid that most children can relate to.
Plant flowers with my daughter
A great tradition! We usually reserve planting flowers for Mother’s Day, but I love the idea of planting something on Earth Day as well. Perhaps flower seeds or something?
planting a tree!
Perfect!
My family spent the day outside doing some yardwork and getting ready to plant the garden.
I love that so many have decided to celebrate Earth Day by planting!
I did not have any plans for Earth Day
We planted some trees at the VA Center.
Lovely!