Books
🌿🌻Nature Baby: Rocks by Brett Ortler
This simple photo-illustrated board book introduces young children to 10 different rocks and minerals with their properties and uses.
🌿🌻Nerdy Babies: Rocks by Emmy Kastner
This cute illustrated board book walks children through the 3 types of rocks, the fossils that can be found in sedimentary rock; the layers of rock in the earth; the plate tectonics that create mountains, volcanoes, & islands; and the ways that erosion carves out new landscapes in the earth.
🌿🌻Hello World: Rocks & Minerals by Jill McDonald
This illustrated board book gives preschool & school-aged children a deeper look at the rocks & minerals that make up our earth and how they are formed.
🌿🌻Discovering the Hidden World: Inside a Cave by TJ McAllister
🌿A Rock Can Be by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija
This beautifully-illustrated & versed book explores all the things that rocks can be, from mountains, fossils, sand, & volcanoes to statues, jewels, and chalk. More information on each form can be found at the end of the book.
🌿A Pocket Full of Rocks by Kristin Mahoney, illustrated by E.B. Goodall
This illustrated book explores different natural materials that children might collect through the seasons, including spring petals, summer shells, fall acorns, and, of course, rocks. I love the descriptions of what more children might do with their treasures besides storing them away in jars.
🌿All the Rocks We Love by Lisa Varchol Perron & Taylor Perron, illustrated by David Scheirer
This book explores the practical properties of 10 different rocks & minerals for touching, stacking, plopping, clacking, sparkling, drawing, climbing, and sharing. More information about each rock is provided at the end of the book.
🌿When You Find the Right Rock by Mary Lyn Ray
This illustrated book explores the many things that children may use rocks for, form climbing & sitting to carrying & creating. The book highlights that different rocks may be best suited to different things (just like people are).
🌿Caves by Nell Beckerman Cross (illustrated by Kalen Chock)
This book uses beautiful illustrations and poetry to guide readers through caves that are deep, dark, dripping, forming, and often underwater. Some caves are painted, growing plants, or home to bats, blind fish, or even bioluminescent bugs! Most page spreads feature additional text panels about the real caves represented in the illustrations.
🌿Volcanoes by Nell Beckerman Cross (illustrated by Kalen Chock)
With visual poetry and stunning illustrations, this book guides readers through the eruption of a volcano, the formation of the Hawaiian islands, and the natural disasters that can accompany large eruptions. Learn about life forms that thrive in warm volcanic oceans ridges, and even volcanoes in space! Additional text about featured sites can be found on each page and in the book’s appendix.
🌿Searching for Wocks by Lucy Knisley
In this cute story, a child eagerly collects pocketfuls of rocks on a walk with a supportive parent who safeguards their collection at the park until it’s time to store their treasures away at home.
🌿Little Climber by Danielle Sarli, illustrated by Amanda Joy Hogan
In this illustrated story, a little girl who is always trying to climb everything is presented with an obstacle course to try. She’s introduced to the concept of rock climbing and learns to climb up & up safely with a harness and a trusted adult to catch and lower her if she slips.
🌿Home on the Earth: A Song about Earth’s Layers by Laura Purdie Salas
Creative Art Opportunities
🪨Draw on a stone with colored chalk
🪨Paint flat slate with water
🪨Arrange small stones in a tray of fine sand
🪨Sculpt damp sand
🪨Sprinkle fine sand over wet paint
Hands On Experiences
⛅️Sort small stones by attributes (size, color, shape, etc.)
⛅️Sift through dry sand and pebbles
⛅️Pan for crystals in sand and water
⛅️Build a cairn of small stones (never near a wild stream)
⛅️Watch sea salt (or natural rock salt) dissolve in water
⛅️Make rock candy
⛅️Build with rocks and mud (or a blended mortar of old rice)
🌿Test soil composition: Scoop backyard soil into a clear glass of water, stir, and measure the separated layers of silt, clay, and sand when the soil settles
🌿Search for quartz stones in rock beds
🌿Visit a cave
🌿Make pictures and sculptures in the sand on a beach
Songs to Learn and Sing
“Treasure Hunting (Agate)” – Jessie Farrel & the Gumboot Kids
“I Collect Rocks” – Al Simmons
“Under a Rock” – Caspar Babypants
“Deep Dark Cave” – Makin’ Music Rockin’ Rhythms
“Shine Your Light (Cave)” – Jessie Farrel & the Gumboot Kids
“Echo Echo” – Jessie Farrel & the Gumboot Kids
“Bitty Bitty Bat”– Stephanie Leavell (video includes lyrics and limited animation)
“Pan for Gold” – Jessie Farrel & the Gumboot Kids
“Dinosaurs (Fossils)” – Jessie Farrel & the Gumboot Kids
“Geodes” – Carrie Newcomer
“Bottle Caps” – Laurie Berkner
NIYN – Rocks & Minerals on Spotify
NIYN – Rocks & Minerals on YouTube
All playlists are works in progress and are actively curated when I have a unit in play or preparation, so new songs may appear and old songs may be removed if they don’t suit my designs.
