Imagine naturalist Jeff Corwin hosting his own show as a 6-year-old kid. That’s Gus Nightingale. And he’s the reason I was so excited to check out the first episode in a DVD series called Gus Outdoors.
The first installment of Gus Outdoors is called Gull Island and features 6-year-old Gus exploring the life of newly hatched seagull chicks on an island off the coast of Rhode Island. While he’s there, he discovers the challenges faced by these chicks, plus gets up-close-and-personal with quite a few other critters.
What better way to kick off my blog’s newest feature, product reviews, than with a DVD all about kids exploring nature?
Note: I received a free copy of Gull Island for review, but you can be sure I’ve shared my honest opinion of the product here. I encourage you to read my full disclosure policy for more information.
OUR NOTES FROM THE FIELD
I watched the 23-minute long Gull Island with both of my explorers and they were captivated from the moment the show started.
The big explorer was initially a bit concerned as to where Gus’s parents were, which is a fair question for a 5 ½-year-old. I explained that his dad was the one behind the camera, a concept he understands from watching his own dad make films. Once Gus boarded a boat for Gull Island, though, any concerns about his being alone were long forgotten!
Other big hits with the kids included:
- Seeing a seagull chick hatch from its egg
- An exploding flower!
- Watching Gus search for crabs in a tide pool
- Learning that seagull chicks eat food their parents throw up (“gross but very cool,” according to Gus)
- Getting introduced to the very fuzzy lined tiger caterpillar
Of course, mom had her own take on things.
While there’s no arguing that Gus is precocious and far more knowledgeable than any 6-year-old I know, the kids didn’t seem to mind. He speaks their language, laughs when they do and finds the same things fascinating and cool that my kids did. Big hits with me include:
- Cinematography: Beautifully shot, quality images with plenty of close ups perfect for holding kids’ attention.
- Vocabulary: Gus introduces big words like “incubate,” “regurgitate” and “endangered” by explaining what they mean using simpler words kids already know.
- Safety: Gus explains what he brings with him on adventures, like water (“to stay hydrated”), sun block and a healthy snack.
- Making the nature connection: Gus ends the episode writing in his nature journal about his adventures. How cool is that?
The big explorer is already asking when we get to see the next installment, Lizard Town, which will be available later this summer. We’re excited to see Gus go on his first snorkeling adventure!
Gull Island is available for purchase at the Gus Outdoors site for $12.95. If you enjoy getting your kids outdoors exploring nature, I highly recommend it!
THE GIVEAWAY
Gus Outdoors producer, writer, photographer and dad Sean Nightingale has been kind enough to offer a free copy of Gull Island to one lucky reader. To enter, leave a comment telling me about an adventure you’ve had exploring nature with a child.
The giveaway will run through midnight on Friday, May 14. The big explorer will be choosing the winner (at random) soon after. Good luck and I look forward to hearing about all of your adventures!
This post is part of the nature and children blog carnival hosted by Shannon at Backyard Mama. Stop on over today to see how others are connecting kids with nature.
Thank you to everyone for sharing your comments about nature adventures with little ones. Congratulation to the winner (picked at random by the big explorer): Crystal of http://semicrunchymama.com! Stop by and check out her site! 🙂
We have two piliated woodpeckers that live in the woods behind our house. I like to take my two boys out to look at the holes they've drilled in the dead trees. Once we got to watch one up close and the kids were spellbound.
This sounds like such a great DVD! <br /><br />Our most recent nature adventure was while playing in the yard at my parent's house yesterday. We discovered a bird's nest on the fence, and were able to safely see down into it from the porch above. My son was able to see the tiny, still feather-less chicks.
I'd love to watch this with my grandson, who is 6. He's always loved science shows and he's the one that leads me by the hand into this adventure.
What fun! Kids love watching kids adventures!<br />We recently spent some time straining pond mud to find larva… and watching the dragonfly nymph we are raising eat some larva and tadpoles. Wild stuff! We found out that pond life is not so quite afterall!
My four year old would love it! She loves anything about animals!
Oh my kids would love this! Lets see- my most recent nature adventure was an afternoon on the beach. Birds, waves, sand and seaweed. Whats not to love?
Super and fun!
Sounds like a cool DVD. There are so many outdoor adventures … today my boys made “snake traps” out of cardboard boxes and we went looking for snakes to catch. (Didn’t find any, thankfully!)
What a fun DVD. It's hard for me to narrow down one adventure exploring nature with a kid, but I'll go with the most recent. We went for a spring hike in the snow, threw snow into the creek, threw rocks into the creek and shuffled in the snow. Thanks for doing the giveaway!
I am glad you and your children liked it too. from what I understand a new DVD is in the works. KidsDiscoverNature.com will keep you posted.
That looks like a cute video! One of my fave adventures with Big Roo are the Mother's Day hikes we take each year. This will be our third one and it's always a blast!
very cool! i'm sure my little explorers (ages 6 and 4) would love this dvd! we're always outside. our latest adventure was a bug hunt on a walk near our house. we read about different kinds of bugs, then went out and found several of the bugs ourselves. we took pics, got them developed and are now in the process of making our own bug book! <br /><br />just recently found your blog and am
My boys are going to LOVE this! What a great new blog segment! We saw a similar size snake last week at our local wetlands. We all froze and it took the snake ages to slither away!