Storytime & Photo Safari
Storytime & Photo Safari is a literacy rich and tech supported outdoor exploration program for children and their caregivers. The session blends shared reading with hands on nature photography to build observation, vocabulary, curiosity, and early digital skills.
Caregiver Tips
Caregivers can support their child’s experience by helping them hold tablets steady, encouraging them to look closely at textures and shapes, and modeling curiosity during the outdoor walk. They may assist with reading new vocabulary, guide children in framing photos, or help them notice small details they might otherwise overlook.
Families are encouraged to continue observing nature at home, take more photos together, and explore outdoor spaces with the same sense of curiosity used during the program.
Program Overview
The program begins indoors with a nature themed picture book and continues outdoors with a guided photo safari where children use tablets to photograph plants, insects, textures, and shapes. Participants learn how simple technology can support scientific discovery while connecting the outdoor experience to the story shared at the beginning of the session.
Audience
Designed for children ages four to eight and their caregivers and adaptable for preschool and early elementary groups.
Seek Variation
This program can be adapted for tech savvy kids without their adult companions with Seek by iNaturalist for the outdoor photo safari. Seek identifies plants, insects, fungi, and other organisms in real time without requiring an account or login, which makes it more simple. Children can explore freely and take photos while seeing instant on screen identifications. Since Seek does not upload observations to the community science database, those who wish to contribute their discoveries can save the photos or take screenshots in Seek and upload them later with the help of programming staff or any adult using an iNaturalist account.
Caregiver Tips
Caregivers can support their child’s experience by setting up the iNaturalist app, helping the child hold devices steady, encouraging them to look closely at textures and shapes, and modeling curiosity during the outdoor walk. They may assist with reading new vocabulary, guide children in framing photos, or help them notice small details they might otherwise overlook.
Families are encouraged to continue observing nature at home, take more photos together, and explore outdoor spaces with the same sense of curiosity used during the program.
Program Length
Fifteen minutes of storytime, twenty minutes of outdoor exploration, and ten minutes for photo sharing, optional uploading if you are using the Seek variation, and wrap up.
Preparation Checklist
Provide a nature themed picture book along with tablets or kid friendly digital cameras. Optional materials include scavenger prompt sheets, clipboards, pencils, device wipes, and a projector or screen for viewing photos indoors.
Running the Program
Begin by welcoming families and introducing the idea of observing nature closely during the outdoor walk. Read a nature themed picture book and highlight vocabulary or details that may show up during the safari. Give a simple demonstration of the tablet camera and review outdoor safety. Guide children outside to look for interesting plants, insects, textures, and shapes to photograph and encourage them to look closely and explore with curiosity. Return indoors to share favorite photos, upload their findings, and connect discoveries back to the story. Close with a brief reflection and offer families an optional booklist or nature challenge to continue observing at home.
Learning Outcomes
Children build early literacy skills through shared reading, strengthen observation and vocabulary, explore the natural environment with curiosity, practice basic digital camera skills, and learn how simple technology supports scientific discovery.
Accessibility
Accessibility supports include simplified camera instructions, magnifying glasses for analog exploration, or modification to make this into a passive program where participants are given instructions and set their own pace.
Take it to the next level
Consider creating a temporary indoor nature wall of participant photos, printing photos as keepsakes, inviting local naturalists with kid friendly programming, partnering with Fish Wildlife and Parks to use one of their physical wildlife trunks, or offering follow up programs as suggested within this virtual programming collection.
