I've Got Sunshine Adventures

28/09/2020

It is a great time, especially during these times, to bring our children outside. Let them explore the wonder of the trees and flowers and to listen to the birds. Children who become familiar with nature will have a space to go to when they experience stress and can find comfort during a pandemic by making friends with the butterflies and other wildlife in their very own backyards.

27/03/2020

This guided meditation is sooooo good for the little ones. We’ve tried it at camps and it’s highly effective for calming and resetting.

Download our App for free: Apple iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/new-horizon-kids-meditation/id1457179117 #? Google Play (Android): https://play.google.com...

11/03/2020

🐢Turtle time 🐢

It's that time of year, please slow down. If you see a turtle crossing, move them in the direction that their traveling. They're persistent and will just turn around and give it another go

05/03/2020

Such great information!

https://www.plantcityobserver.com/attracting-wildlife-florida-native-plants/

by Cammie Donaldson and Deven Higginbotham | Florida Native Plant Society Do you want to attract birds and butterflies to your yard? Wildlife needs food, water and cover, and can only live where these needs are met. Florida’s plants and animals, from bobcats and deer to the tiniest insects, have c...

05/03/2020

Awe 💚

29/02/2020

It’s almost time for hummingbirds to migrate through Florida! Here is a gentle reminder to keep an eye out for them and to protect them and their little, tiny eggs. “Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) - Native and most common hummingbirds in Florida between early to mid-March and usually leave by the end of October. Migrating males are usually the first to arrive and the first to depart. The females and the young usually follow about two weeks later.” -Beauty of Birds

https://returntonow.net/2019/08/15/watch-out-for-hummingbird-nests-when-pruning-branches-us-fish-and-wildlife-service-urges-gardeners/

Critically endangered hummingbird eggs are smaller than jellybeans, here’s how to spot and protect them: “Hummingbird eggs are tiny, about the size of jelly beans! Please remember to carefully check for nests before you trim trees and shrubs,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently urged ...

20/02/2020

Citizen science alert!!
Help horseshoe crabs by resorting their sightings to the FWC. Just click on the info below for more info and click on the “survey” to participate.

https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/crustaceans/horseshoe-crabs/citizen-watch/?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=campaign

Survey: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/e7946f74bcda43128eea82690b95047a?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=campaign

Citizen Watch

19/02/2020

We can all ban together to give our pollinators and other insects a fighting chance just by planting a few native plants. Planting native means less human interventions (fertilizer, water, etc) so definitely do research before purchasing.

Replacing grass with even a few plants native to your region can save insects and the ecosystems that depend on them.

19/02/2020

So cool! What a great resource 🦉🐌🦗🦂

Billed as the world's largest open access digital archive dedicated to life on Earth, the Biodiversity Heritage Library is comprised of animal sketches, historical diagrams, botanical studies, and various scientific research collected from hundreds of thousands of journals and libraries around the g

17/01/2020

Someone asked the other day for the best field guide to trees- hands down the very best guides are the Audubon Societies field guides to trees, birds, Florida and more! These are the essentials for discovering the natural world around us!

02/11/2019

We feel like a lot of us can agree. 🌿💚🦉

https://returntonow.net/2019/03/22/study-kids-who-grow-up-surrounded-by-nature-become-happier-adults/

The more “green space” kids grow up surrounded by, the fewer psychiatric problems they have later in life, a new 30-year-study finds. Growing up in a home surrounded by trees and vegetation, rather than city buildings, lowers children’s risk of psychiatric disorders in adolescence and adulthoo...

12/09/2019

Some of my fondest memories as a child were not things, they were nature adventures with my father. 🌿💚

https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/best-stem-toy-for-kids-playing-outside/

Toys designed to help children learn about the world teach them a lot less than a short walk in the woods.

07/09/2019

At I’ve got sunshine we are fortunate enough to work with and alongside our local Girl Scout troops aka the future leaders of America and we’re pretty excited about this new patch!! thanks for sharing Calusa Horn 💙🐋🐟

We teamed up with Girl Scouts Nation's Capital and other partners to develop a new Endangered Species patch. To earn this patch, Girl Scouts must complete a five-step process to explore, investigate, create, experience, and present information about plants and animals that are protected under the Endangered Species Act. It’s a great way to engage the next generation of female leaders and introduce them to the challenges facing many species, including marine species: https://go.usa.gov/xV9eZ

05/09/2019

Good to know stuff!
http://apps.npr.org/plastics-recycling/?utm_source=morning_brew

Knowing what to recycle is confusing. Here's a look at the process, from store to recycling facility.

27/08/2019

We agree wholeheartedly !

Natural environment has been critical in shaping our species and how we have evolved over millennia. As nations worldwide continue to tackle climate change-related issues, many have identified that the next generation will need to be educated about the challenges ahead of them.

13/07/2019

STEM project at its best! Their assignment was to create an invention that would safely transport their insects from the 2nd floor to the ground. What they came up with was OUT of this 🌎!

11/07/2019

Summer camp fun with Two Fish Therapy Services for Schools of Kids 💙💦⛈

Back at Camp! Starting our day with a fun listening game! Jamie read a passage and the kiddos had to pass the butterfly every time they heard the word rain. 🦋 👂 🤛

Did you know that Auditory discrimination is the ability to hear differences between sounds? Listening games like this one help kids build great discrimination and attention skills for listening!

So much fun they had no idea they were working! St. Petersburg College STEM Center at Bay Pines

03/07/2019

This Independence Day, let's celebrate the freedom of our feathered friends and be mindful of their nests and the amount of stress that they endure each time that thousands of humans flock to their homes on the sandy shores of Florida.

27/06/2019

We're ( ) having a blast at camp with our little entomologists 🐜🐞🐝

31/05/2019

Well, that's just adorable.

We need bees. They're the world's most important pollinator of food crops. In fact, it is estimated that one third of the food that we consume each day relies on pollination mainly by bees. But as much as we are used to seeing them buzzing with work, they need their beauty sleep as well. Recently, w...

31/05/2019

This week we got to hang with the , learning new activities and nourishing our outdoor education skills at this amazing facility in Apollo Beach, FL. So great to be around like minds. @ Florida Youth Conservation

27/05/2019

🌼🌱It's officially summer here in FL and you know what that means!?!? It's mosquito season! Do yourselves a favor and go ahead and plant some mint, lemon thyme, rosemary, sage....... all of the above. One of these is bound to work!🍃🌱

https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/12-plants-that-repel-unwanted-insects

These herbs and flowers can shoo pests from your garden and skin.

24/05/2019

We're not sure about you guys but we've been seeing some Opossums around in the urban areas these days. So we thought we'd share 5 random things about these Florida native marsupials.

1. They may look scary but they are more scared than scary and mean you no harm. Best just to ignore them and let them be free.

2.(95%) of their kind cannot and will not ever contract rabies (so awesome).

3. If you find one in your garbage can just tip it over so they can make their way out safely. Trust us, they don't want to stay there. Also, They prefer to live in trees so if they are at your house, you must have a food source somewhere.

4. They are relly good mamas and take very good care of their young.

5. They eat SO MANY ticks, yet they can't contract lyme disease. They also eat small rodents as well as the slugs and snails that eat your garden (good job guys).

Living in Florida is a wild adventure so let's do our best to COEXIST with our wild neighbors. For more information about these neat creatures, go to https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/mammals/land/opossum/

23/05/2019

It's WORLD TURTLE DAY so we thought we'd share some thoughts on how to coexist with some of the world's most beautiful creatures, the sea turtle, courtesy of our friends at Defenders of Wildlife! Oh, and if you ever want to go beyond just being a responsible human, check out the Sea Turtle Trackers or Sea Turtle Conservancy organizations to donate to their efforts or to lend a helping hand.

Also, check out the video below on the return of this rare and critically endangered Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle nesting in Clearwater, just beautiful!!!
https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2019/05/10/critically-endangered-sea-turtle-makes-nest-in-clearwater-area #

22/05/2019

Cooooooooooooooooooolllllllll!!
https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/how-identify-different-types-bees

And wasps and hornets and yellow jackets and other flying insects.

21/05/2019

There is just SO much to love about these little "ladies" ❤🌹

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/surprising-facts-about-ladybugs

What's not to love about ladybugs? They eat crop-destroying pests, and are said to bring good luck. Here are 5 facts you may not know about them.

20/05/2019

Finally!! We can all be free of the guilt that we feel when our lawns aren't perfect! If you can't go "xeriscape" style- just go ahead and let it be a meadow =)

https://www.mnn.com/your-home/at-home/blogs/lazy-lawn-mowers-bees?fbclid=IwAR2THeVkGtgVaSCpbi3ZUuorF2hZ5OjufomNm0ho7KZEe6cGCwDsDdBdbKo

Mowing less often can benefit your local bees, a new study finds.

10/05/2019

It's springtime so that means mama and papa birds are working hard to build their nests and raise their babies and fledglings. Birds will use all of their available resources and unfortunately, sometimes in urban environments all they can find is plastic and plastic like remnants. This nest is both beautiful and sad. Let's do our best everyone to rid our Mother Earth of these tiny bits so we can protect the tiny living things

06/05/2019

"This sounds like a great excuse for a girl's trip"- and we could not agree more!

https://shareably.net/girl-trip-happier-life/?utm_source=page&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=people&fbclid=IwAR1f_CL3I_86mx7fmEfPFnnaadGoyMwxhasxkbzuAvgGIlC58k7ChMMahL0

Having a close group of girlfriends and making time to be together and even take a few trips has been shown to increase satisfaction and even lead to a longer life.

04/05/2019

Don't forget! Today is your chance to give back to our feathered friends!

https://ebird.org/globalbigday