Summer 2022
Summer Camp: SEL Made Easy
With summer camp starting, it is always helpful to have quick and easy community-building activities to include in your program. Here are five Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) activities, modified from our Everyday Circles toolkit, specifically designed to foster positive interactions with other people, animals, and the natural world. These activities will fit well into any summer camp, while supporting participants in getting to know each other and develop healthy relationships. Wishing everyone a happy summer camp season!
A Warbler's Journey Classroom Guide
HEART and The Gryphon Press are partnering together again to offer a free classroom guide to accompany a new children's book publication, A Warbler's Journey, written by bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize nominee Scott Weidensaul. The story features three culturally diverse families, fosters awe for the incredible endurance demonstrated through bird migration, and inspires reverence for the natural world. This is conveyed through the beautiful storytelling and illustrations that portray the journey of a small yellow warbler from her winter home in Nicaragua to her summer home in Northern Canada. The lessons support reading comprehension, and are aligned to academic learning standards and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies.
For the free classroom guide, go to The Gryphon Press's Educator Resources page and click on the first blue DOWNLOAD GUIDE button halfway down the page.
Lesson topics include:
  • Bird (Yellow Warbler) Migration and Behavior
  • Ecosystems and Food Webs
  • Appreciation for Cultural Diversity
  • Organic, Shade-Grown Agriculture and Fair Trade
  • Climate Change
Supporting Children As Humane Educators
In preparing for summer programs, it is important to remember that many young people are facing unprecedented difficulties in their lifetimes. As HEART Humane Educator Kristina Hulvershorn explains in her blog, It can be so challenging to know how to help the students or children in your life cope with complex world events like climate change, war, and myriad other issues. We walk a fine line as humane educators because we understand that children deserve the truth about the world around them but also know that not every child is ready. Continue reading the full blog for 6 Strategies to Help Children Cope With Challenging Times.
Find Great Resources in the Member Center
Trying to start or expand your humane education program? Looking for camp activities? Want a new book idea? Need a new lesson? Search no further. Check out our Network Member Center and peruse the "Bulletin Archive" to find a wide range of helpful humane education resources. When you visit, you can also access the HEART Network member logo to display on your email signature or website.
Collaborate with Network Members
The HEART Network private group provides an opportunity for you and other Network members to ask questions, start discussions, share resources, collaborate, access additional humane education tools, and more.

Join the group today by following this step-by-step instruction guide explaining how to join through Maddie's Pet Forum on the Maddie's Fund website. 
Spread the Word!
Let your friends and colleagues know that it is free to join the HEART Network, and that signing up takes less than five minutes on our Network registration page.
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