5 Easy Nature Study Suggestions for the End of April

If you have been too busy this month to keep up with the Outdoor Hour Challenge, you many want to consider this week a time to get a few final April nature study activities. If you blog about it, you are welcome to submit your link to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.

Five Easy Nature Study Suggestions for the End of April

1. Just get outside and take a walk! Informal nature study done while spending time together as a family is often the most meaningful. Get outside for a quick walk when you have a few minutes to spare. Printable Scavenger Hunt available from Hearts and Trees: Spring Nature Walk. You can also use my free Signs of Spring Notebook Page to follow up your walk.
2. Keep track of temperature for three days in a row. Record it in your nature journal to compare with future months. You can print and use my free Printable Weather Chart Notebook Page.
3. Observe clouds over the course of a week. Print out a Cloud Chart (scroll down and there are two choices). Record your cloud observations in your nature journal with sketches.
4. Complete a Seasonal Weather Notebook Page.
5. Finish the grid suggestions from the Apri 2012 Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter. Note: You will need to subscribe to my blog to receive the download link for the newsletter at the bottom of the next blog entry email.

Autumn 2010 OHC #10 November World-Familiar Spot and a Giveaway!

Autumn Series #10
November World

“Yet, with all my familiarity with this brook, I did not know it in the winter. Its pathway up into the winter woods was as unexplored as the arctic regions. Somehow, it was not a brook in the winter time. It was merely a dreary waste, as cold and as forbidding as death. The winter was only a season of waiting, and spring was always late.”
The Nature Study Idea, L.H. Bailey, contemporary of Anna Botsford Comstock.

Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 1-2 of the Handbook of Nature Study as a refresher. Mark and highlights points that you want to keep in mind before you embark on this last of the Autumn Series Challenges. How have these challenges awakened a love of nature study in your heart? What changes have you seen in your children as they have participated in a regular course of nature study? What practical and useful knowledge has your family gleaned from the “comprehension of the individual life of the bird, insect, or plant that is nearest at hand”?

Outdoor Hour Time:
Sometimes it is fun and interesting to revisit a familiar place in a different season. Perhaps you have a certain park you go to in the summer but you have not explored there in the autumn or winter months. There may be a trail or creek you explored as part of a previous Outdoor Hour Challenge and it might be interesting to go there now that the seasons have changed. If you are just starting out with the challenges, choose a place to visit this week that you can go back to in a future season.



Spend 15 minutes outdoors in your chosen spot and enjoy the November world. Use all your senses and let your children find something to show you. Remember not to talk too much or lead them but rather try to see what your children see. Sometimes it is nice to just to let something interesting come your way without a particular focus.

“The author can think of nothing she would so gladly do as to spend days and months with the birds, bees, and flowers with no obligation to tell what she should see. There is more than mere information in hours thus spent.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 7

So this challenge is really for the parents. Let the nature study unfold and then enjoy the time with your children. Be refreshed.

Follow-Up Activity:
For this challenge, leave the nature journal or notebook page as an option. If you child is inclined to complete a follow-up entry, make an opportunity for one but if they are content with just having spent time outdoors, there is no obligation to complete an entry.You might like to use my free Signs of Autumn notebook page.

As always see if they have any questions about their nature study time. Follow their lead by looking up the answers in the Handbook of Nature Study. Skim down the table of contents to see if there is a lesson covering what you child found interesting. If not, check your local library for a book to use as a resource. Last year we made a list of things to research during the winter. You can find a notebook page on which to list your things in this set of free notebook pages that I put together last month on Scribd.com: Autumn Series 2009 Notebook Pages.

Now for the giveaway details!

As a way to celebrate the end of another great season of nature study, I want to offer a nice giveaway to all those that complete the November World Challenge outlined above.

Complete your challenge by November 30, 2010, put your link in Mr. Linky and you will be entered to win a random drawing for one of two gifts.  
Giveaway has ended! Thanks to all the participants!

1. Moleskine Plain Notebook- Perfect for nature journaling!

or

2. A $10 gift certificate from NotebookingPages.com

If you do not have a blog but would still like to be entered in for the giveaway, you can email me with the details of your study and what your family discovered in your November World. I will be happy to enter you in if I receive your email before November 30, 2010. Please send your email entries to: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.

I will announce the winners on December 1, 2010.

What is in store for winter nature study? 

I am working on enhancing and supplementing the Winter Wednesday Challenges and making a Squidoo page to go along with them and I hope to have it all wrapped up and available in December some time. In the meantime, if you have not worked through the Winter Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges from the beginning of this year, you may want to check that ebook out and get prepared to work through those when you have the opportunity.


See this entry for a description.

You can see all the challenges listed under the tab at the top of the page labeled Winter Nature Study-Outdoor Hour Challenge. Have you see seasonal tabs at the top of my blog? I have worked hard this week to get the seasonal challenges moved and linked on the tabs so it is easier to navigate through the blog and find things that will help you in your nature study.

I want to thank all the Autumn Series participants for a wonderful season of nature study. I appreciate the community of like-minded families that have shared their experiences and encouragement with others. You are truly the best set of blog readers and supporters on the internet. 

Early Autumn: First of Many Walks

We took a long walk today to enjoy the last of the hot afternoons...we know they will be coming to an end soon. Here are a few things I want to share from our day.


This is a sure sign that autumn is coming quickly. The aspens are beginning to change color and the wind makes them shimmer and shake.


The Kokanee salmon are spawning and their green and red color is brilliant in the clear creek water.



The creek is very shallow and the salmon come here to lay their eggs and die. This becomes a habitat for eagles and bears and ducks this time of year. Can you guess why?


If you click this photo it will enlarage and you will see the outline of a bear at the bottom of the photo among the trees. She was on the other side of the creek sharing a salmon with her baby. We gave her a lot of space and the few of us that were there snapped a few photos and left her in peace.



The whole afternoon was picture postcard perfect.



The Pussy Paws are golden and the goldenrod is golden and the pines are green and the sky is blue......where are my paints?

This was a great afternoon and I feel so refreshed.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Nature Walks and Structure and Info About the Outdoor Hour

A reader recently commented, "Our nature hikes are not as structured as yours."

Hmmmmm...had to think on that one awhile.

I think sometimes people get confused about the Outdoor Hour Challenges. In our family, the reading and preparation work may be structured with particular topics and page numbers but the nature walks themselves are very unstructured and many times they happen spontaneously.

I always suggest 15-20 minutes for the Outdoor Hour Challenges but once our family gets started we usually spend much more time enjoying the outdoors together.

As we start a new area of focus, I perhaps remind the boys what we are looking for as we head out the door and into the backyard or off down the trail.

I might say something like, "I wonder if we will see any animal tracks today?"

Or something like, "Have you seen any wildflowers blooming yet?"

Many times though, as we work through a focus area we find that something else will capture our attention.

When we were in the desert, we were looking for tracks and burrows but when the wildflowers and lizards came across our path, we spent most of our time slowing down to observe what had caught our eye.


I noted before that the boys will let me know when I am interfering with their nature time. Not so much with their words but they will wander off on their own and enjoy the air and peace and quiet and leave me to my own investigation.


My husband and I enjoy our own nature study when the boys have decided climbing rocks and being silly are much more fun.


They enjoy nature study "tools" as well and they bring along whatever they think will be fun for the afternoon. Sometimes it is a pair of binoculars, sometimes the GPS, and sometimes the portable weather station. I just let them do their own thing and I do mine....which usually involves my camera and my nature journal.

For those of you that participate in the Outdoor Hour Challenges, please note that I have had HUGE computer issues this weekend and I am in the process of backing up ALL my files from my laptop because of some sort of spyware/adware/virus that has taken it over. My computer literate son is hoping to get it up and running tonight. This means that I am pressed for writing the Outdoor Hour Challenge for this week......new focus on birds. I haven't even started yet so unless I get a huge block of time between now and Friday, I may need to take a break this week and come back next week with a new challenge. I will keep you posted. (This all happened after I added my new blog background on Saturday from Cutest Blog on the Block....rather suspicious but I am not absolutely positive at this point if that is where it came from....just a caution.)

The other note that I wanted to share is with the new focus on birds, I am going to be attempting to help you start using a field guide. I have two that I think will work well together and provide field guide experience on two different levels.

If you want to use the recommended resources, I will list them below and you can see if you have them already on your shelf or if you can find them at your library. They will not be absolutely necessary to complete the challenges but if you want a great way to teach your children about field guides, I highly recommend getting one of them or both of them to supplement the Handbook of Nature Study.

I think we are all ready for a change of focus. I had a lot of requests for switching to birds this time around so I hope some of you will be happy with what I have planned and then with what you learn alongside your children.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom


For younger children and/or beginning birders.


This field guide is the one that our family uses the most lately. You may need to purchase the Eastern version of the field guide for you family depending on where you live in the United States.

Nature Study with VERY Young Children

I had an email from Dana and she has a one year old. She was asking for some tips on how to get started with nature study with very little ones who are prone to putting things in their mouth....she lives in Tanzania, Africa and is worried about bugs and poisonous plants.

I have been thinking about her situation and decided that it isn't any different from those of us who live in other parts of the world. Having a young toddler and providing an opportunity for nature study is pretty much the same anywhere. When children are very young, it is only natural that they want to explore in a way that is meaningful to them and sometimes that means putting things in their mouth. Our job as parents is to provide a safe environment for them to explore. Just like you baby-proof your home to ensure your toddler can play and learn in a safe environment, you can baby-proof an outdoor area for your child as well. The space doesn't need to be large. It could be a blanket on the grass or sand, a patch of grass or weeds that is near where you hang laundry or tend a garden, even a spot on the patio with a few potted plants and natural items to explore.

"As for the baby, when he is put down, he will kick and crawl and grab at the grass, loving every minute of his freedom as he takes in nature in his own way. He should be dressed in something comfortable that can handle a bit of dirt and play." Charlotte Mason, Volume 1, page 45

Nature study at this age is something you will want to do together to spark interest and to start the process of learning to be a good observer.

"..the mother must not miss this opportunity of being outdoors to train the children to have seeing eyes, hearing ears and seeds of truth deposited into their minds to grow and blossom on their own in the secret chambers of their imaginations." Charlotte Mason, Volume 1, page 45

What does this mean in a practical way? Our yard has lots of things to explore so many times we would just walk around our own backyard together. There were rocks to turn over and look at what was hiding underneath.....ants and spiders and crickets. There were plants to smell like roses, thyme, and lavender. There were trees to touch and leaves to gather. It is fun to have a few items that they can take on their walks like nets, buckets, pouches, binoculars, or magnifying lenses. We kept our outdoor tools in a crate outside the back door.

We always had a vegetable garden so the little ones would accompany us outside to water, weed, and harvest. I tried to make sure that there were things growing that they liked to eat so they could harvest and eat the veggies right out in the garden....peas and beans were some of their favorites. They almost always had their own "garden" where they were free to dig and explore under my supervision. Most little ones have no fear worms and spiders so it is the perfect time to nurture their love for those sorts of things.

Digging in the dirt is great therapy for children and adults as well. The fragrance of damp soil and fresh earth leave imprints on our minds that last into the winter season. As we would weed, I would point out the plant parts like roots and stem. Even if all you have is a pot or two on your porch or deck, this will provide a great start to learning more about the plant world.

Once you decide you want to venture out of the yard, the stroller is a great way to get the little ones out but still let them be a part of our nature time. You can point things out to get them started but soon they will be looking for clouds and birds on their own. Be flexible. I have one child that would rather push the stroller than sit and ride so I would tell him that he had to keep a hand on the stroller as we walked along at his pace. This kept him from running too far ahead and I could interact with him as interesting things caught our eye. This gave him a little sense of freedom but I could be in close supervision.


Have you ever smelled the sulfur/rotten egg smell of a mud pot? This photo was taken in Lassen National Park and the looks on their faces tells you that it is not a pleasant smelling place....except for maybe Amanda and she has always been a smiley girl no matter what.

From a very early age, we included the little ones along on our family hikes. The baby backpack was our best friend and the boys both loved riding along on dad's back as we hiked. We trained them to ride in the backpack and then gradually shift them to walking on their own.


From the age of three, we geared our hikes to allow the littlest ones to hike as much as possible on their own. This meant a slower pace and a shorter distance but it was very enjoyable to see the trail from their eyes and to follow their lead from time to time.

"Adults should realize that the most valuable thing children can learn is what they discover themselves about the world they live in. Once they experience first-hand the wonder of nature, they will want to make nature observation a life-long habit." Charlotte Mason, Volume 1, page 61

Nature study at an early age is about exposure and a growing awareness of what is surrounding you at all times. Your enthusiasm is so crucial to capturing your child's interest. Think about what interests you about the outdoors and then come up with a way to involve your children.

Here are some ideas that I have used over the years:
One of our favorite daily activities when the boys were very small was to let them use a small watering can to water our deck plants each morning. We would observe the flowers and play in the water a little but they began to have an appreciate for growing things. Growing marigolds in a pot is something we did a lot when the boys were little.

The boys also have always loved helping to fill the birdfeeders. This would get us outdoors and talking about the different visitors we had that ate the seeds. Scooping seed was a favorite toddler activity as well.

Collecting things to bring home and organize is a great toddler activity. I have one son that always had a pocket full of acorns every time he went outside. We collected them in a coffee can each day and he enjoyed spilling them out on the deck to count and sort through on his own.

Rocks, feathers, sticks, and shells can all be kept on a nature table. Many times these natural items were mixed in with their imaginative play. Block cities had acorn people and Hotwheel cars rode over stick bridges. This was another way to have them enjoy their time outdoors.

Two very dirty little boys having the time of their lives on a hike.

Indoor props could come outdoors to be played with in their dirt cities. I had a tub with a few things like plastic animals, toy cars, spoons, cups, scraps of fabric, and anything else that could serve as accessories to their imaginative outdoor play. They would add in leaves, cones, seeds, and other bits to make pretend villages and cities. On hot days we would include water in our play in the form of a bucket or tub.

Start to look at the outdoors as an extension of your indoor life....a really big play room. Include your little ones along with your outdoor activities. The simple act of taking a daily walk together will provide more than enough fuel to start the nature study engine. Take it slowly and enjoy seeing the world through your little one's eyes.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

All the photos in this entry are of my kids when they were very, very much younger than they are now. This was a great photo scanning project and it brought back so many nature related memories. Don't waste time...get started with nature study as soon as you can with your little ones because it is a great way to build your family and your relationships.

Urchins on Oaks?

We took our usual walk the other day but we found something unusual.

These little pink growths were attached all over the leaves on the ground and we brought one home to identify it. I had an idea that it was gall of some sort but I thought it would be interesting to see if we could come up with an exact identification.


I Googled "pink gall oak" and here are a few of the things I found.

CalPhotos: Urchin Gall
Bingo!

Nature's Oddballs
Fascinating article with a great explanation of galls.


So there you have it.
Urchin Gall Wasp Antron quercusechinus

"There are many forms of these gall dwellings, and they may grow upon the root, branch, leaf, blossom, or fruit. The miraculous thing about each of them is that each kind of insect builds its magical house on a certain part of a certain species of tree or plant; and the house is always of a certain definite form on the outside and of a certain particular pattern within."
Handbook of Nature Study, page 335

You can read more about galls in the Handbook on pages 335-338.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Note to self: The Nature Handbook, page 49-50

Winter Break Walks-Time That Speeds By

American mistletoe-Phoradendron leucarpum

"The teacher may judge as to her own progress in nature-study by the length of time she is glad to spend in reading from nature's book what is therein written. As she progresses, she finds those hours spent in studying nature speed faster, until a day thus spent seems but an hour."
Handbook of Nature Study, page 7

She is not a little pup anymore. She is only six months old but she is a good size dog already. She loves to walk with us on our rambles in the woods. She loves to explore and sniff and encourage us to go a little further each time. My son affectionately calls her the Lovable Labrador but her real name is Kona.

Even though we have been on a break from our regular school studies, we are still making time for lots of nature walks. It is the perfect time to enjoy each other's company and to share some adventures.

Today on our walk we had the unmistakable scent of a skunk just about the whole trip down the canyon and back up again. We didn't see the skunk at any time but he was very close by. We have been seeing signs of other animals along the trail....some holes scratched in the trail's bank and lots of mole holes in the little clearing. The buckeye fruits are starting to be nibbled on and left by the side of the path. The trails off into the woods are becoming more distinct as the ground become wet and the animals follow the same path every time....muddy trails up the banks and off to the deep part of the wood.

There are plenty of interesting things to look at as we walk along. This winter weed is pretty all brown and full of velcro-like stickers.


The ferns are really growing now and the shades of green found in the different varieties are showing very clearly.


With all the leaves gone from this oak, you can see clearly the mistletoe growing up on the branches.


Here is a try at a close-up of the mistletoe hanging up high in the tree. I could not find any information on mistletoe in the Handbook of Nature Study which surprised me.

I am testing out a new book (see below) for my boys to use in their nature study....something with a little more depth than the Handbook. I am looking for a book that will supplement the Handbook of Nature Study when it does not cover particular subjects that we have in our area of the world. I am beginning to think it is totally unreasonable to expect any one book to cover all the bases and that is why I am going to be checking out a few other resources for our family to use. I will keep you posted how this book works out for us over the next few months.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Wildflower Walk-Purple Chinese Houses, White Globe Lily, Indian Pink, and More

Trail with poppies-it is a steep hike but very rewarding

It was a family hike day down our near-by trail. We just discovered this trail over the winter and have now been hiking it for the last few months regularly. We are finding that every time we venture down it, we find something new and exciting waiting for us.

This afternoon we found lots of new wildflowers blooming, some familiar and some new to us. We also saw at least three different kinds of butterflies and heard a new bird but never discovered who it was.....shy bird with a lovely call. We need to come back with binoculars and spend some time quietly sitting and waiting with a field guide.

"Everyone should have the privilege of enjoying the natural beauty of the countryside. Such enjoyment is impossible if a relatively small number of people insist on picking and destroying native plants for their own selfish interests."
Handbook of Nature Study, page 460-461

Here are some of the beauties we saw on this particular hike.

Some kind of pea flowering on a vine.


California Indian Pink....showy color and you couldn't miss it!


Purple Chinese Houses
These are some of my favorite wildflowers. Not only are they purple but they are really big. On this trail they line both sides as you walk the upper part.


White Globe Lily or as we call them Fairy Lanterns. They are also know as Snowdrops, Indian Bells and Satin Bells. Whatever you call them, so pretty.


This is a new flower to us. I love the little purple dot on each petal and the yellow center. The interesting stems and leaves make this unusual shape. They were all over the trail...in the center as well as the edge. I have not identified this wildflower yet....any ideas?


This was so sweet smelling as we hiked along...deer bush, California lilac, or wild lilac. The bees loved it.

This was a wonderful way to spend our Green Hour this weekend. So many families have thanked me for starting the Green Hour Challenges but the reality is that this whole process has blessed me more than you can imagine. I have renewed zeal for finding ways of weaving nature study into our life too. It has been a mutually beneficial experience. :) So thank you to all you families who are participating.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Nature Study and Toddlers

I recently helped a friend with some advice on how to have nature study with your school-age children with your sweet toddler tagging along. I thought you all might like to hear what I shared with her.

---

Here's what I related to her about my experience with nature journals:
Nature study is not so much about the journals, it's about the experience of being out-of-doors. It's great when it culminates in a nature journal entry but if it doesn't....no big deal. You said you wanted to instill a love for nature and you could quite possibly be already doing that just by focusing a bit of time outside. Let your kids direct you when you have the time to wander the yard or the neighborhood. Don't expect anything and don't try to force it.

Here's what we would do when the boys were younger:
I would send the boys outside and let them play. I find that if they get that initial burst of energy out they are ready to get down and focus on something.I would go with them and just wander the yard. I might find something of interest and call them over. "Hey guys look at this!"

It worked sometimes.....or they would do the same to me. "Look at that spider on the slide mom, do you know what it is?"

This was usually followed but utter horror by me because I am not a "bug person". I would usually go over and look at it and then I would point something out like how many legs it had or what color it was. Later when we were finished playing, we would go inside and I would pull out the journals. They could draw whatever they wanted as long as they narrated back to me what it was. I would write the labels or as they got older, they would write the labels. If we felt like it, we would look up in a field guide whatever it was we had drawn. I have a lot of the Audubon field guides so we could usually find something in there. I found the internet to be a great help.

Let your younger one do things like leaf rubbings or texture drawings for his very own nature journal. Send him on a scavenger hunt while you work with your daughter. "Go get me a leaf." "Find a rock." "Can you find a bug in the grass?" "Find me something brown." Just something to get him involved.

We handle nature journals a little differently now that they are older but you get the idea. Take a walk or just go to the park, there will always be something to draw their attention to. They have to learn to notice things and then it is easier.

Also remember you have *years* to work on your nature journal. My daughter that is 21 years old still works in her nature journal. It is sort of a "life project".

Enjoy God's creation!
Barb
Harmony Art Mom

Outdoor Hour Challenge #1: Nature Walk Notes

We successfully completed our Green Hour Challenge yesterday. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go for a nature hike. I had seen a sign a couple miles from our house that looked like it was the beginning of a trailhead. How could I have never put the effort into stopping and finding out before? It seems strange that such a gorgeous trail could be that close to my house and we had never walked it before. The Green Hour Challenge put it into my head to go ahead and give it a try. Here are a few photos of things we saw.

Delicate lavender flowers among miner's lettuce.

Ferns lined the trail on the way down the canyon. I love this photo so much that it is now the background image on my nature blog.

I have no idea what this bloom is but it was so unusual that I decided to try to identify it when we got home. Did you see the insect on it?
After we hiked this trail a bit we made our way back to the car and went down to the river to explore.

So here are some rocks along the river's edge. We decided that this week we are going to try to identify the pink and the green rocks in this photo. I have an idea of what they are but we are going to do some research and find out for sure.

Here is another shot of the green rock.

Here is a photo of the American River where we spent some time on our Green Hour Challenge. Can you believe this river flows about 4 miles away from our front door?

Who can go to the river without throwing a few rocks in?

It was getting late but we were enjoying ourselves so much that we lost track of time. The dog in this photo just appeared at the river's edge and convinced the boys to throw some sticks into the water so he could jump in and fetch them. My boys loved this added feature of our nature walk. :)

So that ends our first Green Hour Challenge. I got my reading done (I've read it before but I took the time to reread it.) We spent our time walking outdoors together. We found two things to investigate further. We had a wonderful time.

Success.

Winter Nature Walk-Boy's View

I was sick with the flu this weekend so my boys decided yesterday afternoon to talk a walk without me....the afternoon was bright and sunny in between a cloudy morning and a snowy evening.

Here are some photos they took on their walk to share with me when they returned home.

Love the sky in this one!

Here is a view coming down the walking trail with a beautiful perspective of someone's house with a horse in the yard. (click to make the photo larger and you will see the black horse by the house)

That fits our mammal study. We haven't ever really learned about horses but we can now in the Handbook of Nature Study on pages 274-280.

Anna Botsford Comstock says:
"Begin this study of the horse with stories of wild horses."

I have the whole collection of Marguerite Henry books on my shelf and I don't think my boys have ever read them. I know we read Brighty of the Grand Canyon on a road trip to the Grand Canyon but other than that, they have not tasted the delights of King of the Wind, Misty-Stormy's Foal, Justin Morgan Had a Horse, or any of the other wonderful books about horses that I read as a child. I need to dust those off and encourage the boys to read them. You can see my sidebar to find some of these wonderful horse stories that you can use along with your nature study with your children.

One last photo from their walk. Here is the llama that I have shared before but this time he was way down by the fence so the boys could take a photo of his head peeking out from the bushes.

Even though I didn't get to go with boys on their walk, I did get to enjoy the stories and the photos.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom