Nature Studies for the Littles

Happy Spring, dear friends! We are thrilled to see the seasons change and to be able to fill our nature boxes and journals with more treasures. Here's a little bit about the nature studies program we use and a couple special activities that have become a favorites.

Nature Journals & Scavenger Hunts

We are blessed to have a wooded area filled with nature's treasures on our property. As we walk through the little paths we've created, the girls scoop up seed pods, acorns, leaves, flowers, moss covered bark, and the occasional bug. Everything they find is a treasure to them and I am left to figure out where we are going to put all of it! Hello, nature boxes! Yes, we have a lot them, but I adore how much the girls love to pull them out and ooh and aah over each special find.

We used several of the nature related units from The Good and the Beautiful. I was so inspired by them! The pictures were delightful and the message and information was spot on.

One of the inspirations I received was to create a scavenger hunt. Our first nature scavenger hunt was a big success. The girls were particularly engaged and excited. Each girl got her own egg carton and a card with 12 items to find. As they scoured the ground, they soon found each of the items on the card. [I made sure to make the cards with pictures of things I knew we had a lot of!] Then, we rushed to the school room to put all their finds in the natural journals. [Here is a similar style notebook that I bought, here.

Before we got started recording in our nature journals, we laid out everything on the table and grabbed our nature book to see if we could identify what each item was named. The girls painted or drew a picture in the nature journal for each treasured find. The two older ones copied the name of the item for their writing practice, too.

Because our scavenger hunt was such a hit, we do them regularly now. Like when our Arthropod Unit arrived (also from The Good and the Beautiful) and we found that scavenging for dragonflies in the pond was the perfect time to search for minnows, flies, nymphs, and tadpoles, too!

Nature Collages

Our little unit on bees and wasps was just what we needed. Suddenly, bees were no longer scary but something exciting to observe! We completed the assignments from our The Good and Beautiful curriculum, made watercolor bees, constructed a little hive from construction paper, checked out ALL the books on bees and wasps from the library, discussed the Be Attitudes, and made a life cycle craft. Each day, we made it a habit to add something to our collage. When the unit was completed, we enjoyed chatting and reminiscing about all we had learned! Collages are a fun way to display your homeschool work!

What Studying Nature Means to Me

I am so thankful for a testimony of God's creations. This is such a beautiful Earth we live on! Admiring nature has always brought me a greater appreciation for the loveliness around us and I want to share that with my girls. Studying nature is one of my favorite ways to teach and share about God's love for us.

-Andrea

Andrea's Favorite Things for the Schoolroom:

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