Monday, March 22, 2010

Hello, Spring

I wanted to try out a fun nature study I saw at Barbara's site. The idea is to section off a square of land and study all of the nature you can see in that one space. We had two wonderfully warm days last week, and I could not wait to get outside. I set up a space and told the kids to investigate it. It is amazing how much nature can be found in one little space. They saw clover, mini flowers, rocks, worms, nettles, grass, and a pine cone.




They had fun with this and even dug down to see what was under the grass. They quickly got distracted by worms and off they went to find more. At least they kept the worms outside this time. LOL!

Over the weekend, we took an early morning walk on a nature trail nearby. We came prepared to do a bit of a river study but found all of the unique formations of the trees to be more exciting. 





Little Red Riding Hood found the number 17 in two sticks. She was very pleased with them.

We walked about 2 miles of this trail. It was starting to rain and some were getting tired, so we left the rest of the trail for another day.


We went down to the river for a little bit to skip stones. My dh can skip a stone all the way across the river to the other bank. He is teaching the kids how to do it, too. Tom Sawyer and Timothy both can make their stones skip about three times. It is all in finding the perfect stone and flexing your wrist just the right way. At least, that is what the boys say. I was more interested in making sure that I did not fall through any crevices in the rocks and meet up with a sleeping snake. Tim, our naturalist son, told us that this was a perfect location for snakes, and we were probably surrounded by dozens of sleeping snakes. YUCK! Whose idea was it to come out on a nature walk anyway? LOL!  I hope you all have a blessed week and get outside.

Blessings, Dawn

11 comments:

  1. I love the nature study idea! I'll have to try that (although I predict the same worm outcome that you had!). The nature walk looks nice, too. My kids lose track of time when skipping stones. Glad you didn't meet up with any sleepy snakes... :)

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  2. www.thepiratemom.comMarch 23, 2010 at 9:22 AM

    Love that squaring off idea! May have to try that sometime...


    ~Kellie

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  3. "Sleepy snakes," that is so funny! Your Little Red Riding Hood is a doll, love that smile.

    Regarding the history fair, is it not possible for you to head something like that up where you live? Maybe, you could present the idea to your "group" of homeschoolers and see if someone takes off with it. Forgive me if I'm being to presumptious as to your having a "homeschooling group." We have a very large "fellowship" that is very supportive of new ideas and coops so I guess I tend to think all other homeschoolers have that goin' for them.

    Thanks for commenting at my place and hope your week is going great.

    Enjoying spring here, Julie :-)

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  4. Fun nature study idea. Sounds like the "One Small Square" books. Are you familiar with those? If not, I think you would enjoy them. They are set in various habitats/locations/nature areas. Are you going to do the square again or just a one time thing? I think I could do this! Thanks for sharing.


    I'm chuckling at your snake comment - though I might not have been if I were there.


    Blessings

    Leslie

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  5. I absolutely LOVE love love hearing about your nature adventures. I love seeing how your whole family joins in. I am hoping to do more nature study this coming year. It was great when my oldest two were young. Now I have to revive it with the others. My second sometimes feels too old.((sigh))


    Blessings and ((HUGS)) my SSiC

    In Him<><

    -Mary


    PS: I sure wished you all lived closer. I would have you all over in a heartbeat. ((hugs))

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  6. Love these pics! It looks like everyone is having fun! Interesting tree trunks! We/ve been having exceptionally nice weather off and on but still havent made it on a nature walk. We did do the zoo which the kids enjoyed!


    Mrs Darling

    http://peterpanandfamily.blogspot.com

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  7. Congratulations! I just noticed that you were Blogger of the Week.

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  8. I love, love the idea of sectioning off a piece of the yard and letting the kids explore. Were they writing in nature journals? I bet kids could stay busy for hours with just that one piece of earth. I think I'll try it.

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  9. Looks like a nice walk. I have a young naturalist here too; when we go to the zoo it's like bringing a guide LOL.


    Congrats on being on the front page of HSB!

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  10. I think you found a lot of interesting things in your square and what a great family nature walk. I don't like snakes either and I know they are all around but they can just stay hidden as far as I am concerned.


    Thanks for sharing your entry with the OHC Blog Carnival.


    Barb-Harmony Art Mom

    http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com

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  11. Looks like you had a fun study! We used to do these regularly, but we've slacked off. Time to get going again!

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