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Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival – July Newsletter Edition – Sunflowers and More!

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Summer nature study is so much fun! There is never any shortage of great topics and this carnival reflects how each family is taking the OHC and making it their own. (If I missed your entry, please email me and let me know and I will add it. The Blog Carnival website had some issues again this month.)

Thanks so much for sharing your nature study.

Make sure to check back tomorrow for the August Newsletter post with fresh ideas for your summer nature study. I will also announce July’s giveaway winner in that post.

July Newsletter Topics
Sunflowers
Kristin shares their mammoth sunflowers with carnival readers in her entry: Jack’s Beanstalk May Have Been a Sunflower.  You can also read about and see their huge sunflower seed harvest in her follow-up entry: Harvesting Sunflower Seeds.

Tricia and her children share their sunflower study….their second summer taking a closer look. You can read their entry on their family Hodgepodge blog, Summer Sunflowers.
  
Mary Jo from Seeds of Peace contributes their Nature Study-Sunflowers entry for carnival readers. Her son did a great job with the details on his notebooking page.

Nicole and her daughter did a sunflower study complete with artwork and baking! Read on her blog, Journey to Excellence, their entry, Sunflowers.

Jenny from Grace in Loving Chaos joins the carnival with her entry: Nature Study Sunflowers.

Garden 7 30 11 Sunflower Patterns 2

Bees or Other Insects
Backyard Beauties from Tricia’s daughter’s perspective is a great entry showing how when our children are trained to see common things in a new way they have gained a whole new window to their own world. My favorite image is the mimosa blossom….now that would be in my nature journal! Thanks for sharing your backyard with carnival readers.

Nicole from One Hook Wonder writes about their experience with Painted Lady butterflies as part of this challenge. My favorite part of the entry is when they release the butterfly and it goes straight to their garden flowers! Perfect ending to the story of the butterfly.

Brandy writes about their Creepy Crawly Critters on her blog Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood.

Tricia and her family had an bee/insect study in their own backyard. Read their entry, Bees and Buzzy Insects, to see how they learned so much about their bees and wasps.

Susan from Learning all the Time shares their July Nature Study: Honeybees entry with carnival readers.Make sure to see their very well done nature journal entries.

Tristan shares their surprise insect study on her blog Our Busy Homeschool: We Play in the Rain and Meet a Furry Friend. What a colorful critter they found…don’t miss seeing it!

Garden 7 30 11 Sunflower patterns 1

Nighttime Critters
The HodgePodge family contributes their Nighttime Critters: Flying Squirrels and More entry for carnival readers. They did a fantastic job of learning more about their nighttime visitors.

Ann from Harvest Moon by Hand writes about their Bats/Outdoor Hour Challenge. They went on a bat hunt!

Nicole from One Hook Wonder shares their Night Critters post…complete with a sound recording of their subject.

Garden 7 30 11 Sunflower Pretty Small

Summer Weather Study
Kristin from Broom and Crown shares their entry Tiny Birds and a Blue Tailed Lizard. She tells how they complete their nature study in 110 degree weather.

Tricia shares their Summer Weather entry on her HodgePodge blog. They share one day of cloud observations and end with an art project!

Potpourri
Angie and her son share their on-going study of the Yellow Pond Lilly using lots of up-close observations and the Handbook of Nature Study. I love the way they learn all aspects of a subject that is right in their own back yard (or lake in this case).

Heather from the Tully Telegraph shares their OHC #3 Green Anoles.  Don’t miss reading their entry and seeing the nature journals. I love that each one captures a different aspect of their study. Great example!

A Little Fun With Our Fine Feathered Friends is a wonderful account of Kim’s path of nature study. She reflects on her experiences with her older sons and then shows us how things are going with her younger son. Wonderful entry to the carnival! Thanks Kim.

Ann and her daughters share their Clover Study on her blog Harvest Moon By Hand. What an interesting entry covering so many aspects of this everyday plant. She’s included some recipes again and some wonderful images. Ann also shares their Summer Cattail Study and their One Small Square Study with carnival readers. One last entry from Anne and her girls shows their wonderful Summer Tree Study, updating from their spring study.

Kristin from Broom and Crown shares a wonderful preschool nature study with carnival readers this time. Check out their entry: What’s Under the Dirt.

Kim writes on A Child’s Garden about their Dandelions: A Bilingual Lesson on Plant Study. She used the ideas from the Spring Dandelion Challenge and then added some great activities. Thanks for the great ideas.

Beachcombing- Shark Teeth is another entry from Kim and her blog, A Child’s Garden. She shows us how they studied shark’s teeth using resources other than the Handbook of Nature Study….I love to see how families take the ideas from the HNS and apply them to their own subjects. Great job.

Serena from Casting Pearls shares their Nesting Robins with carnival readers. She has some beautiful images of the eggs and wonder nature journal examples. Don’t miss the update to this entry where they make a positive identification of their nesting bird.

Kim also shares a great bird entry in their post Summer Bird Study: Blue Jays. She shows how their family pulled together a number of resources, including the Handbook of Nature Study, to make their bird study complete.

That completes this edition of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. I look forward to reading your August entries and seeing how nature study is accomplished in your part of the world.

5 thoughts on “Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival – July Newsletter Edition – Sunflowers and More!

  1. I hope this question isn’t odd — there are so many wonderful posts here, that I know I 1) will never get to read them all; 2) never remember where they are when I need more information and ideas… Is this entry searchable on the HNS search bar? I’m thinking that would be a great way to find out “the best of the best” when we are researching in the future.

  2. You can always access the past OHC Blog Carnivals by going to the Blog Carnival website and clicking the “Past Carnivals” tab and it will list them all there.

    The link to the blog carnival website is at the top of my blog and at the top of the right sidebar.

  3. Thank you for such a lovely carnival. Beautiful sunflowers! I especially like the second one – the close up of that gorgeous sunflower.

  4. Again, another big thank you for your blog! It has inspired us so much!!!

  5. Great carnival! I always look forward to them. Thanks!

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