Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival: #4 Spring is Bursting Out Edition

Last month’s blog carnival was all about winter but this month we see a real change in the season. The entries this time around show just how varied the spring season is for all the participants. This is a big carnival, full of inspiring entries.

I hope this Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival encourages you in your own family’s nature study. A few minutes outdoors each week can make a big difference!

Recap of the April Outdoor Hour Challenges:
Spring Series
#1 Year-Long Tree Study
#2 Spring Weather Study
#3 Spring Bird Study (Bird Songs)
#4 Spring Wildflower Study-Dandelions
#5 Year-Long Cattail Study

Year-Long Tree Study
Kelsey and her kids are observing their very own maple tree as part of their Year-Long Tree Study. Kelsey is reminded of the trees in her childhood memory and I’m sure her children are making some tree memories of their own.

Angie/Pebblekeeper and her boys are studying their Red alder tree as the subject of their Year-Long Tree Study. Make sure to check out their leaf print journals.

Alex shares her Spring Seasonal Tree Study of their birch tree. I bet their tree has leaves now…great notebook page example as well.

Holli and her children chose their beautiful dogwood tree as the subject of their Year-Long Tree Study. Excellent choice!

There is another pretty tree in Tricia’s entry for their Year-Long Tree Study, the redbud. I love their diligence in completing their study even after it started raining.

Angie in GA along with her boys completed both the Spring Tree and Spring Weather studies in this entry, Spring Creation Challenge. They had some beautiful blue skies to study their dogwood tree….love their photos and journals too.

Japanese cherry tree? That is what Amy and her family is studying for their Spring Tree Study. Check out their bird nest and eggs too!

Renee shares their Maple Tree Study and More Signs of Spring for carnival viewers. This study includes trees, birds, weather, and some moss. One of her children wrote in their journal, “Maple trees are cool to climb!” I totally agree.

Spring Weather Observations
Kelsey share their spring weather (sunshine, rain, hail, snow, clouds, and lots of wind) in their Spring Weather entry.

Brilliant blue skies and a sundial are the focus of Alex’s entry for Spring Weather entry. Look for the link for the sundial.

Angie/Pebblekeeper discusses how important the weather is their every day life. Weather study is the focus of their entry Spring Weather Observations. She writes, “The boys have become quite the meteorologists between knowing the cloud patterns and interpreting data available on line. ” Don’t miss their pencil shadow stick. 🙂

Amy always does a great job of adapting each challenge to fit the abilities of her children. Don’t miss their family’s Spring Weather Study, complete with journal pages.

Michelle from Delightful Learning shares their cloudy skies and how they used the Cloud Finder from the Spring Weather Observation challenge to learn more. Love their journal entries.

Tricia gives us another example of how they use workboxes to complete their Spring Weather observations. Her older children worked independently and then they all had a meal outdoors to enjoy the season.

Loni shares two entries as part of their Spring Weather study: Inquisitiveness and Living Picture Study and Rain or Not?

Spring Bird Study
Andi and her daughter completed the Spring Bird challenge, focusing on sparrows in their yard. They share some of the antics of these birds in their entry.

Don’t miss reading Tricia’s entry highlighting how their family incorporates birding and learning bird calls in their life. Read more about it here in her entry, Spring Birds. (I actually love the idea of having an “outdoor workbox” by the back door to help remind our kids of their nature study.)

Alex shares their Red-winged blackbird study along with a video. They also did a wonderful job incorporating the Cornell coloring book page in their journals.

This is the ultimate bird entry…..so inspiring and the photos really tell the story. Thank you Quinn for sharing your With Wings as Eagles entry in the carnival.

Amy shares a wonderful mother’s story about birdwatching along with a nest full of robin’s eggs. You can read their entry and view their journals in their Spring Bird Study post.

Kelsey includes in their entry their list of birds they recognize by call. Read about that and more in their Spring Bird Study.

Loni and her family visited the zoo and got some up close time with birds: Jacksonville Zoo. They also observed a Nesting Mourning Dove.

Dandelion Study
Tricia shares their Real Life Study of Dandelions. She tells me, “These studies make us notice so much more.” I couldn’t agree more.

Amanda shares their dandelion study, Dandy, Just Dandy with carnival viewers. I love that families with boys tackle even the flower challenges. They always add their own twist.

Jennifer says in her comment for this study, “We did the dandelion study today, and to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll ever look at another dandelion the same again.” I love that something as simple as a dandelion can open our eyes to what is right in our own backyard. You can read more about their wonderful dandelion study on her blog, PeaceLedge.

Kelsey and her children were able to complete the spring dandelion study this week. Read all about their insightful observations and view their journals HERE.

Andi and her daughter completed their dandelion study with tasting some dandelion greens…with bitter results. Read all about the Dandelion Study and view their photos. She has a photo of the biggest dandelion roots I have ever seen.

Signs of Spring
Michelle from the Urban Cottage is eager to share their Signs of Spring. Don’t miss their beautifully done journal pages.

Alex shares their Canadian Signs of Spring for carnival readers. Don’t miss the ducks in the garden!

Michelle from Delightful Learning shares their Wyoming Signs of Spring. Take a look at their seedlings! Great job on the journals too.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 Time to Draw
Grubs from their garden are the subject of Loni’s children nature journals. Read all about this in depth study in White Grub Worms.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #4 It’s Coming Into Focus
Suzanne and her children had a wonderful time during their outdoor hour time. Don’t miss her wonderful photos in her entry, Appreciating God’s Creation. She says, “I guess it goes to show me that we can always see beauty amongst the “weeds” when we’re looking for it which is especially true of everyday life.”

Outdoor Hour Challenge #8 Up Close and Personal
Quinn has used her resources to complete this challenge with her children. Read how they completed Outdoor Hour Challenge #8 by examining a bird nest. Fascinating!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #9 One Small Square
Quinn shares there One Small Square from the woods…what a variety of life they found. You don’t want to miss her photos in this entry either.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #12 Garden Flowers-Seeds
Andi shares their From Seeds to Flowers entry in response to this challenge. I love the photos of the seed’s progress…so interesting, she even has a video!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #13 Garden Flowers-Flower Parts
Loni and her children have been busy learning about parts of a plant using garden plants. Check out their two entries: Flowering Mustard Greens and Greens- TheRoot System.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #21 Notebook Challenge
Loni shares their Toad or Frog entry as part of this challenge to draw in your nature journal.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #22 Butterflies
Loni has written a post about their Caterpillar Habitat. Lots of extra resources in this entry.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #42 Moss and Lichen
Michelle from Delightful Learning shares how one of their signs of spring created a desire for them to know more about moss. She shares their study in this entry, The Spring Journal: Moss and Lichen.

Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Spring Series entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be May 31, 2010 and all entries from May are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom