Search Results for: bees

Posted on by — 1 Comment

An Awesome List of Bees and Bumble Bees Nature Studies

Find nature studies on bees for all ages! Learn the different types of bees, visit a bee farm, play bee games, create a bee garden habitat or house and more!

An Awesome List of Nature Studies on Bees and Bumblebees

In an attempt to attract native mason bees to my garden, I purchased a mason bee house a few years ago. ( I purchased this one: Esschert Design WA02 Bee House which is my amazon.com link) It just seems to make sense to me to help support any local pollinator in my rather eclectic front yard habitat. There are plenty of bees already but lately I have been observing the insects more closely. In the past I have lumped all bees together, not really taking time to identify the various kinds of bees. Even when I took part in the Great Sunflower Project and counted bees, I really had a hard time noting the different types. If you are interested in some bee identification cards, you can find them at the Great Sunflower Project.

I am attempting to educate myself…love learning new things about the creation around me right in my own yard.  So, after a little digging around, I stumbled upon some information that was new to me. I guess I always assumed that all bees lived in colonies. Wrong. There are many bees that are considered “solitary bees” and live as individuals, sometimes living next to each other but not in a hive.

Learn About the Types of Bees

Here are a few basics:

Leafcutter Bee: This bee cuts a clean bit of leaf to use in its nest. I have noticed leaves in my garden that may have been used by leafcutters and now you can be sure I will be looking even more carefully. Also, they gather pollen on their bellies and not in the pollen baskets on their hind legs.

mason bee house

Mason Bee: These are bees that use mud to construct their nests. They create the nest in hollow tubes like the one in my pre-made mason bee house. These bees are excellent pollinators. My research says they are out and about from May to late June or July.

Carpenter Bee: These bees make their nests in wood, usually rotting and old or damaged wood.

Tricia’s family enjoyed a backyard study of bees and investigated a carpenter bee, honey bee, paper wasp, yellow jacket and more! Checkout their Bees and Buzzy Insects Nature Study.

Learn About Bee Houses

Mason Bee House Video – interesting to watch this video showing five minutes of activity at the house.

You can read more about mason bees here: Gardener’s Supply.

Information on building a bee house: National Wildlife Federation. A bee house would be a wonderful addition to your wildlife habitat!

An Awesome List of Nature Studies on Bees and Bumblebees

Preschool Science: Learning About Bees

As part of our farm unit study for this semester we’ve been visiting all types of farms. We recently visited a bee farm! We learned all about bees, honey and products made with beeswax! During the week we pulled out various bee books, printables, games and activities for a mini-unit on bees.

Bees are such wonderful and helpful creatures. From pollinating flowers to making honey, we could not live without them. Go ahead and explore the world of bees with your child, preschool class, daycare or homeschool co-op. Use these bee ideas as a science unit, a unit to go along with Letter of the Week or a spring-themed week. I’ve included free bee printable coloring sheets and games I’ve created for my children and local co-op class plus other fun ideas.

Learning about bees came at the perfect time for my family. I have one member who is not very fond of bees, so I figured learning more about them would help her have a healthy respect for these creatures as she learned about their importance in our ecosystem.

Find nature studies on bees for all ages! Learn the different types of bees, visit a bee farm, play bee games, create a bee garden habitat & more!

Honey Bee Farm Field Trip

Our Farm Field Trip group visited a large honey farm where we learned about bees from a bee keeper, tasted honey sticks, saw beeswax candles  being made and even got to fill our own honey bottles.

This was a great field trip because we got to experience bees in a different way than we do in our back yard. The bee keeper was able to teach the students about bees, what to do when you are around them and why they are so important to have in our environment. He took a section of the hive and was able to show the students the honey comb, worker bees and the queen. He shared why he had to use the “smoker” while handling the bees (it throws off their communication.) And don’t worry— he was in a screened in tent with the bees while we watched from the outside. 🙂

Picking up Pollen Bee Nature Study Game

Picking Up Pollen Bee Game

Supplies:

  • bouncy balls, ping pong balls or pom poms
  • bags
  • several small bowls

Bee Game Directions:

Flowers have pollen and that is just what bees love to collect. Set out several “flowers” with pollen (bowls, trays etc. filled with balls or pom poms) around the room.

Give each child a bag. Have them step into the handle so it is on one leg and place the other handle on their arm. This represents the sacks on the back of a bee’s leg that holds the pollen . (If that’s too difficult for the child, let them put it on their arm). Have the children collect the pollen and bring back to the hive (select a place to be the hive like a big tub to place all the “pollen”).

Female bees have a structure on their legs that no other insects, including wasps, have: a pollen basket. The basket is made of rows of stiff hairs that arch to form a hollow space on the outside of the bees’ legs, usually her back legs. When a bee visits a flower, she combs grains of pollen into her baskets. Pollen from the flower also sticks to the bee’s hair.

~ San Diego Zoo

Bee Printables and Art Activities

We have some toddler/preschool bee-themed printables by Maureen Spell in Homeschool Nature Study Membership! Members, log in and go to your Preschool Course to find a bee number count and a bee color match printable.

Our sister site, You ARE an ARTiST, has a variety of bee art lessons to enjoy! Including a fun, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree art lesson.

Making a Bee Habitat

I have talked before here on the blog and in my newsletter about creating a wildlife habitat in your yard. This is something that has brought such joy to our family and I highly recommend getting started even if it is in a small way like hanging a mason bee house.

Gardens That Help Honeybees – great tips for building a bee habitat.

Participate in the Great Sunflower Project! Count bees and enjoy a citizen science opportunity as a family.

Find nature studies on bees for all ages! Learn the different types of bees, visit a bee farm, play bee games, create a bee garden habitat & more!

Homeschool Nature Study Membership

In homeschool nature study membership, find Outdoor Hour Challenges on bees, yellow jackets and mud daubers. Join us for even more homeschool nature studies for all the seasons! With a nature study plan for each week, you will have joyful learning leading all the way through the homeschool year for all your ages!

Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

Written by Barb McCoy, founder of the Outdoor Hour Challenges, Maureen Spell and Tricia Hodges

Posted on by — 5 Comments

Honeybees and the Great Sunflower Project – Nature Study Using the Handbook of Nature Study

Bees on the Lavender

Our choice for the Garden Critter study this month is the honeybee. We have been building a bee, butterfly, and bird habitat in our yard this year and it seemed fitting that we take a few minutes to read in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 99) about this welcome guest to our garden.

We have planted many bee attractive plants and every day, rain or shine, they come to visit. Their favorite spot in the yard is the center square filled with lavender. If you sit close by, you can hear the buzzing of wings and you can watch their activity among the flowers.

Bee Garden - Water Source
Water for the Bees – Lavender and Baby Lemon Queen Sunflowers

We read recently online that bees need water as part of their habitat. We found a shallow pie pan, filled it with an assortment of local rocks we had on hand, and then filled it with water. The rain has kept it filled but now that the weather is looking like it will remain dry, I will just replenish the water when I water the garden. Here is a really informative article about Planting a Bee Garden.

Honeybee entry (3)
We found this webpage very helpful: California Habitat Gardening and this one too: Bee Friendly Gardens.

bee with pollen on sunflower

This is what we are aiming for…image from two summers ago in our sunflowers. Can you believe that pollen?

We will be taking part in the Great Sunflower Project later in the summer. I highly recommend this nature activity which is fun and simple to do as a family. Click below for more information.

Great Sunflower Project Button

Don’t forget to post and then submit your June Newsletter nature studies to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Here is THE LINK. If you need to find the link quickly, it is at the top of my blog in a couple of places for easy access.



Jami’s Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Garden Focus: Bees, Birds, and Color….with Veggies Too

Hummingbird Feeder and Potted Plants
Flowers in Pots Attract the Bees and Hummingbirds…Easy to Maintain

My goals this year for our garden are a little different than those in the recent past. I usually focus on growing veggies and accent with flowers. This year I am going to be a rebel and do the exact opposite. I am growing color and accenting with edibles. I am hoping for more of an “artist’s garden” this year, providing a space to sit with watercolors and colored pencils and oil pastels on those long hot summer afternoons. Sometimes a garden is more than just for growing food, healing and refreshing us with its beauty and vitality. Of course, you can really call it a “bee garden” since the focus has been on flowers that will attract bees, birds, and/or butterflies.

Our deck usually has some herbs and a few veggies in pots, keeping them close for the dinner time crunch. It is a great plan and I will do the same this year with two tomatoes and some basil.

5 7 11 Hummingbirds (2)
We have had a lot of hummingbird traffic at our two feeders as well as the colorful flowers.

I am keeping just a few flowers on the deck and most of them will be to try to entice the hummingbirds up to the feeders. Red geraniums, bright daisies, and a hummingbird favorite lantana or two. I started my zinnia seeds and much to my surprise I found a pot full of milkweed growing already over in the corner. Seeds and seedlings are all tucked in ready to go. We are planning on studying our geraniums along with the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson #163) this summer.

Back in the main veggie garden I am going to be growing pole beans…Kentucky Wonders. I am dreaming of the green towers of vines and the never-ending picking that will come as the summer progresses.

Bee Balm
Lots and lots of Bee Balm growing in the butterfly garden.

What will be missing are many of the water thirsty plants that I usually have that yield very little in proportion to the effort like bell peppers.I have lots of great plants that are well established that will give color without a lot of work.

Flower Box - Coneflowers Daisies
These are coneflowers, chrysanthemums, and daisies from last year. I will fill in the empty spots with seeds.

The boxes this year are filled in with coneflowers and zinnias, dahlias and daisies. The bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are going to be having a party all summer long out there. I love having a cutting garden to fill oodles of vases indoors.

New Garden - WIP
We ended up transplanting a few daylilies to the front of the box and the rest is waiting for me to come finish planting the sunflower seeds. Thunderstorm rolled in this day and I had to give up.

My new garden space is coming together and the seeds are almost all in the ground. We had a composting problem and somehow a load was dumped in the garden space with un-composted rotten potatoes so we are sifting through again to get those out before planting the Three Sisters Garden (pumpkins, corn, and beans). The pumpkins, corn, and sunflowers will also be part of our summer nature study using the Handbook of Nature Study.

Garden 5 6 11 Zucchini
Happy Squash.

I have four zucchini seedlings happily growing in their new spot and the sunflowers are all showing signs of sprouting as the garden comes alive.

Garden Front Yard 5 6 11 (20)
Looks a little different than the last time…now the lavender is the predominant plant, along with the blooming dogwood.

I am hoping that I don’t regret our decision to shift our garden focus this year but as with anything we can always change things back next year. We have a wonderful Farmer’s Market in our town where we can put our hands on any veggies we decide we need. Still eating healthy and with local produce….an important goal in our family.

That is this week’s garden update…..next week hopefully I will share our Three Sisters Garden.



Jami’s Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!

Posted on by — 5 Comments

More Bees than Usual?

lupines clover and a bee

Has anyone else noticed that there are a lot of bees this year? It seems to me that our garden is just alive with bees and perhaps we have added enough flowering plants to attract more bees or there really are more bees like I am imagining.

In our hiking around the countryside, I have noticed more wildflowers this year as well. The clover is everywhere and perhaps with the abundance of flowers, there is a relationship with the number of bees.

Always more questions to answer….

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Picture Books in Nature Study: A Parent’s Guide

Picture books in nature study work well for all ages. This guide has everything you need to get started.

Picture books in nature study work well for all ages. This guide has everything you need to get started.

Photo by Amy Law

Reading books is at the root of most of our learning, and nature study is no exception. When we first started homeschooling my children were just six and nine years old and reading aloud was part of our nature study. Three years later my children and I still enjoy reading books to enhance our nature studies.

Field guides are important to have on hand for identification and information, but I also think there’s a place for books meant to be read cover-to-cover. Picture books provide us with beautiful photos or artwork, information presented at a child’s level, and sometimes even a story interwoven with the facts. Reading nature-themed literature isn’t a substitute for time spent outside in nature, but it can be a wonderful addition to direct observation and experience.

Picture books in nature study work well for all ages. This guide has everything you need to get started.

What Are The Benefits of Reading Picture Books in Coordination With Our Nature Studies?

  1. In books you can learn about things that would be very difficult to observe in nature, like the migration of monarch butterflies or how bees dance to show where to find nectar.
  2. Pictures and information in a book can encourage you to look for things in nature, like animal tracks or leaf and bud scale scars on tree branches.
  3. Books can help bring new understand about things that seem common. For instance, seeing seeds traveling on our dog’s fur we have a sense of amazement when we remember that is how plants can spread to a new area!

Nature Book Recommendations

Sometimes I look up a specific nature study topic, and I might even request one through inter-library loan. Other times we peruse the nonfiction section and grab a book that looks interesting. Keep in mind that some books may not be in the nonfiction section—we’ve found some wonderful nature-themed books in the beginning reader and picture book section of our library.


We regularly utilize series like The Magic School Bus or authors like Gail Gibbons or Seymour Simon.

We also enjoy these series that offer books at various reading levels:

  • Let’s Read and Find Out
  • National Geographic Kids Readers
  • DK Readers
  • Blastoff Readers: Backyard Wildlife
  • Bookworms’ Guess Who? series.

You can accomplish two goals at once when your early reader practices with nature-themed books!

Nature Study Books to Enjoy In Your Homeschool

Here are some specific books we’ve enjoyed:

  • Outside and Inside Trees by Sandra Markle
  • Animal Tracks by Arthur Dorros
  • Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith
  • The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola
  • All About Owls by Jim Arnosky
  • Chipmunk at Hollow Tree Lane by Victoria Sherrow

More Nature Picture Books

Planting a Rainbow Book Activities – After reading the book, my daughter worked on a color-matching game and did a flower craft.

Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story is a beautiful picture book biography about the author of The Handbook of Nature Study. Anna Botsford Comstock was passionate about children getting out of the classroom and into nature to learn first hand about our beautiful world.

Charlotte Mason Picture Book biography: The Teacher Who Revealed Worlds of Wonder

Picture books in nature study work well for all ages. This guide has everything you need to get started.

The Outdoor Hour Challenges Bring The Handbook of Nature Study to Life in Your Homeschool!

For even more homeschool nature study ideas for all seasons, join us in Homeschool Nature Study membership! You’ll receive new ideas each and every week that require little or no prep – all bringing the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool!

Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

Heidi homeschools her two children in Maine using an eclectic mix including Charlotte Mason’s ideas, quality literature and hands-on learning. She strives to show her children that learning is an exciting, life long adventure. She shares their experiences on her blog, Home Schoolroom.

Posted on by — 6 Comments

Living Science Beyond the Books

Every parent hopes their child receives a solid science education. This is the case whether our children are homeschooled or attending a traditional school. Many parents, including myself, know we received very little “real” science education growing up and when it comes time to teaching or supporting science learning in our children, we tend to feel slightly inadequate. This doesn’t need to be the case!

Homeschool moms do not have to fear teaching science class! Try a Living Science Beyond the Books approach to enjoy hands-on learning.

Jeannie Fulbright, Apologia Science Writer, inspired me to think about a living science beyond the books type of education and hands-on experience. To stop putting a time slot on the schedule for “science learning” and to start exploring the world with curiosity. To invite opportunities of discovery regardless of where we are or when it is during the day.

Homeschool moms do not have to fear teaching science class! Try a Living Science Beyond the Books approach to enjoy hands-on learning.

For our family, providing the opportunities for science as part of our every day life has been as easy as opening our back door and doing some exploring together.  Books are a wonderful window to the world but true heartfelt science learning takes place when you learn about things you can see, touch, smell, and hear. You might enjoy some tips from our post: 30 Backyard Family Activities.

Living Science Beyond the Books

Birds in a book are great but birds in your very own feeder are a living and breathing example to learn from. We have found what works best is observation first and then facts. For example, we learned more by trying to identify these feathers…using a feather identification key for the first time, reasoning on which birds we see in our backyard, and then narrowing it down to a few bird choices. We had to learn the different kinds of bird feathers and make careful observations about color and pattern. So much to build on from just this simple feather find from our backyard.


Homeschool Nature Study Members can print this Feather Coloring Page to try and replicate feather patterns. Or find more Bird Activities and Learn About Birds for Preschoolers.

Learning about pollen in a book is interesting but seeing it on a flower, watching a bee covered in it, and then perhaps looking at the flower pollen with a hand lens takes the lesson on pollen to a whole new dimension. Suddenly you care about the pollen…it means something. My son noticed the little yellow specks on flowers in our yard, so we brought them inside for closer inspection…pollen! No wonder the bees are swarming around this plant in our yard!

Fearful of Nature?

Homeschool moms do not have to fear teaching science class! Try a Living Science Beyond the Books approach to enjoy hands-on learning.

My youngest son hates spiders. He found a spider on a leaf and we spent some time watching it together. Direct observation of a spider takes the fear away and allows the awe to settle in for such an amazing living creature. Living science beyond the books is the best kind of learning for science. Books are there to support and generate interest! But remember to get outside to observe it.

“Nature study, as far as it goes, is just as large as is science for “grown-ups”. It may deal with the same subject matter and should be characterized by the same accuracy. It simply does not go so far.”
Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study

She supports the idea that beginning with nature study and observation we can build on those ideas and experiences and go farther with more formal science. For a complete picture of how she outlines nature study for families, read the introductory pages of the Handbook of Nature Study (pages 1-24).

“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. All people are supposed to be observers of nature and there’s no excuse for living in a world so full of amazing plants and animals and not be interested in them.”
Charlotte Mason, Volume 1

So, I think we are in good company. We can provide or support science education in our homes if we remember to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves. Open eyes, open hearts, and then open minds to enjoy living science.

Homeschool Nature Study Membership

Join us for even more homeschool nature studies for all the seasons! With a nature study each week, you will have joyful learning leading all the way through the homeschool year for all your ages!

Not yet a Homeschool Nature Study Member? We’d love for you to join us and take advantage of the numerous studies – already planned out for you, craft ideas, free worksheets, and #outdoorhourchallenge fun! Become a member and bring the love of learning nature and science easily into your home.

Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

Written by Barb McCoy. Updated and new resources created by Stef Layton.

Posted on by

The Importance Of Studying Natural History

Why is the study of natural history so important? How can you incorporate it into your day to day learning?

Why is the study of natural history is so important? How can you incorporate it into your day to day learning.

photo by Amy Law

Is Natural History Important?

Every now and then I come across an article online that captures my interest. As I read the article linked below I realized how important what we are doing here on the Handbook of Nature Study is to our young children and families. Much to my great surprise, I found a section in the later part of the article that references Anna Botsford Comstock and her work with natural history and teaching.

Science And Natural History

I invite you to click over and read through this article…noting that as parents we can fill the gap and stoke the fires of a more traditional biology course. Adding in some natural history to your more academic and microbiology studies will give it more depth and context. Find a way to expose your young biology students to the natural world in an attempt to cover the material in high school (and earlier!) since they will not get that opportunity once they go onto college.

Read Natural History is Dying

Natural History Important @handbookofnaturestudy

An Overview Of Natural History Is Dying

Some of my notes and quotes from the article:

Natural history by and large is no longer taught to biology majors, much less high school students.

“Further, exposure of students at all levels to natural history is diminishing. As we saw in the graph at the top of this post, all colleges and universities surveyed in the 1950s required at least some natural history courses for a biology degree – a median of 2.25. Today, most colleges have no natural history requirements for a biology degree, and the slim section devoted to natural history in the center of most textbooks has shrunk 40 percent and is usually skipped anyway, as I’m sure those of you with biology degrees earned in the last 20 years can attest.”

Using the suggestions from the Handbook of Nature Study and the Outdoor Hour Challenge provides help to parents in offering what is lacking in today’s science courses.

“Comstock’s book stressed the importance of kid-on-critter time. But increasingly, in the classrooms and museum exhibits that I’ve seen or visited, still images or interactive games are considered adequate substitutes. They are not.”

We can share our love for nature and make a difference in our child’s outlook towards the natural world.

“When kids do not grow up around natural history, they become adults who are not only ignorant of natural history, but who do not care about nature and view it as disposable and unimportant. “Ecological ignorance breeds indifference,” as Pyle put it. “What we know, we may choose to care for. What we fail to recognize, we certainly won’t.”

We can make those simple but powerful memories happen for our children.

“To love Earth, you have to fall in love with Earth. And that can’t happen indoors, eyes glued to a screen. You have to watch the bee gathering nectar from the blue bonnet; you have to smell and touch the sap (and discover it is now impossible to remove from your fingers) weeping from the tree; you have to smell the citrussy cinnamonny gym-socky aroma of the matsutake fresh from the pine duff.”

Use the resources here on our website and in the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock to introduce your child to the birds, plants, reptiles, insects, and other forms of life around them. Take it one subject at a time and make sure to get outside each week!

Why is the study of natural history is so important? How can you incorporate it into your day to day learning in your homeschool?

The Outdoor Hour Challenges Bring The Handbook of Nature Study to Life in Your Homeschool!

For even more homeschool nature study ideas for all seasons, join us in Homeschool Nature Study membership! You’ll receive new ideas each and every week that require little or no prep – all bringing the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool!

Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!

Written by Barb and updated by Tricia

Posted on by — Leave a comment

30 Backyard Family Activities You And Your Kids Will Love

These 30 backyard family activities help you have fun outdoors with your children in a way that is easy and fun!

Ever get the “Mom, I’m bored” line from your kids? Boredom is often the gateway to greater use of the child’s imagination, and saying “I’m bored” in our house usually receives the answer, of “go play outside. . . build a fort, climb a tree, watch a bug. . . or something like that.” Two hours later, that kid will come back in and say, “Mom, come see what I built/did/saw!” And, it’s usually pretty fantastic.

These 30 backyard family activities help you have fun outdoors with your children in a way that is easy and fun!

The Backyard Is An Ideal Place For Learning And Fun!

There are sooooo many things that can be done in your very own backyard, whether it is big or small.

Here are 30 different ideas to help you get started.

30 Backyard Family Activities Your Family Will Love

  • Find your “favorite” tree in your backyard (or the neighbor’s backyard), and study it and how it changes through the year. So much can be learned about seasons, and even animals that inhabit trees from one single tree.
  • One Square Foot. Pick an area of your yard, mark it off, and have the child stay right there and see what happens in that spot over the course of 15 minutes or so. What bugs will he see? What different plants can he see in his space?
  • Spend time gazing at the stars/constellations and learning about them. There are some wonderful, free apps that can help you with this!
  • On a hot day, run through the sprinkler!
  • Plant flowers together in flower beds or flower pots. Give your kids their own section to tend and weed on their own! They will probably love the idea of helping with the planning as well!
  • Hang up a bird feeder and keep it filled. So much joy can be found in watching backyard birds come take their fill.
  • Hang up a hummingbird feeder as well!
  • Are you living in an apartment? You can still study birds from birdseed/breadcrumbs on your balcony. Charlotte Mason was known to say that much can be done with Sparrows.
  • Plant a vegetable garden, or plant a few veggies or herbs in a pot! This can be done on an apartment balcony, too! Then, watch as sprouts and then baby vegetables appear! So much joy and wonder in this!
  • Plant flowers outside your house that attract bees and butterflies. A quick Google search will bring up lots of ideas for building a backyard habitat.
  • In the fall/winter/spring months, spend time planning next year’s garden together. This will help the kids be more excited about it when it comes time to plant!
  • Hang a simple swing from a mature tree in your yard! This can be as simple as a rope and a scrap piece of wood for a seat! There is nothing quite like swinging from a tree. . .so calming.
These 30 backyard family activities help you have fun outdoors with your children in a way that is easy and fun!
  • If you live where it snows, take advantage of that! Make snow forts, have snowball fights, build snowmen. You can even build a snowman bird feeder!
  • Study snowflakes under a magnifying glass or microscope, if you have one.j
  • Keep a family Calendar of Firsts. A notebook that you keep track of what blooms when throughout your year. Before you know it, your kids will come running in the house saying, “Mom!!! I just saw the first Bird’s Eye Speedwell! You have to write it down!”
  • Throw a frisbee or football in the backyard
  • Hang a hammock between two trees.
  • Build a tree fort together.
  • Purchase and care for your own flock of backyard chickens! Nature study and responsibility training combined!
  • Have a sand box or place kids can dig. It keeps them busy for hours!!!
  • Build paper boats and float them in a creek/pond/or large container of water. Or make a boat out of twigs with Victoria’s nature craft idea!
  • Climb a tree and read a favorite book.
  • Make a huge pile of fallen leaves and jump in them!
These 30 backyard family activities help you have fun outdoors with your children in a way that is easy and fun!
  • Have a picnic on an old quilt or blanket
  • Read a story aloud together outside!
  • Tell your kids to run to a certain part of the yard, look at everything there carefully, and then come back and tell you all about it!
  • Count how many different kinds of birds come to your bird feeder.
  • Pick a bouquet of flowers or produce from your garden to share with your neighbors.
  • Find a bug and watch what it does!
  • Gather twigs and other small nature items to make a fairy house.

Hopefully these ideas will help you keep the little people in your life happy and occupied!

More Resources For Family Nature Study

Backyard Camping: Fun For The Entire Family!

How to Use the Outdoor Hour Challenges For Your Homeschool Family Nature Study

The Ultimate List of Garden and Wildflowers Homeschool Nature Study (Outdoor Hour Challenges)

Discover Nature at Sundown: Family Summer Nature Study

Support For Your Homeschool Nature Study

We’ve heard from families that they were reluctant to start a nature study plan, but, they found that having a focus each week actually helped them to stay regular at getting outside. It also helped them be better at taking a few minutes to learn about an object they encountered, even if it wasn’t the original aim for getting outdoors.

Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership!

We make it easy with resources you can use at your own pace and on your own schedule. Or, you may choose to follow our annual nature study plans closely and have everything at your fingertips.

Amy Law is wife to Jeremy, and mom to three. They homeschool using Charlotte Mason’s principles, and love to spend lots of time in nature! You can often find them hiking the beautiful trails of their beloved Tennessee hills, while Amy attempts to capture the beauty of it all with her camera lens.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

A Fun Insect Study From a Bug’s Eye View: Activities and Resources

Sometimes the attention of our children during our nature study time is short-lived and they get distracted from making careful observations. There is nothing wrong with letting them explore on their own. But, I also would like to encourage you to come up with a few “tricks” to keeping them interested in nature study. This fun insect study is a great way to encourage nature study in your homeschool.

This fun insect study is a great way to encourage nature study in your homeschool. Includes activities and resources.

One of the ideas I am sharing this week is to allow your child to use a digital camera or the camera on your phone to take photos of things they find of interest. In particular, try to get them to see things from a different perspective.

Activities and Resources For a Fun Insect Study

Take a photo from a bug’s perspective and then complete the notebook page for your nature journal.

Download Your FREE Bug’s Eye View Printable

Get your free bug’s eye view printable with fun prompts, below:

Get Your FREE Bug’s Eye View Notebook Page!

Subscribe to get your free bug’s eye view notebook page.

    We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

    You can find even more solid reasons for including digital photography with nature study in Nature Study and Digital Photography: Would Anna Comstock Approve?

    This fun insect study is a great way to encourage nature study in your homeschool. Includes activities and resources.

    Enjoy an Insect Nature Study: How to Identify an Insect

    Even if you or your children are squirmy about insects, there is so much to discover and learn! In this insect nature study, learn how to identify an insect with simple steps!

    “Insects are among the most interesting and available of all living creatures for nature study. The lives of many of them afford more interesting stories than are found in fairy lore; many of them show exquisite colors; and, most important of all, they are small and are, therefore, easily confined for observation.”

    Handbook of Nature Study, page 294

    Make a Butterfly Puddle to Learn More About Butterflies

    If your child is more interested in butterflies, you can do the same Bug’s Eye View study of butterflies. Here are some great ideas for making a butterfly puddle for closer observation of these favorite insects.

    You might also like these ideas for studying bees and buzzy insects.

    More Insect Learning for Homeschool Nature Study Members

    Our members can also enjoy these great resources!

    • Insect studies for each season included in these courses: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter
    • Insect and Invertebrates Nature Study Grid (fun prompts for your insect study)
    • Butterfly Journal Page
    • Insect Photo Hunt Printable

    Suggestions Getting Started in Homeschool Nature Study

    If you already own this ebook, this week’s challenge would be a great addition. You can get your FREE copy, HERE. The Getting Started ebook has a complete selection of generic nature journal pages at the back for you to print and use with any challenge.

    It would be great fun to have a picnic for your nature study! (Picnic ideas HERE!) Have your meal outdoors and then take a few minutes to take your Bug’s Eye View photos.

    This fun insect study is a great way to encourage nature study in your homeschool. Includes activities and resources.

    More Resources For Homeschool Nature Study

    For even more homeschool nature study ideas, join us in Homeschool Nature Study membership! You’ll receive new ideas each and every week that require little or no prep – all bringing the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool!

    Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership HERE

    Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get Outdoors!

    Handbook of Nature Study for your homeschool

    by Barb McCoy, founder of the Outdoor Hour Challenges

    Posted on by — Leave a comment

    Homeschool Garden Activities for May Nature Studies

    These homeschool garden activities are perfect for your May nature studies. Includes outdoor activities and gardening tips for kids.

    These homeschool garden activities are perfect for your May nature studies. Includes outdoor activities and gardening tips for kids.
    Image by Amy Law

    Nature Study Encouragement for Your Outdoor Hour Family Time

    Before you begin homeschool garden activities, enjoy these ideas for getting outdoors with your family.

    Nature Study in Ripples: Simple Ways to Study Nature

    Simple Ways to Study Nature – Here are some simple ways to study nature in your homeschool. Start in your own yard then let your discoveries grow out like ripples in a pond.

    “Nature study is, despite all discussions and perversions, a study of nature; it consists of simple, truthful observations that may, like beads on a string, finally be threaded upon the understanding and thus held together as a logical and harmonious whole.”

    Handbook of Nature Study, page 1

    99 Homeschool Nature Study Ideas to Get Your Family Outside

    Be inspired with 99 homeschool nature study ideas and outdoors sorts of things! Make a list of your own and get outdoors!

    Homeschool Garden Activities Perfect for May Nature Studies

    “A child who makes a garden, and then becomes intimate with the plants he cultivates, and comes to understand the interrelation of the various forms of life which he finds in his garden, has progressed far in the fundamental knowledge of nature’s ways as well as in a practical knowledge of agriculture.”

    Handbook of Nature Study, page 20 in the section “Gardening and nature Study”

    Here are some great nature study ideas for your May homeschool!

    Garden and Wildflower Nature Studies with the Outdoor Hour Challenges

    You can enjoy a simple garden and wildflowers homeschool nature study with these resources we have gathered for you to use in your own backyard. It is such a delight to study and learn about a garden and the beauty of wildflowers!

    Make a Wagon Garden

    For this particular garden, I have a rusty old Red Flyer wagon that has wheels that no longer turn…How to Make a Wagon Garden.

    These homeschool garden activities are perfect for your May nature studies. Includes outdoor activities and gardening tips for kids.

    World Turtle Day Nature Activities

    Turtle Nature Study for Your Homeschool – Learn about pond life, pondweed and a pond habitat with this fun turtle nature study for your homeschool. Includes activities for learning about tortoises and microscopic pond life too.

    Mammals: Goat Nature Study

    This goat homeschool nature study is packed with fun from fainting goats to advanced mammal studies! Bring the Handbook of Nature Study to Life in your homeschool! Here’s a peek at what you can expect to enjoy in this Outdoor Hour Challenge for Homeschool Nature Study members.

    earthworm nature study

    Earthworms Invertebrates Nature Study

    This earthworm homeschool nature study is packed with great learning for all ages and even includes advanced invertebrate studies!

    Butterfly Nature Study: How to Make a Butterfly Puddle

    Over the years, I’ve observed butterflies along hiking trails in the muddy edges. There will sometimes be 10 or 12 butterflies sitting on the mud slowly opening and closing their wings. This behavior fascinated me! After a little research on the internet, I discovered that butterflies are attracted to mud puddles for not only the moisture but the minerals and salts that are present in the mud. Learn How to Make a Butterfly Puddle!

    great sunflower project

    Homeschool Garden Activities: The Great Sunflower Project

    What is the Great Sunflower Project? This is a citizen science activity that you can participate in with your children. If you can grow a sunflower (or selected other flowers), you can join the project with just a few minutes invested later this summer.

    Beautiful Queen Anne’s Lace Wildflower Nature Study

    Our family made great memories together one year while noticing and studying Queen Anne’s lace throughout the seasons. Enjoy this beautiful Queen Anne’s lace nature study for your homeschool and see what you notice in each season too!

    These homeschool garden activities are perfect for your May nature studies. Includes outdoor activities and gardening tips for kids.

    Charlotte Mason Nature Study: Simple Ideas for Wildflowers

    These timeless Charlotte Mason nature study ideas are as relevant today as when they were written and I’m forever grateful for the encouragement these gave me when I was a new homeschooler.

    Gathering Things for Your Nature Table

    Unsure of what a nature table is exactly? Here is a simple definition with some ideas and tips. These will help you begin the habit of gathering things for your homeschool nature table during your Outdoor Hour Challenge time.

    plan an outdoor picnic for your homeschool

    Plan a Picnic

    You can plan a simple outdoor picnic with the benefit of homeschool nature study! Even a snack in your backyard will make for a fun time together outdoors. You will be surprised at all you notice while you are outside.

    These homeschool garden activities are perfect for your May nature studies. Includes outdoor activities and gardening tips for kids.

    The Ultimate Guide to National Parks Nature Study

    Ready to enjoy a trip to a national park? Use this guide to national parks nature study for your homeschool and enjoy nature study learning while you explore the great outdoors!

    More Homeschool Garden Learning

    Gardening in Your Homeschool – As the plant world comes alive again in springtime, what better way to teach our children about nature, food, hands-on history, and practical skills than by gardening? Whether we do a formal study or make gardening a purely hands-on project, our children will learn with a homeschool garden. 

    Get Them Gardening! Fun Garden Books for Kids – As spring starts to roll in, we turn our thoughts to finally getting outside and enjoying the nice weather. Along with this comes budding trees and growing plants, and gardening both for food and flowers. This collection of garden books for kids will help you include gardening in your homeschool.

    Mother’s Day Garden activities – Paint some garden flowers for a lovely Mother’s Day gift!

    12 Delightful Farm Activities for Kids – These 12 delightful farm art activities for kids include fluffy baby chicks, a tractor, a barn, ducklings, a lamb, a cow, a piglet and even the chicken life cycle. Such fun learning for your homeschool!

    Out of School and Into Nature

    More Nature Study Ideas for Your May Homeschool

    Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story – Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story is a beautiful picture book biography about the author of The Handbook of Nature Study. Anna Botsford Comstock was passionate about children getting out of the classroom and into nature to learn first hand about our beautiful world.

    3 Tips for Nature Journaling When You Think You Can’t Sketch – Here is some encouragement for you with 3 tips for nature journaling when you think you can’t sketch. My personal nature journal is a source of great joy and it gives me such pleasure to create pages that record my observations and memories of a particular day, excursion, or season.

    How Nature Study Enriches Your High School Biology in Your Homeschool – Just how to include homeschool nature study as part of high school biology? Here you will find a break down of nature study suggestions and accompanying resources for each module of your homeschool biology lessons. I really think it depends on the family and how much nature study you have time to fit in with your high school age children.

    You might also like to explore some May Homeschool Celebrations.

    Homeschool Nature Study membership calendar activities
    Our May Homeschool Nature Study membership calendar is FILLED with fun garden activities and MORE!

    Garden Activities in Homeschool Nature Study Membership

    Enjoy all of these and more in homeschool nature study membership:

    • Garden Outdoor Hour Challenge Curriculum
    • Herbs Outdoor Hour Challenge Curriculum (annual members)
    • Flower and Gardening Activities and Notebook Pages
    • Learning leaf parts
    • Poppies and buttercups
    • Ferns
    • Looking for pollen
    • Pressing flowers
    • How to draw flowers
    • Learning flower parts and dissection of flowers
    • The garden snail
    • Garden Seed Ideas
    Homeschool Nature Study May Nature Craft - Nature Coronation Crown. Victoria Vels shares, "May's nature craft has landed for our lovely members and we're feeling rather patriotic with these stunning Nature Coronation Crowns, just in time for the crowning of King Charles II."

    Coronation Crown Nature Craft for Annual Homeschool Nature Study Members

    Victoria Vels shares, “May’s nature craft has landed for our lovely members and we’re feeling rather patriotic with these stunning Nature Coronation Crowns, just in time for the crowning of King Charles II.”

    You will find hundreds of homeschool nature studies plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

    The Outdoor Mom in May

    Outdoor Mom Encouragement for Annual Homeschool Nature Study Members

    The Outdoor Mom in May Helps Us Refocus

    Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to attend your own business and work with your hands –

    1 Thessalonians 4:11

    It reminds me to re-focus my goals and ambitions so that they align with God’s will rather than my own, often more worldly, ambitions.

    This verse grounds me. When I put this verse into action in practical ways in my everyday life I find that life slows down and I have enough head space to allow my thoughts to centre on what is important.

    The May Outdoor Mom includes:

    • Choosing a journaling spot
    • 10 (!) May nature prompts for outdoors, for journaling and for either the seashore or mountains
    • Ideas for working with your hands
    • Six ideas for making the ordinary extraordinary – including planting a kitchen garden!
    Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership!

    Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

    These homeschool garden activities are perfect for your May nature studies. Includes outdoor activities and gardening tips for kids.

    Tricia and her family fell in love with the Handbook of Nature Study and the accompanying Outdoor Hour Challenges early in their homeschooling. The simplicity and ease of the weekly outdoor hour challenges brought joy to their homeschool and opened their eyes to the world right out their own back door! She shares the art and heart of homeschooling at You ARE an ARTiST and Your Best Homeschool plus her favorite curricula at The Curriculum Choice.