Barb, Author at Homeschool Nature Study

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Barb — 5 Comments

Garden Flowers – Aster Nature Study

I don’t know about you but ever since we really learned about Fibonacci numbers in nature we have been on the lookout for the patterns and swirls. They seem to be everywhere once your eyes learn to focus on this interesting design in creation. The More Nature Study Book #4 Summer Sizzle challenge for garden flowers shares lots of ideas for getting to know about the Fibonacci sequence and the aster family.

Our Garden Flowers Study using the Handbook of Nature Study led us to discover some different kinds of asters that we have right in our own yard. The clue is the shape and arrangement of the flower petals.

The challenge was actually to study White daisies, Black-eyed Susans, and Asters. We went beyond and tried to find all the flowers in the aster family that we have in our garden. We found quite a few.

There are the dahlias. This surprised me that it was in the aster family. My son grows dahlias in his garden box for me and this year they are all shades of pink. I would like to add a few more colors next year.

We do have dahlias growing in pots on the back deck. We planted these from seeds that we purchased from Rene’s Garden. The package calls them Watercolor Silksand they live up to their name.

I bring them in and let them fully open up inside on the kitchen table.

We have lots of Echinacea in our cutting garden. We looked this flower up and it is in the aster family! Can you count the petals?

We were not sure about the Bee Balm so we looked it up on Wikipedia…no, it is not in the aster family. Knowing what makes an aster an aster, we should have known better. Sometimes it adds to the learning experience to NOT find what you are looking for because it makes you stop and take note of the different attributes of a flower like petal arrangement and the way the flower grows.

The nasturtium is also not a member of the aster family. I would love to have a whole bed of nasturtiums. I settled for four scrawny plants this year. There is a study in the Handbook of Nature Study for the nasturtium and I think our family will be following up this aster study with that one in the near future…just for fun and to record this flower in our nature journals.

Other Miscellaneous Garden Adventures from the Past Month

We have lots of Cabbage White butterflies in our garden everyday. I really love this link: Cabbage White. I learned so much by taking the time to look up this butterfly even though it was technically garden flower week. I love it when nature study subjects come to us and we slow down enough to learn a few facts. This is what makes our nature study so rich and satisfying. I think it is such a joy to know about the common everyday things in my garden. There is so much to learn.

We visited a beautiful rose garden when we were on our Oregon trip last month. Shores Acres has a garden that is so magical that you don’t know where to look and you are afraid you are going to miss something. The rose above is my absolute new favorite…it is called Hot Cocoa. It had a slight chocolate fragrance and the color was reminiscent of cocoa.

A rare sighting of me on the blog but I want you to know how much I enjoyed this rose garden. My son obliged me by taking a few photos of me as we wandered around and tried to find our favorites.

My other son decided that the bench was just too inviting and he rested awhile in the rose garden…what a great way to spend a few minutes while you wait for your mom who decided she wanted to read very sign.

So have you completed your garden flower study for the summer yet using the Handbook of Nature Study? I would love to see your garden entries in the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival…you have until the end of the month to post your entry and send in your links.

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 August 13, 2012 by Barb — 21 Comments

Hearts and Trees Art, Nature, and Handicraft Kits – Bubbles and Lavender

My daughter and I have partnered to create a new edition of her Hearts and Trees Art, Nature, and Handicraft kits. The theme of the current kit is Bubbles and Lavender which was fun to work with!

With Hearts and Trees Kits you receive simple to use instructions and supplies to complete a variety of projects and activities. In this Bubbles and Lavender kit, I was able to pull together a complete nature study unit on lavender with follow up activities, including a sample of lavender from my own garden and a set of custom nature journal pages to supplement the study. Because lavender is not in the Handbook of Nature Study, I wrote up an informational page in the style of the Outdoor Hour Challenge and it is included in the kit for you to use as a reference.

After your lavender study, one of the sewing projects is to make a lavender sachet using the sample lavender included in the kit. There is another sewing project in the kit where your children can design and create a felt bracelet.

The other handicraft activities include making a bubble wand and a foam pendant.

For the artist study, we chose a bubble themed painting and a 4″ by 6″ print is included with the kit for your family to view and enjoy. There are follow-up notebooking pages for the artist and painting which use a link to download a pdf with additional prints or to view them on your computer. There is even watercolor paper included to make your very own bubble painting! We also included instructions and a notebook page on learning to write in bubble letters which is a fun skill for everyone.

For a complete list of the contents and supplies included in the Bubbles and Lavender Kit from Hearts and Trees, please click over to the entry on my daughter’s blog. You will find complete details for purchasing this edition.
These kits are not just for homeschoolers and there are many families that use them afterschool and on the weekends.
The kits are designed for children ages 6 and up and there will be some activities that require adult supervision.
Hearts and Trees kits include small parts so be careful when using them around younger siblings.
We have an ample supply of kits on hand but they go fast and then they will be gone.

We expect to release the next kit in October and we are working on the idea of featuring trains, prairie animals, and pioneer themed handicrafts.

Read a review of a previous Hearts and Trees Kit on The Curriculum Choice.
You also may like to read Heather’s post about a previous kit on her blog: Blog She Wrote.

As a promotion of our new Hearts and Trees Bubbles and Lavender Kit, we would love to give one away to a reader of the Handbook of Nature Study. Leave a comment for one chance to win and then if you share by blogging, tweeting, or sharing on Facebook, leave me another comment with the link to where you shared and you can earn a second entry. If you want to purchase the kit and then you win the giveaway, we will refund your money so don’t wait if you are going to want this kit. See the Rafflecopter gadget for details and deadlines.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Barb — 3 Comments

Night Walks with the Kona Dog and her Safe Glow Dog Collar

This is a different sort of post, the one in which Kona gets a new dog collar to review….Safe Glow LED dog collar from DogTrainingCollars.com. When I was contacted about doing a review of this product, I wasn’t sure it was exactly something that our family would use with Kona. I talked it over with the men and they reminded me that they frequently take Kona for walks at dusk and after dark. We decided to give it a try since if it worked well it would make our nighttime dog walks much safer. Being visible along the road in the dark is something that we should all be concerned about.

Because of our busy schedules, Kona many times gets her walk after her fire fighter owner (my dog-loving husband) gets off his shift and that means it is almost dark. We live in a rather rural area and part of their regular walking route is actually on the shoulder of a very busy highway. With the Safe Glow collar on and illuminated, on-coming traffic can easily see our dog at the side of the road. No more close calls with cars too near the shoulder!

The collar has built into it a lighting system that you can switch on and it glows rather brightly. There are three settings for the lighted collar and our family has named them with descriptive names.

Flasher – just like it sounds the light flashes to draw attention
Disco Strobe – this one is a little faster flash and the one we usually set it on
Night Glow – steady glowing light

Some Quick Points to Note

Our collar is yellow and the light illuminates in yellow but there are a variety of colors available.
The collar comes in three sizes and for Kona we chose the large size for a perfect fit.
The collar uses a battery that can be found at most retailers.
The clasp is sturdy and the collar is very well made.
The price is $24.95 from the DogTrainingCollars.com and that is not too high a price to pay for the safety of our doggie best friend.

Because Kona is a big Labrador retriever and she has a tendency to pull us on walks if she is excited, we decided to not use the Safe Glow dog collar as the main collar when we use a leash. We hook the leash to her regular collar and add the Safe Glow dog collar as a safety item. She doesn’t seem to mind wearing two collars and now when she sees us coming with the Safe Glow collar in hand she knows it is time to get excited for her walk. The collar is not waterproof but this will not be a problem for our water-loving dog since we remove it after each nighttime walk.

I expect that we will be using it for a very long time. This is a product that I am glad we were introduced to and I am reassured that the Safe Glow dog collar adds a level of safety for our Kona dog and her human companion during any nighttime walks.

Kona says two paws up for this product but I am thinking she just likes all the extra walks she gets now.

(Photo credit goes to my son Daniel for his awesome image of Kona at the river!)

Edit to add: I received the Safe Glow LED Dog Collar in exchange for a fair and honest review. There was no other compensation received.

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Barb — 7 Comments

Southern Oregon Beaches – Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand

Our recent trip to Oregon let us sample the different kinds of beaches there are along this section of the Pacific Coast. The coast of Southern Oregon has become our summer getaway of choice. We enjoy the break from the hot temperatures at home and we cooled off with the misty foggy days of the Oregon summer.

Would you like to see some of the beaches we visited along with some of the treasures we found to observe and record in our nature journals?

Let’s start off with the most southerly location we visited, a little gem of a beach with lots and lots of agates and pebbles, McVay Rock. This has become one of my favorite rock beaches and it has tidepools too! The boys enjoyed searching for the most colorful or interesting rocks. This was a great location to start our Outdoor Hour Challenge on Rocks. Although we didn’t examine any granite, we took advantage of the time to closely examine some other rocks.

On the other side of Brookings, Oregon we spent some time exploring Whaleshead Beach. The sun was out and we walked the sand, climbed over rocks, and watched the sea birds flying.

There were colorful flowers and grasses growing along the rocky cliffs. It hardly seems possible that this dudleya can grow right on the rocks but it does.

This is a close-up of another beach we visited at the Pistol River in Oregon. It was early morning and we had the beach to ourselves. We had to walk over sand dunes and then over a flat area to get to the shore. There were lots and lots of empty shells…the birds must feast here when the time is right.

Here is a view down the beach with the shorebirds in the distance poking their beaks in for a morning meal. We have friends that come here to go clamming but we were just on a refreshing beach walk as we traveled up the coast.

Here is another beach we camped at on our trip, Bullards Beach near Bandon, Oregon. This image is in the evening and if you look closely you can see horses in the distance and a family having a bonfire up sheltered in the pile of driftwood.

Here is another section of the beach early in the morning. Look at all that driftwood!

This is the lighthouse at Bullards Beach and you can see the sandy dunes and grasses that border the actual shore. Behind the lighthouse is the Pistol River outlet which is where all the driftwood comes from during certain parts of the year.

Farther up the coast, we visited Cape Arago and Simpson Reef. It was a wet day but we braved the rain to observe the sea life down on the rocky islands. I had my binoculars and we were able to see sea lions resting on the rocks and in the water.

Rocks and shells are rather difficult to draw in my nature journal. It is an exercise in slowing down and really looking at the object before you put your pencil or pen to the page.

We had a great time looking for rocks on this trip. Not much granite to look at but we did see many things to capture our interest and to look up in our field guides.

Just looking at these photos makes me want to turn around and go back to Oregon.

You can find other rock related challenges here on the Handbook of Nature Study blog.
Quartz Study
Sand and Soil
Salt Study

If you are interested in more of our Oregon Coast adventures, here are some links.

Oregon Coast Hiking

Oregon Coast Tidepools

Oregon Coast Trail

Have you seen the new product over at NotebookingPages.com? If you own a Lifetime Membership over on Debra’s website, you can log into your account on NotebookingPages.com and download your set right now. If you aren’t already a member over there, you can purchase the set separately or I would highly recommend a Lifetime Membership so you can access all of the 1000’s of notebooking pages she has to offer. ($4.95 for the set or get started with your membership with $10!)

Please note I am an affiliate for NotebookingPages.com and have used the notebooking pages with my family for years!

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Barb — 6 Comments

Family Monarch Study – How To Conduct a Nature Study Follow-Up

In any blackboard reading lesson, and, so far as possible, in individual written work by the children, tell —

First. What I did.

Second. What I saw.

Third. What I thought.

If this order is habitually followed, the children are more apt to think for themselves, and to base their conclusions on what they have seen. If told in the first person, as far as possible, class reproduction is apt to be more thoughtful and the pupil’s work more individual.

Nature Study and the Child by Charles Scott, 1900

What We Did:
We sat in the garden on several occasions to try to spy out some butterflies as part of the Outdoor Hour Challenge for summer butterflies. Mom had her camera and was ready to snap some images if a beauty came along. We mostly saw bees of various kinds and the occasional dragonfly.

Fiery Skipper from 2009 – I forgot to plant my cosmos this year…just realized.

What We Saw:
Western Tiger Swallowtail (We studied this butterfly during the summer of 2011.)
Cabbage White
Fiery Skipper (We identified this way back in 2007.)

Photo from a few weeks ago showing the damaged wing.

What We Thought:
We wondered why we never see the caterpillars in our yard so we investigated the host plant for the Western Tiger Swallowtail. Turns out we have no host plants so that solves that mystery. The host plants are: willow, cottonwood, and chokecherry. (You can use this link to learn about host plants: Create a Butterfly Garden.)

We also noticed that quite a few of the butterflies that come to our yard have tattered wings. We did a little research and found that butterflies can still fly even with up to 70% of their wings missing. It is really a blessing that they are capable of flying even after a bird has taken a bite out of their wings. (See this webpage.) Did you know that some people actually repair a butterfly’s broken wings? Never knew that.

I forgot to mention here on the blog that my milkweed that I had been nurturing along for a few years in a pot on my deck was totally and completely destroyed by the roofers that came to roof our house back in June. They somehow managed to dump it to the ground and it was just smashed into a million pieces, beyond saving. I shed a few tears and promised myself that I would try again. Reminds me I need to order some more seeds and buy a new pot. I am determined to start a monarch habitat in my yard.

We didn’t see any monarchs this week but we did last month.

So to wrap up this post, I want to encourage you to try the simple process that Charles Scott outlined in the quote at the top of this post. It is an easy way to structure a nature journal entry….even young children could give a few words in response to the prompts.

First. What I did.

Second. What I saw.

Third. What I thought.

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Barb — 6 Comments

Handbook of Nature Study August 2012 Newsletter – Big Plans for the Outdoor Hour Challenge

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter

Companion to the Outdoor Hour Challenges

Supporting a Global Community in Their Nature Study

August 2012- How to Use the Newsletter Edition

The Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter is a companion to the Outdoor Hour Challenges that are posted here on the blog every Friday. After compiling the results of the Outdoor Hour Challenge survey from earlier in the month, I have decided on some changes to the way the Outdoor Hour Challenge and the Newsletter will work together. I have outlined all the changes in this edition of the newsletter. It is important to read this edition so you will know how things are going to work for the next year here on the Handbook of Nature Study. Hopefully, this will only make the challenges and your family’s nature study even better!

This edition of the newsletter also includes all the usual things. There are four contributed articles, printable grids and a notebook page, special links, and information about the special bundles available here on the Handbook of Nature Study. Lots of great end of the summer nature study ideas will be found in the newsletter so make sure to download and save your copy. Enjoy!

I have attached the newsletter download link to the bottom of my blog feed so if you are a subscriber you will receive the link to the latest newsletter at the bottom of every post for the month of August. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter link in the next post that comes to your email box.

You can subscribe to my blog by filling in your email address in the subscription box on my sidebar.

If you have trouble getting the newsletter to download, try right clicking the link, save the link, and then open it. (The link is in the email and not in this blog post.) I am not going to be archiving the newsletters at this point. You will need to SAVE the FILE on your computer each month if you want to save back issues.

It is not too late join in with the Summer Sizzle series of Outdoor Hour Challenges. You can find them on the summer tab of my blog or in my latest ebook.

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Barb — 6 Comments

Colors and Surprises in the Late July Garden

Is there anyone else that plants things and then forgets what they are from year to year? I had two mystery plants in the garden that have now flowered and I could identify them. Yes, two plants.

It was a complete surprise to me when I looked down off the deck last night and saw a hibiscus blooming. Where did that come from?

Edit to add: Several of you commented and emailed that you thought this mystery plant was a Rose of Sharon. Turns out we are all right. The Latin name for this plant would be Hibiscus syriacus and the common name is Rose of Sharon. Thanks for the help!

Isn’t it beautiful? I did have a hibiscus in the front yard but it died a few years ago…maybe I planted one here in the back at that time to replace it. Perhaps I should keep a garden diary where I keep track of new things that we add as we go along. Seems sort of late for that now.

My gladiola is starting to blossom. I love the delicate shades of lavender.

Our Four O’Clocks are continuing to blossom. This was another of our mystery plants that we were able to identify this summer.

Apples on the tree! I am surprised that they are getting so big on my small little tree. I had to prop up the limb because it was bending so far down to the ground.

I just can’t get enough of my sunflowers this year and I am sad when I think that soon they will be gone and I will have to wait until next year to enjoy them again. We have been counting bees as part of the Great Sunflower Project and it is such a wonderful way to slow down and enjoy your garden.

Up on the deck, my container garden is still providing the colors of summer. These snapdragons are my favorite combination of colors.

We continue to see lots of butterflies each day….some look like they are just floating through the air as they come to rest on the flowers. The Western Tiger Swallowtails are my favorites because of their color and their size.

This image is a promise. My dad sent home some zinnia seedlings for me to plant and he promised me they would bloom before the season was over. I have faithfully been making sure they are watered each day and I look forward to seeing the fulfillment of that promise.

With the afternoons that bring us monsoon moisture, the sunsets are absolutely gorgeous. We can see a glimpse of it each day from our back deck….only if we stand way over in one corner. It is worth the effort.

My garden brings me such joy.

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 July 31, 2012 by Barb — 4 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival – July Newsletter Edition

Summer weather and summer trips have filled my life the past month. We enjoyed a trip to the Oregon Coast (blog entry coming soon), a crazy lightning storm, the amazing display of colors in our garden, lots of eating outdoors, swimming at the lake, and counting bees in the garden.

Summer as your children get older changes. The rhythm is different and I have found such satisfaction in my gardening and bird watching. There is time to read in the evenings as the sun sets slowly over the landscape. There are far fewer Popsicles being consumed and lots more Gatorade in the fridge as the boys take on new sports like soccer and volleyball with friends, mountain biking, running, and Hacky Sack.

On our camping trip I found that my boys were still happy to walk along the beach with me looking for pretty rocks and watching for marine life in the tidepools. They scooped up sand for me to look at as we compared each beach’s unique sand. Nature study is not formal in our family anymore….it is casual and comfortable. We make observations, we make comparisons, we try to notice details, we read signs and books and displays when we travel, and we learn more every time we put forth the effort.

Thank you to all the families that sent in entries for this edition of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. It is always one of the highlights of my month to get to put this entry together after reading all the entries. I appreciate your time and effort to make this carnival a success.

Summer Pond – Turtles and Pondweed
Robin from Academia has submitted her post: Bike Ride to The Pond. They rode bikes to their pond and she was able to capture some interesting pond life. Love the damselfly!

Kristin from Broom and Crown put together their Pond Study for the carnival. What a perfect summer pond day they had with insects, animal tracks, and so much more. She also includes a great example of a younger child’s journal. You can also read about another day they had at the Madrona Marsh. They are taking advantage of their local nature center this summer!
Summer Weather
Shirley Ann from Under An English Sky shares her entry: the Great British Weather. What a great entry to show how their summer weather is unique to their part of the world. I learned a few things too!

Summer Butterfly Study
Tricia from Hodgepodge shares the account of their summer butterfly story: The Marvel of the Butterfly Cycle. I agree with her and know that reading about this in a book does not even come close to comparing with watching the life cycle in person. Thank you so much for sharing your family’s study.

Cristy from Crafty Cristy recorded and submits for your enjoyment: Studying the Life Cycle of the Fritillary Butterfly for this edition of the carnival. They discovered eggs and caterpillars in their own butterfly garden.

Heidi from Home Schoolroom writes about what she calls Mesmerized by Monarch Metamorphosis. This mama went above and beyond to find the caterpillars, keep them fed with milkweed leaves, and then take a time lapse for us all to see of the caterpillar’s change into a chrysalis. What a jewel! You don’t want to miss sharing this one with your children.
Potpourri
Jennifer from Royal Little Lambs tells carnival readers about their Hummingbird Study. They have a variety to observe and they are making the most of it..complete with notebook pages for their nature journals.

Wendy from Loving Learning submits: Foraging for Fungi. Their family went on a guided fungus hike and learned more about their local specimens. I enjoyed reading about this South African nature study!

Shirley Ann from Under An English Sky has written a wonderful entry: Cuckoo Spit, Froghoppers, and Other Things. This is such a wonderful entry showing a nature walk they took with a friend…and ended up getting soaked in the rain.

Kristin from Broom and Crown shares their skunk study: My Lil Stinkers. Her girls really enjoyed learning more about this creature that we all hope not to see up close.

Zonnah from Zonnah’s Addictions shows us how they jumped back in with the Outdoor Hour Challenge: We Are Back. Looks like they are using the newsletter grid to have a hot summer afternoon of outside activities.
Catherine from Grace to Abide writes about their Outdoor Hour Challenge #14 (Pressing Flowers). They are experiencing some cold, wet weather in their part of the UK but they have spent time in their garden and observing things as part of the OHC. Love their colorful flower garden!

Jen from Snowfall Academy submits their entry, Summer Tree Study, for you to enjoy. Don’t miss reading her daughter’s next stanza in her “My Tree in All the Seasons” poem. Excellent job.

Don’t forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in August are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 8/30/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com or submit them at the blog carnival site (link on the sidebar of my blog).

Also, the August Newsletter link will be in tomorrow’s blog entry so make sure you are subscribed so you can download your copy as soon as possible. You will not want to miss this edition of the newsletter because it is going to explain the Outdoor Hour Challenge plans for the next year. I will be giving you a detailed account of how the newsletter, Friday nature study challenges, and some new facets of the OHC are going to all work together to bring the OHC to the next level.

To subscribe to the Handbook of Nature Study, you can enter your email in the box below and you will receive each blog entry and the link to the monthly newsletter in your email inbox. Thank you so much for reading and supporting this blog!
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Posted on July 25, 2012 by Barb — 1 Comment

Monsoon Moisture – Our Summer Weather Study

I captured this image of the clouds at sunset last night coming in off the lake. Gorgeous!

Summer in our part of Northern California is HOT and DRY!

But, occasionally we get the weather phenomenon called “monsoon moisture” which really means that the storms come from the Gulf of California and are tropical in nature, reaching up into the mountains of Northern California with moisture and thunderstorms. (That is my very non-technical explanation of monsoon moisture.) We are going to be using this topic as the advanced study portion of the Summer Weather Challenge.

Monsoon Moisture in the eastern Sierra Nevada at Mono Lake 2006

When this happens, we see quite an interesting buffet of weather activity:
1. Scattered afternoon thunderstorms
2. Down pours of rain
3. Gusty high winds
4. Beautiful clouds (especially at sunset)
5. Increased fire danger because of the chance of dry lightning (no rain)

After an monsoon weather event, the air is sticky with warm moist air. The plants and trees are refreshed, the dry leaves swept away, and the air just smells so nice and fresh.

Monsoon Moisture – Bodie State Park, Eastern Sierra Nevada 2006. We got very wet in the rainstorm that came shortly after taking this photo!

We had such an even last night which will give us an account to share as part of the Summer Weather Challenge in the More Nature Study series. It was really hot at bedtime so we decided to sleep out on the back deck under the stars. It started off fairly innocently with a few wisps of clouds slowly moving across the sky blocking out the stars. Then the wind started to gust and the first flashes of lightning came quickly one after the other. The rumble of the thunder was in the distance. No problem my husband said…he thought it was just going to be a dry lightning event where there is no rain associated with the storm.

Boy, was he wrong!

By 11 PM the lightning, thunder, wind, and rain hit with full force. The wind chimes were ringing constantly and we decided we better give up the idea of sleeping outside. This kind of weather is fairly normal for our area in the summer and we have a couple of these storms usually in July or August. What turned this into an unusual event was the length of the storm. We still were having lightning, thunder, wind, and rain until at least 4 AM. It was a restless night for all of us as we kept getting up to peer out the windows and doors at the awesome display of power in this storm.

The garden still had plenty of beautiful flowers for a bouquet this morning.

The power went out for a short time but all in all there was little other inconvenience from the storm. Today the sun rose and warmed the air and made us all feel welcome. The windows were opened and the fans turned on to drive away the humidity a bit.

Right on time for our Summer Weather Challenge!

Here are a few of our other summer weather entries:
Summer Weather 2011 – Can You Say HOT?
Summer Weather Sunrise/Sunset Observations 2010

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Barb — 42 Comments

Book Review: Fifteen Minutes Outside-365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect With Your Kids

All those years ago when our family started implementing the idea to go outside for just fifteen minutes at a time, we could never have imagined all the things we would find to learn about and enjoy as we spent just a little time each day together in our own backyard.

Rebecca Cohen has written a gem of a book, Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids, which explores this idea even more as she made a promise to herself to get outside for at least fifteen minutes each day for an entire year…no matter the weather.

By month and season, Rebecca Cohen gives the reader a comprehensive list of things to actually do outdoors during those fifteen minutes outside, providing suggestions to make it more enjoyable.

“Going outside with my family every day has changed my life. Instead of frantically running from task to task, I have learned to use the spaces in my schedule to look around, breathe deeply, and live in the moment.”
Rebecca Cohen – 15 Minutes Outside

These monthly lists form the heart of this book and will inspire families for many years…no more wondering what to do outside or how to entice your children into stepping outdoors with you. You can keep this book handy and reference it on those days where you just don’t feel like going outside but know that once you do you will be refreshed.

As a family, we are naturally happier when we are outside, learning and active together. It doesn’t feel like a chore.”

Rebecca Cohen – 15 Minutes Outside

Don’t miss the opportunity to give these ideas a try. Currently the price of this book on Amazon.com is $10.19…..what a bargain. She has a free download list of “50 Outdoor Activities for Busy Families” that you can use to get you started.

My copy of this book has found a spot on my nature shelf and its pages are marked and highlighted with things I want to try with my boys. Although the book is aimed at younger children, I found quite a few ideas to explore with my teens.

Rebecca aimed to keep the activities in this book simple, little or no cost, and to be enjoyed every day of the year. I think she hit the mark and this book will help nature loving families to enrich their time outdoors without much extra effort. Thanks Rebecca!

Along with the book, she has a wonderful product that I know you are going to love! She has created Curiosity Cards for you to use as starting points for conversations that can take place anywhere. These laminated cards on a ring can be stowed easily in a purse, backpack, or hooked to a stroller. I recently took these on a day trip with my family and we made use of the cards as a way to stimulate meaningful conversations about thoughts, emotions, dreams for the future, and just plain getting to know each other better.

What would you like do more of every day?
Find two things that feel different from each other.
Look for animal tracks or signs of animals.
What game could we make up right now?

These Curiosity Cards are a gem and I give them a big thumbs up for my fellow nature loving families. You will use these for a long time in your family.

Don’t miss Rebecca’s website: Rebecca Plants. Here you will find lots of encouragement for getting outdoors with your family, including a whole series of videos to watch.

Rebecca has generously offered to supply a copy of the 15 Minutes Outside book to one of my readers. Use the Rafflecopter gadget to enter a random drawing for one copy of this exciting book. Hurry and enter the giveaway before midnight 7/27/12 and I will announce the winner over the weekend.