Please note that I will not be posting the complete challenge here on the blog, but you’ll find the detailed bear nature study challenge in the Forest Fun course that’s available with Homeschool Nature Study Membership. Sign into your account and download the accompanying homeschool curriculum for the details, more links, and notebook pages.
You can work through the Forest Fun Handbook of Nature Study curriculum any time during your homeschool studies. Forest Fun is a brand new series of homeschool nature studies featuring things you might find in the forest. It’s not too late to join us by purchasing a membership.
It might be interesting to investigate online all the different types of bears there are in your area of the country. For example, we saw grizzly bears at Grand Teton National Park. The, on a camping trip to Yosemite, a black bear visited our campsite.
More Bears Study Resources for Your Homeschool
If you are looking for some hands on fun, you might also enjoy these bear nature study ideas from our sister website, You ARE an ARTiST:
Nana tells the story of bear coming into her backyard and taking a nap. She lives in an Atlanta suburb, so this was a really big deal! She also shared about how her neighbor said when the bear walked and the sunlight hit the bear’s coat, it had a rainbow of colors. Nana created a homeschool art lesson around her bear experience.
This homeschool nature study incorporates indoor and outdoor activities, perfect for the child who is fascinated by reptiles.
Sometimes I feel inadequate to teach about something my boys are interested in studying. Reptiles are one subject that I would put in that category! I have a huge aversion to the sight of reptiles, but on closer acquaintance I am not so put off and can see the beauty in their creation and how they fit into the web of life.
Because both of my children are absolutely fascinated by reptiles, I have grown to appreciate their role in our interest-led learning and homeschool nature study.
The process of going from feeling totally disgusted by these sorts of creatures to admiration is by getting to know them better. Here is what the Handbook of Nature Study says about reptiles and nature study.
“But she(the teacher) was equal to the occasion, and surprised them by declaring that there were many interesting things to be studied about snakes, and forthwith sent to the library for books which discussed these reptiles; and this was the beginning of a nature study club of rare efficiency and enterprise.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 193
What better way to follow your child’s interest than to learn right alongside them? I can’t always start off as excited about things as my children are but I can muster up enthusiasm at learning about it as part of God’s creation. Each animal and plant has a place in the intertwined web of life we have all around us. Snakes, lizards, spiders, rodents, and everything else each are dependent on each other and in the long run so are we. Each creature has a job to do and when I think about that in relation to snakes and reptiles, it encourages me to dig a little deeper with my children.
Outdoor Homeschool Reptile Nature Study
While I do not love the idea of randomly seeking out reptiles in the wild, there are ways to incorporate this interest in our nature study.
Herping is a term used to describe going out into a reptile habitat and look for lizards and snakes. (I know, it can be cringe inducing, but hear me out.) Like any nature study, this is about exploring and getting my kids outdoors. After learning a few safety precautions (namely, we are not picking anything up!) it is actually a beautiful way to explore nature.
We discuss the various habitats and take pictures of any lizards we find. We hike and are always careful to watch out for rattle snakes.
Overall, it’s a brilliant outdoor nature study for our homeschool.
Ideas For Indoor Reptile Nature Study
Because it still stresses me out a bit to actually go looking for wild reptiles, we also devote a significant amount of time to indoor reptile study.
Here are some of my boys’ favorite learning activities:
Visit the pet store and discuss the various reptiles and their man made habitats.
Head to the local reptile zoo.
Look up various facts about reptiles online.
Check out books from the library.
Set-up our own habitat for our new pet lizard (because nature study has a way of creeping into my boys’ birthday wishes)
A Homeschool Nature Study Resource To Help Your Family Learn
Thankfully, our nature study does not end with reptiles. In fact, one of the best ways to continue our learning all year long is with the Homeschool Nature Study Membership.
With it, you will have everything you need to bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool. It provides access to Outdoor Hour Challenges curriculum and tons of resources to enrich your homeschool.
We are continuing our festive theme of finding Christmassy reds and greens in nature. This homeschool nature outdoor hour challenge includes the greens of winter with a moss and lichen nature walk. Here is how you can enjoy a greens of winter nature walk too!
Take a Walk to Find Greens of Winter in a Moss and Lichen Homeschool Nature Walk
It was a cold, frozen day but if we stopped and looked closely….there was beauty all around us.
These lichens are just so interesting! Did you know that lichens are not plants at all? The are complex organisms formed by a symbiotic relationship between fungus and an algae. They will certainly make for a fascinating, in-depth study!
Even on the tree branches it was beautiful. So many shades of green!
After a bracing walk hunting for these wonderful non-vascular plants, an afternoon spent painting in your nature journal may just be the perfect way to wrap up the day. You might even decide to paint while warming up next to a warm fire.
Join the Nature Study Homeschool Membership for Helpful Tips Year Round
Next week we start our first Outdoor Hour Challenge (OHC) of the new year. We will be looking at winter tree silhouettes. The nature study plans for 2022 and the corresponding ebooks are available for our members to download. Be sure to download in preparation of an exciting new year of outdoor hour challenges.
If you are not yet a member but would like to join and receive access to all the curriculum books, the interactive nature study calendar and fresh new posts every Friday then please consider joining the homeschool nature study membership now.
Connect With Our Homeschool Community On Social Media
Did you enjoy this Outdoor Hour Challenge? Be sure to tag us on Instagram @outdoorhourchallenge and use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge so we can see and comment!
Taking your winter nature studies indoors when the weather outdoors is proving to be a challenge may be just the thing you need every once in a while. We have a lovely post from the archives to inspire your homeschool nature studies indoors for those days that you can’t face getting outdoors.
Taking Your Winter Nature Studies Indoors
I knew as I posted the challenges each of the last few weeks that there were families who were buried under snow already and those that have really cold temperatures to deal with. I received a personal email from several of you letting me know that you are suspending your Outdoor Hour Challenge (OHC) participation until spring and it made me a little sad. I have been thinking hard about how to help you to keep up a system of nature study while you are living a more indoor centered life until the temperatures warm up.
Believe it or not, although my photos are not showing it, we are experiencing cold temperatures here in Northern California. I know that in perspective that they are not as cold as some parts of the world right now but still we have had ice and frost every morning this week and yesterday on our afternoon hike it was 37 degrees. My nose and ears were cold because I took off down the trail without my knit hat. We occasionally will get snow that lasts a few days which is just enough to make it fun and not a chore. I share all this so you don’t think of me as sitting outside in my shorts in the sun under a palm tree just because I live in California.
What can you do to bring a little nature study time to a cold winter’s day?
Long lists of nature study ideas always seem to overwhelm me so I thought I would share just a few really *great* ideas that could get you started in taking your winter nature studies indoors.
Hang a bird feeder outside a window where you can sit inside and look out at your daily feathered visitors. A simple seed or suet feeder outside your window will bring years of enjoyment as you get to know and learn about your local birds.
Keep a window sill garden. One of our OHC families wrote about their window sill garden, its a great and inexpensive way to enjoy nature.
Here is her photo of their window area. Doesn’t it look inviting and make you really want to take a minute to not only look out the window but also take a peek at the plants? They would make great subjects for a nature journal as well. Thanks to Mama Stories for letting me use her photo.
Grow a Tabletop Garden. Last year a lot of families tried an indoor gardening project and had great success. It is something easy and inexpensive and so interesting to grow. I was thinking that it was about time to plant another dish garden using root vegetables.Here are the instructions and photos at Hearts and Trees – Tabletop Garden Instructions and Notebook page
This is a really easy project even for little ones to manage. The results are fantastic and will brighten up a winter day for sure. Here is what the tabletop garden looks like after it starts growing. Update #2
This was our tabletop garden last year and it always cheered me up to take a minute to view its progress. We had great results even in this not so very bright window, in a room where we don’t keep the temperature very warm. Things to learn about: roots, leaves, and then eventually flowers. Grow the garden and keep up the notebook pages and you will bring a little nature study into your winter.
Another activity that we do around here is to play nature journal catch-up when the weather is too cold or wet to go outside. Items that we have on our nature shelf can be brought to the table and sketched or painted into the nature journal on a long winter’s afternoon. Many times this activity will spark a memory or a question that we had that we never took the time to research before. This is a perfect time to dig a little deeper into subjects that interest your child. A stop at the library the next time you are out running errands can provide the opportunity to look for books on the birds, trees, and wildflowers of summer.
Plan next summer’s garden. Okay, I admit it. I love gardening catalogues. One favorite winter nature-related activity that we do in our home is plan next summer’s garden. Browsing and dreaming over the seed and garden catalogs warms your heart in a way that brings optimism and hope during a bitterly cold day. The promise of a garden full of green things can help pass the time as you stare at the starkness of a winter’s scene out your window. Sketch the garden out on paper with colored pencils. Ask your children to participate. Designate one catalog as the cutting catalog and let the children cut the photos of flowers and veggies out and glue them to paper.
I have in mind a whole new idea for a summer’s garden. It was sparked by this family’s idea and blog entry at Understanding Charlotte. Make sure to pop over to her blog and view her photos of how they brought nature study up close during the summer. This is such a great way to attract nature right up to your window. This idea could be started next spring and kept going for next winter as well. Many times if we just leave plants in the ground over the winter, creatures find a way to use them. I still have sunflowers…very dead sunflowers….in my garden but they provide food and shelter for visiting birds. I think this is such a great concept for families that have limited space or need to contain their garden in pots on a patio. You can use your imagination and plan your own window accessible garden for next spring and summer and winter.
Last but not least, don’t minimize the power of a quick walk outdoors if the weather cooperates. Seize a few moments each week to step outdoors even if you are bundled up and initially not excited about the thought of getting cold on purpose.
One of my favorite moments in the winter are those few minutes after the snow stops and everything is covered in whiteness. The stillness and quiet of that moment are priceless in our modern world. It is as if everything has stood still and you can capture the clean white slate that snow gives…even in the city or in a neighborhood.
The time before all the kids head out to play and enjoy the winter games of childhood is one of the gifts of winter. As an adult don’t forget the delight you had as a child when it snowed. Muster up some enthusiasm and view the winter weather from your child’s point of view. It can seem like a miracle to them.
“There is enough to see outside in winter to satisfy any poet. In fact, winter may be even better because there aren’t so many things going on in nature that they crowd each other out. It’s easier to notice what’s there.”
Charlotte Mason volume 1, page 86
Join the Homeschool Nature Study Membership For Helpful Tips Year Round
We have an exciting winter nature study program planned for the balance of our winter Outdoor Hour Challenges during January and February full of more simple ideas to spark your family’s love for nature at this very challenging time of the year. Plenty of ideas for taking your winter nature studies indoors!
These plans are available right now for our members along with a nature study calendar full of links to explore. Both these are exclusive to our membership so if you are not yet a member please do consider joining our Outdoor Hour Challenge membership…we would love to have you become part of the family.
Connect With Our Homeschool Community On Social Media
Did you enjoy this Outdoor Hour Challenge? Be sure to tag us on Instagram @outdoorhourchallenge and use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge so we can see and comment!
Winter Nature Study Resources
Here are some of our favorite resources for winter nature study!
We decided to repeat last year’s Winter Challenge on a recent hike. This homeschool nature study is perfect for the season.
Our Winter Homeschool Nature Study
We had planned on leaving in the early afternoon but it actually started to rain so we postponed it for a few hours. The rain stopped eventually and it was amazing how beautiful everything was as we hiked along the trail.
The colors were vivid and we noticed a few outstanding things to share.
Green And Red In Nature
We found some beautiful green moss covering stones and trees. Isn’t so vibrant and bright? It stands out from the winter grey making it hard to pass by. If you come across some moss be sure to encourage your children to take a closer look through a magnifying glass.
Bright red berries on bushes along the way. Red berries add a splash of color to stark and frosty scenes when most of the trees have lost their leaves. They are a vital food source for animals and birds during these ‘hungry’ months. All the berries you see on your walk have grown and developed in autumn.
Interestingly, studies have shown that birds choose the order they eat the berries carefully to ensure that they have as much food as possible to last the winter.
Finally, we found some Manzanita wood. Isn’t it just so vividly red after it gets wet?
Finding green and red in our homeschool nature study was a wonderful way to blend learning with a celebration of the holiday season!
It’s our Winter Wednesday challenge once again and time to bring the world of winter into your homeschool nature study.
Winter Wednesday – Week 1 The World of Winter in your Homeschool Nature Study
1. Read chapter one Discover Nature in Winter. While you are reading you can highlight any portions that you would like to share with your children. I also like to write in the margins any topics and ideas that come to me as I read.
2. Our family is going to complete the winter color activity on page 14 and illustrated on page 17. Please feel free to complete any of the suggested activities in chapter one of the book and then share your experiences in a blog entry.
If you do not have the book and you would like to follow along with the activity, here are some basic instructions.
Finding The Colors Of Winter In Your Nature Study
The bareness of the trees and the appearance of a white snowy landscape help to sharpen the other colors of winter. Find a few minutes this week to notice the colors you can observe in your own backyard, even if it is from your window.
Some Ideas to Get You Started In Your Homeschool Study This Winter:
I announced my retirement in August and many of you so kindly expressed your love and support for my decision, as well as your best wishes for the next chapter in my life. One of those people who contacted me with great sadness was Tricia Hodges from You Are An Artist (also, Your Best Homeschool). She felt strongly that the Outdoor Hour Challenge and the other resources on the Handbook of Nature Study website should stay available to families. Prayerfully considering the options, she and her husband Steve offered to take over the curating of the content found on the Handbook of Nature Study website.
The Outdoor Hour is Staying Online – Same place, same content, just new owners!
Great News for Current Members!
-Current memberships will be honored for the remainder of the membership period.
-All content will still be available to members after 12/31/21.
Let me introduce your new host on the Handbook of Nature Study website.
Tricia Hodges has been a personal friend and professional colleague for many years. She has been a huge part of the Outdoor Hour Challenge family from the very beginning. She participated with her own children, sharing their nature experiences with the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter (archives found in the Member’s library) and the Outdoor Hour Challenge blog carnival. You do not have to dig too deep into the archives to find her presence and support for everything we have accomplished promoting family nature study time.
I’m excited for you to get to know their website, You Are An Artist, since it’s a perfect complement to the nature study lessons found on the Handbook of Nature Study.
It’s truly an honor for them to keep my work available for current members and an even bigger honor to know that my love of nature and the passion I poured into this work will benefit future participants. In addition to their You Are An Artist website, Tricia also runs The Curriculum Choice website that has been a valuable resource for homeschoolers for many, many years. She also shares her personal homeschooling wisdom and journey on her Your Best Homeschool blog.
I’m thrilled to have Tricia and her whole family take over the reins here on my website. The content will be in very capable and loving hands.
Details To Come
We’ll be making more details available as we work through the transition process in the month of December. We aim to have the website transferred and ready to go by the end of the year. Please be patient because we all know that stuff happens behind the scenes when making changes to websites.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
It’s easy to dismiss the November world as cold and dark, even barren. But I guarantee that if you take a short walk outside with your children, you’ll realize there are still plenty of things to capture your attention.
We took a hike this past weekend and it actually snowed on us during our adventure. Even then, we were able to hear a flock of grosbeaks up in the treetops, see colorful lichen on the trees, and some amazing mushrooms pushing their way up out of the ground.
The deciduous trees here are fairly leafless already, but there was an abundance of leaves on the ground that we could stop and observe. I put a couple of leaves in my pocket so I could paint them in my nature journal once we arrived home.
I admit that it was cold, and the weather wasn’t the most inviting. We could have easily not taken our hike. Am I glad we made the effort? Yes!
Here’s my suggestion for you this month:
Push yourself to get outside and take note of your own November world. Even if you only get out for a few minutes, you’ll more than likely find something to note in your nature journal.
Please see the link below for a more detailed challenge for November. There’s even a printable notebook page for you to use with your family.
Enjoy!
You can read the original Outdoor Hour Challenge here: November World.
Our third quarter was super awesome. Summer always is the best season here in Central Oregon. The sunshine is abundant, the skies are clear, and the opportunities to be outside are endless. We filled our days with gardening, hiking, kayaking, and floating the river behind our house.
We spent the entire month of July sleeping in our backyard tent. Just spending that time outside at night adds to our awareness of the animals that share our habitat. I love hearing the coyotes, the frogs, the owls, and even the unidentified sounds of nighttime. Sleeping in a tent was not on the goal list but it definitely is an aspect of summer nature enjoyment in our family.
Nothing beats waking to the sound of birdsong.
So how did we do as far as working towards my actual nature goals for the year? I am sharing a bit about our progress below as a way to help encourage you to make your own goals. (There is a printable goal notebook page in the Member’s Library.)
This quarter we saw an increase in wildlife in our backyard garden. July is the beginning of the bloom time for us and with that comes the bees, butterflies, grasshoppers, birds, toads, and squirrels. So many birds!
Our nesting boxes were busy with anxious bird mamas who were building and tending their nests. I love sitting quietly and watching as they fly back and forth, sometimes stopping briefing in the shrubs that line the edges of most of the backyard. We can watch the swallows feeding their babies with huge dragonflies they caught out over the river. The bluebirds stand guard on the fence posts before taking turns going off for food.
The squirrels have really made themselves at home at the back boundary of the yard. There are Belding’s ground squirrels, golden mantle squirrels, and then gray squirrels. In addition, there are lesser chipmunks who are tiny little critters that move and hop as fast as any animal I’ve ever seen. They all frequent the ground under the bird feeders and then as the season progressed, they moved to the sunflower garden.
The biggest attractions to the yard in the late summer have been the water features. I have two birdbaths and three shallow saucers of water that I keep filled for the birds and other animals. Even the dog’s water dish became a favorite for the birds to bathe in! I highly recommend making some water available in your garden to support the needs of the local wildlife.
We have one small section that we are still going to plant next year in the back and larger section in the front yard. I will take the winter months to draw up some plans for those areas and of course I will consider the needs of the birds, insects, and other animals that live here in my neighborhood.
Local Hikes:
In searching for new local hikes, we discovered a new trail that we absolutely love! It is an extension of a hike we take frequently, just adding additional miles to an already gorgeous trail.
We have hiked this new portion two times now because we discovered a section that has a grove of aspens.
We wanted to revisit the place to see if the aspens had turned color, but we were a bit early. I’m not sure if we will be able to hike it again but it is definitely on the list for future adventures.
Looking at my notes, I realize that we did actually did quite a bit of hiking locally despite the presence of wildfire smoke for much of August. It helps that my daughter and her husband came to visit, and they are always eager to hike here in Central Oregon.
Make notes in field guides
I am continuing to keep notes in my field guides. In fact, it makes my so happy when I’m able to mark a new bird we observe or a new wildflower we identify. I wish I would have started this a long time ago.
Go camping:
We had a fantastic camping trip to the Oregon Coast in August. Newport, Oregon is such a fun place with so many attractions. We had perfect weather with plenty of sunshine for our adventures.
We spent an afternoon walking along a back road that parallels the coast and has vantage points for looking out over the rocky shore. Guess who made an appearance? The gray whales were close to shore, and we could clearly see them spouting, their tail fins, and sometimes their backs as they moved through the ocean. It was so much fun!
Learn about succulents
My love for succulents has greatly increased this year. I have been nurturing quite a few plants indoors which has helped me appreciate the variety of succulents there are in the world. I did some transplanting of succulents in my rock garden and so far, they are all doing well. They multiple rather fast so transplanting seems like a great way to spread them without much hassle or cost.
How are your nature goals progressing? Do you need to make specific plans during the 4th quarter to achieve a particular goal? Don’t give up!
Look for the Nature Study Goals printable in your Member’s Library.
You can join as an Ultimate Naturalist Library member and immediately have access to hundreds of nature study ideas and printables.
Click the graphic above to see the complete benefits of a membership.
Use the discount code NATURE5 for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership!
Please note that I will be retiring at the end of 2021 and the library will be retiring s well. If you join as a member now, you will have full and complete access until that time to download and save any items you wish to use in the future.
I think I’ve mentioned before how much I struggle with change. I decided that’s why I don’t really enjoy the transition from summer to autumn. I see the change in the light, the change in foliage, the change in blooms, the change in birds and other wildlife. Here where I live in Central Oregon, these changes come rapidly.
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
We had a couple nights of freezing temperatures and overnight we lost a large number of plants to frost. Some of the plants have bounced back but I had to prune out quite a few of my more delicate flowers.
With the decrease in bird activity, the squirrels have made a return to the feeders. In fact, the squirrels are pulling down the sunflowers and eating the seeds. Or, in the case of the golden mantle ground squirrel, they are climbing the stems and sitting on the flower heads to have a meal!
I added nature journal pages about…
I’ve been working on a late summer wildflower project. We don’t have many so it’s been a challenge to find flowers to include in my nature journal. Last week we took advantage of a very warm afternoon to take a long walk in Sunriver to look for flowers there. We found quite a bit of rabbitbrush and sulfur flower blooming in the dry landscape.
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
The bird of the month is the American goldfinch. They are abundant both at the feeders and in the flowers of the garden as they eat seeds and leaves. They are often at the water bowls and the birdbath. I love how happy they make me!
One last image…
Holy smoke! We saw the biggest bullfrog ever in our lawn last week. My husband was mowing the lawn and spotted him before he ran him over. We carried him safely off to another part of the yard. Afterwards, I was looking up bullfrogs in Oregon and realized that they are an invasive species that we are supposed to “harvest” to reduce their numbers. I could have never done anything to harm this magnificent creature.
You can follow me on Instagram to see more of our outdoor life here in gorgeous Central Oregon.
Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?
Answer all or just one of the prompts in a blog entry on your own blog or right here on my blog in a comment. If you answer on your blog, make sure to leave me a link in a comment so that I can pop over and read your responses.
During our outdoor time, this month we went…
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about) …
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
. While you are reading you can highlight any portions that you would like to share with your children. I also like to write in the margins any topics and ideas that come to me as I read.
