Category: Family Outdoor Life

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Mega List of August Summer Walk and Nature Study Activities

Take advantage of August and enjoy summer nature walks with these ideas! Taking nature walks can be as simple as putting on your shoes and heading out the door, letting nature inspire what you do and what you study. Or, you can have a few ideas in mind before you head out the door.

Take advantage of August summer nature walks and nature study in your homeschool! Let nature inspire what you study.

August Summer Walk Ideas and Nature Study Activities

Simply take a nature walk at a nearby meadow or stream. Pick a theme for the walk such as insects, birds, trees, flowers, etc. Then have everyone make observations within that theme.

In my experience, having a focus during a walk makes it much more enjoyable for everyone. Each person can use their eyes and senses to look for items within the theme and then share them with the group.

One person can be the designated photographer and take photos of things of interest. Or, take along your nature journal and make a record of your sightings as you go along.

Take advantage of August summer nature walks and nature study in your homeschool! Let nature inspire what you study.

Late Summer Nature Study Ideas

I realized over time that we didn’t need to travel far to find places to go on short notice or even for a half day’s hike. I loved being able to roll out of bed, decide to go on a hike, and be out the door in a short period of time. So, how did I overcome the dilemma of finding places to hike near our home? Read More about Finding Hikes Near Home

Taking a Nature Walk – The idea of taking a nature walk is nothing new. However, the need for nature walks has never been more evident in our increasingly indoor, sedentary lives. Childhood used to be times of exploring outdoors for hours at a time, but in today’s world few children have the circumstances or incentive to get outside on their own. This is where involved parents can be of such value.

“Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own).”

― Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

Using the Handbook of Nature Study in Your Homeschool

Need help getting started? Enjoy Amy’s Six Tips for Using The Handbook of Nature Study! (also in the caption of the video, above)

Be sure to fit in some sweet, nighttime summer nature studies. Find an Ultimate Guide to Nighttime Summer Nature Studies HERE.

queen anne's lace nature study

August Nature Study Plans with the Outdoor Hour Challenges

Each year we have a new focus with The Handbook of Nature Study curriculum plans. Here is a sampling of topics from this year and others:

  • Queen Anne’s lace
  • Crickets/Grasshoppers
  • Evening Primrose
  • Raccoons/skunks
August Homeschool Nature Studies for the Outdoor Hour Challenge
  • Pressing flowers
  • Drawing flowers
  • Learning leaf parts
  • Looking for pollen
  • Night sky
  • Nature journaling
  • Nature study with art and music appreciation

You can choose from these topics and any in all of our Handbook of Nature Study courses! You can follow our plan or choose topics that match your current studies. Our nature studies complement the lovely learning in your homeschool!

fall homeschool nature study activities

Look Ahead with Fall Homeschool Nature Study Activities

Enjoy a last days of summer homeschool nature study free notebook page. Let’s soak up these last sunny and glorious days, have fun and make memories together as a family. Get your FREE notebook page/Scavenger Hunt HERE. (Homeschool Nature Study members already have this page in your Summer Outdoor Hour Curriculum course. Not yet a member? You can download the notebook page and sample the Outdoor Hour Challenges!)

It is at this time of the year that we also look forward to autumn nature study and all the joys of nature study for your homeschool year.

The Ultimate Guide to Fall Homeschool Nature Study In Your Own Backyard – The benefits of fall nature study seem to be endless! The most important of all is making memories together as a family. The crisp, cooler air and the brilliant blue sky (on sunny days) highlight all of the fall leaf color for us. Being outside does wonders for moods. And having an outdoor ‘laboratory’ for discovery is as simple as swinging open your backdoor.

Enjoy Nature Crafts (fun teasel pets!) plus The Outdoor Mom series in Homeschool Nature Study membership!

Fall Nature Study Lesson Plans

We have Outdoor Hour Challenge Homeschool Nature Study Curriculum filled with weeks of fall nature study plans! You can also take a look at this sampling of the resources we have for you to enjoy simple, fall homeschool nature study in your own backyard.

  • Seasonal Tree Observations Outdoor Hour Challenge
  • Fall Color Walk with Printable Color Cards in membership (great for your youngest adventurers)
  • How to Make Leaf Rubbings (video)
  • Tips for Drawing Leaves
  • Learn Why Leaves Change Color
  • Advanced studies on the chemistry of leaves
  • Seasonal Favorites: apples, pumpkins, bats, turkeys and more!
Take advantage of August and enjoy summer nature walks with these ideas! Talking nature walks can be as simple as putting on your shoes and heading out the door, letting nature inspire what you do and what you study. Or, you can have a few ideas in mind before you head out the door.

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!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

Find Nature Study Activities for each month of the year!

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.

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Biomes and Habitats Activity For Your Homeschool

Learn about biomes and compare habitats. With these activities, notice animal and plant diversity and enjoy an in-depth study of our beautiful earth!

This biomes and habitats activity list includes an exploration of animal and plant diversity and in-depth study of our beautiful earth!

Learn About Biomes and Compare Habitats

We invite you to enjoy all of the various habitat studies and use the Outdoor Hour Challenges resources and curriculum for your studies. Learn about the forest floor, layers of the ocean, the desert, snow/tundra and more!

This biomes and habitats activity list includes an exploration of animal and plant diversity and in-depth study of our beautiful earth!

Explore a Forest Floor Biome

Autumn is on the horizon with the yellowing of leaves signalling chilly weather to come, so lets create this forest floor biome to celebrate. In this tutorial I will show you how to layer watercolours to create depth as well as texture using a stippling technique. So grab your paints, download the free printable I have created and let’s get crafting!

Go To: Forest Floor Fall Nature Studies

Layers of the Ocean Art Lesson – Learn About the Ocean Biome

With 5 different layers of the ocean home to many amazing creatures, a layers of the ocean diagram is the perfect study companion to create. I have created a little printable with the outlines for your diagrams. All you have to do is add colour. In this lesson I will teach you some great watercolour techniques so grab your paints and lets get crafting!

Go To: Seashore Activities and Learning About the Ocean

Subnivean Zone - This biomes and habitats activity list includes an exploration of animal and plant diversity and in-depth study of our beautiful earth!

A Fascinating Subnivean Zone Habitat Study

Learn more about the interesting Subnivean Zone animals and predators with these facts and new member worksheet.

The Subnivean Zone is found in and under the snow pack. It’s the space that many creatures inhabit during the winter where the snow actually acts as an insulator from cold winter temperatures.  Smaller mammals like mice, voles, pikas, and shrews live in the subnivean zone to escape the cold, wind, and predators. 

The smaller mammals create a unique tunnel system to travel around, hunt, and gather food. However, predators like weasels, foxes, coyotes, owls, and wolves, use their amazing senses of smell, hearing, and sight to find these prey below the snow.

Go To: Subnivean Zone Winter Nature Study

This biomes and habitats activity list includes an exploration of animal and plant diversity and in-depth study of our beautiful earth!

High Desert Outdoor Hour Challenge Curriculum

Remember that the yield of a hard country is a love deeper than a fat and easy land inspires, that throughout the arid West the Americans have found a secret treasure … a stern and desolate country, a high bare country, a country brimming with a beauty not to be found elsewhere.” —Bernard DeVoto 1943

“I am happy to share with you just a small snapshot of the diversity of life there is to be found in the High Desert. The topics in this ebook curriculum are some of my favorite nature study subjects from my own personal nature journal and experiences.

This habitat is home to over 350 species of plants and animals that depend on sagebrush for survival: mule deer, pronghorn, golden eagles, black tailed deer, and the spade footed toad to name just a few additional study ideas for continued study.

Start with the topics in this curriculum then keep going!” – Barb McCoy, Outdoor Hour Challenges founder

Our High Desert course is included in membership and gives you a deep dive into the animals, plants and the vast variety of this habitat. It also includes advanced studies options for high school students. Here are some topics included:

  • Bitterbrush
  • Sagebrush
  • Greater sage
  • Grouse
  • Succulents
  • Mountain Lion
  • Coyote
  • Pocket Gopher
  • Bristlecone Pine
  • Elk
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Juniper
  • Snowberry
  • Golden Mantled ground squirrel
  • River Otter

Go To: America’s Prairies and Grasslands Study and Explore the High Desert Curriculum!

This biomes and habitats activity list includes an exploration of animal and plant diversity and in-depth study of our beautiful earth! For high schoolers and advanced learners too!

How To Study Biomes and Habitats with Teens

Included with this curriculum are advanced notebook pages and advanced follow-up suggestions. Each challenge will include ideas for older students to dig a little deeper and take a more focused look at each topic. The challenges will include notebook pages for the advanced students to use in their nature journals. Please feel free to skip the notebook pages and use any nature journal that you already have started.

You also may wish to download my free printable Nature Study: Three Steps to a Better Nature Study Experience. It will show you how to offer age appropriate nature study to all ages of children in your family. There are also tips and a free printable nature study rubric for advanced students. You can successfully continue nature study with your teenagers. They may need some encouragement to make the study their own by adjusting your subjects, your methods of follow-up, and your attitude towards what nature study should look like.

A giant list of 100+ ideas to use in creating your backyard habitat designed to attract birds, bees, and butterflies!

Wildlife Habitat Plan with 25 More Ideas – With Requirements For Certified Wildlife Habit!

Homeschool Nature Study Members can enjoy this Wildlife Habitat Plan (with Requirements for a Certified Wildlife Habitat!) with prompts for 25 more ideas for your backyard habitat!

This biomes and habitats activity list includes an exploration of animal and plant diversity and in-depth study of our beautiful earth!

Members enjoy this wonderful Biodiversity: Comparing Habitats resource! So much to enjoy while learning about biomes and habitats.

More Biomes and Habitats Nature Studies to Enjoy

Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

Can you believe all of these homeschool resources you will find in membership? You will also find a continuing homeschool nature study series plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study 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!

Fidn Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership HERE!

We have quite a few new participants in the Outdoor Hour Challenges so I want to give a big welcome to everyone!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

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. She and her husband, Steve, are also publishers of Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett.

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10 Fabulous First Day of Summer Nature Study Ideas

10 Fabulous First Day of Summer Nature Study Ideas perfect for weaving in some family time outside together. A valuable part of any summer bucket list!

These 10 fabulous first day of summer nature study ideas are perfect for weaving in some family time outside together. A valuable part of any summer bucket list and it takes just a little effort on our part!

Summer time brings a more relaxed rhythm to most of our family life. That doesn’t mean we can’t still be including some outdoor nature study time with our children. It can be as simple as taking a walk and asking them to look for three interesting things or to take a picnic lunch outside to eat under your backyard tree.

10 Fabulous First Day of Summer Nature Study Ideas

Here are some fun First Day of Summer nature study ideas for you to keep in mind for next week. Be sure to mark your calendar!

10 Fabulous First Day of Summer Nature Study Ideas perfect for weaving in some family time outside together. A valuable part of any summer bucket list!

1. Camp out in your backyard: Since the first day of summer lands on a Saturday this year, plan a sleep out in your own backyard. Spend some of your evening gazing at stars, listening to insects, or take a flashlight walk. Find more ideas in The Ultimate Guide to Camping Activities for Kids and Backyard Camping: Fun For The Entire Family!

2. First Day of Summer Flower Field Trip: Take a trip to your local garden nursery and let you child pick a plant to add to your backyard garden or patio container garden. After you plant your flower, sketch it into your nature journal along with the name of the flower and the date you planted it. You can combine this activity with this Garden Flower Nursery Field Trip ideas and printable.

3. Twilight at the Zoo: Many zoos have an evening option during this time of year. Check their calendar of events to see if your zoo has a special event for the first day of summer.

10 Fabulous First Day of Summer Nature Study Ideas perfect for weaving in some family time outside together. A valuable part of any summer bucket list!

4. First Day of Summer Photo Walk – take a camera outdoors and find some special First Day of Summer subjects, take a photo, print a few out, safely tuck them into your nature journal. You can combine this with the Summer Photo Challenge.

5. First Day of Summer notebook page – done after a nature walk, preferably under a shade tree with some fresh lemonade in hand.

6. Summer Insect Study – As the warm weather brings flowers you might find more insects flying around. It’s a great time to plan a summer insect nature study. There’s such a wealth of knowledge about insects in the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. Using the lessons along with the Outdoor Hour Challenge will make you confident to tackle an insect nature study this summer. You won’t need to travel far to find an insect to learn about with your children!

10 Fabulous First Day of Summer Nature Study Ideas perfect for weaving in some family time outside together. A valuable part of any summer bucket list!

7. The Homeschool Mom’s Charlotte Mason Summer Nature Study Guide – “On fine days when it is warm enough to sit out with wraps, why not take tea and breakfast, everything but a hot dinner, be served out of doors? For we are an overwrought generation, running to nerves as a cabbage runs to seed; and every hour spend in the open is a clear gain, tending to the increase of brain power and bodily vigor, and to the lengthening of life itself. They who know what it is to have fevered skin and throbbing brain deliciously soothed by the cool touch of the air are inclined to make a new rule of life, Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.” Charlotte Mason – The Original Homeschool Series.

8. Summer Senses Nature Study – you do not need anything other than your five senses. We are going to take heed of what Charlotte Mason advised and we are going to allow our children to notice things by themselves.

9. Fascinating Fireflies or Moths Study – Fireflies are fascinating! In this study, learn if there is a pattern to the light flashing. Enjoy an up close fireflies and moths summer nature study. Explore even more summer nighttime nature studies!

10. Night Sky and Moon Gazing Activity – Take some time this next week to get outside at night and enjoy a beautiful night sky homeschool nature study. Allow plenty of time for your eyes to adjust to the darkness and just enjoy gazing up at the heavens. Use some of these suggestions to get started with some simple night sky observations.

More Summer Nature Studies

Find even more to discover and learn about this summer! Our summer series of Outdoor Hour Challenges included in membership. Explore ponds and lakes, meadows and fields, the seashore, the woodlands and so many beautiful summer topics!

Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

Can you believe all of these summer homeschool resources you will find in membership? You will also find a continuing homeschool nature study series plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study 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!

Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership HERE!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

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. She and her husband, Steve, are also publishers of Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett.

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12 Delightful Outdoor Fall Activities for Kids

The benefits of outdoor fall activities for kids are truly endless! The crisp, cooler air does wonders for moods. It's an outdoor ‘laboratory’ for discovery!

The benefits of outdoor fall activities for kids (and adults!) are truly endless! The crisp, cooler air and the brilliant blue sky (on sunny days) highlight all of the fall leaf color for us. Being outside does wonders for moods. And having an outdoor ‘laboratory’ for discovery is as simple as swinging open your backdoor.

The benefits of outdoor fall activities for kids (and adults!) are truly endless! The crisp, cooler air and the brilliant blue sky (on sunny days) highlight all of the fall leaf color for us. Being outside does wonders for moods. And having an outdoor ‘laboratory’ for discovery is as simple as swinging open your backdoor.

The most important of all is making memories together as a family.

Outdoor Fall Activities for Kids

We have gathered our favorite, fun outdoor fall activities for kids. Enjoy these ideas and get outdoors!

Fall Leaf Activities

These fall leaf activities for kids are a perfect way to study nature throughout the season. Easy to implement and enjoyable for the entire family, this study has options for all ages.

The benefits of outdoor fall activities for kids are truly endless! The crisp, cooler air does wonders for moods. It's an outdoor ‘laboratory’ for discovery!

“Make the lesson an investigation and make the pupils feel that they are investigators…The ‘leading thought’ embodies some of the points which should be in the teacher’s mind while giving the lesson; it should not be read or declared to the pupils…The outlines for observations herein given by no means cover all of the observations possible; they are meant to suggest to the teacher observations of her own, rather than to be followed slavishly…If the questions do not inspire the child to investigate, they are useless.”Handbook of Nature Study, page 23

Fall Nature Study in Your Own Backyard

When the calendar flips to September you might be ready for an autumn or fall homeschool nature study in your own backyard. How about your part of the world? Are you feeling like autumn or is it lingering summer? Whatever your world looks like you can take a fall walk and discover some fall color…maybe not your leaves but look for berries, nuts, and weeds that are changing color.

This includes so many plans for fall nature study, nature journaling, Outdoor Hour Challenges and more!

The benefits of outdoor fall activities for kids are truly endless! The crisp, cooler air does wonders for moods. It's an outdoor ‘laboratory’ for discovery!

Signs of Fall Outdoor Activities

Are you looking for ideas for some simple fall nature study ideas? Enjoy these ideas and pick those that get you excited to be outdoors this season with your children.

Kids’ Guide to Planting Bulbs in the Fall

You have heirloom bulbs given to you or your bulbs just arrived in the mail? Here is the best guide to planting bulbs in the fall.

The benefits of outdoor fall activities for kids are truly endless! The crisp, cooler air does wonders for moods. It's an outdoor ‘laboratory’ for discovery!

Apples and Pumpkins Studies

When the air turns cooler and the leaves start to change color, it is always fun to learn more about apples and pumpkins!

Fall Outdoor Activities and Ideas for Preschoolers and Toddlers

A really great thing about fall is that it is a great time to get outdoors with the kids and explore nature. With that being said, here are some great fall nature study ideas for toddlers and preschoolers that I hope you (and your little ones) will enjoy.

Outdoor Games

Imagine making unforgettable memories with your children through outdoor play. Laughter, smiles, and a time of connecting as a family are only a few virtues of simply getting outside. Immersing ourselves outdoors with our children also cultivates relationships, encourages bonding, and nurtures our mental health. These 5 outdoor games are the very best to encourage a love of the outdoors and have fun!

Outdoor Nature Journaling

These on the go tips will help you make the most of outdoor journaling – while hiking OR enjoying your backyard!

The benefits of outdoor fall activities for kids are truly endless! The crisp, cooler air does wonders for moods. It's an outdoor ‘laboratory’ for discovery!

Leaf Art Nature Walk Activity

This is a super fun leaf art nature walk activity that you can do today! After a nature walk, create these fun shapes with the treasures you find.

The benefits of outdoor fall activities for kids are truly endless! The crisp, cooler air does wonders for moods. It's an outdoor ‘laboratory’ for discovery!

Field Trips and Day Hikes Near Home

Here are some simple tips for homeschool nature study field trips. You will find that building the habit of taking your nature study on the road is a great way to build memories together as a family.

Nature Walks

The idea of taking a nature walk is nothing new. However, the need for nature walks has never been more evident in our increasingly indoor, sedentary lives. Childhood used to be times of exploring outdoors for hours at a time, but in today’s world few children have the circumstances or incentive to get outside on their own. This is where involved parents can be of such value.

“Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own).”― Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

Fall Bird Study

You can enjoy a simple fall bird study for your homeschool with Project Feederwatch! This is an activity that can help you learn more about your local birds in a way that is fun and useful to the community.

The benefits of outdoor fall activities for kids are truly endless! The crisp, cooler air does wonders for moods. It's an outdoor ‘laboratory’ for discovery!

More Fall Homeschool Resources

The Ultimate List of Nature Themed Books for Fall Homeschooling – A lovely stack of nature themed books can be great for learning in the fall months. There is so much to get excited about and learn about in nature!

Fall Charlotte Mason Nature Study Guide for Moms – As August gives way to September and summer slowly slips away to allow autumn to wrap us up in its brilliant display of color, mother turns her attention to planning her fall homeschool.

The Fall Homeschool – We hope you are enjoying the beginning of the school year while you put a few wise finishing touches on your plans for fall.

Fantastic Fall Art Lessons for Kids – Grab a slice of apple pie, some warm socks, bury your homeschooler in a pile of leaves or enjoy these fantastic fall art lessons together! Have we got a fall bucket list for you!

Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Fun Fall Outdoor Learning

Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Fun Fall Outdoor Learning

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 prompts!

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.

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

Outdoor Hour Challenge by founder, Barbara McCoy, September 2009. Updated by Tricia April 2025. 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. She and her husband, Steve, are also publishers of Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett.

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Leaves of Three Study For Kids: Poison Ivy, Poison Oak and Poison Sumac

Our leaves of three study for kids includes identification and first aid tips for poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac.

It is very important for those of us who take our children out into the woods for nature study to be able to recognize poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac.

Our leaves of three study for kids includes identification and first aid tips for poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac.

Where we live we have an abundance of poison oak and this time of the year it is actually very pretty and easy to identify. I know in other parts of the country there is poison ivy and poison sumac as well.

Identifying Poison Oak, Poison Ivy, and Poison Sumac

Educate yourself with photos of these different leaves in nature!

Our leaves of three study for kids includes identification and first aid tips for poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac.

This video does a great job of explaining everything you should know before you take a walk in the woods and potentially come into contact with poison oak, poison ivy, or poison sumac. Knowledge is always a good thing.

Poison Oak First Aid Tips

My husband says that in his job as a wildland firefighter, they use Tecnu after any exposure. We are going to get some and have it on hand for those times we think we may have come into contact with poison oak. I would hate for you to unknowingly expose anyone to something potentially dangerous. On the other hand, don’t get too worried either.

Just remember the “leaves of three, let it be” rule and you should do a good job of avoiding contact.

We have had our share of poison oak rashes in our family and I think most of our exposure comes from our family pets. Don’t miss that part of the video.

Our leaves of three study for kids includes identification and first aid tips for poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac.

Poison Oak Nature Study: Creepy Things Curriculum

Homeschool Nature Study members enjoy a course fills with fun topics to explore. In the Creepy Things curriculum, you can take a deep dive into Leaves of Three Awareness Study with Poison Oak. Filled with

  • resources
  • a printable information sheet
  • Outdoor Hour time suggestions
  • information on birds and animals that eat the poison plant and its berries
  • first aid information on exposure
  • notebooking pages for follow up journaling activities
  • Advanced studies: creating a nature journal about poisonous plants (includes a printable)

Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

Can you believe all of these spring homeschool resources you will find in membership? You will also find a continuing homeschool nature study series plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study 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!

Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership HERE!

We have quite a few new participants in the Outdoor Hour Challenges so I want to give a big welcome to everyone!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

Outdoor Hour Challenge by founder, Barbara McCoy, September 2009. Updated by Tricia April 2025. 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. She and her husband, Steve, are also publishers of Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett.

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The Best Tips for Starting Seeds for a Flower Garden

Growing plants from seeds is easy! Here are the best tips for starting seeds for a flower garden. If you are new to gardening and need some tips, I will give you some step-by-step instructions.

We use yogurt cups filled with a little potting soil to start our seeds. Follow the directions on the seed packet for seed planting depth, watering, and transplanting.

Growing plants from seeds is easy! Here are the best tips for starting seeds for a flower garden. If you are new to gardening and need some tips, I will give you some step-by-step instructions.

The Best Tips for Starting Seeds for a Flower Garden

Good first choices for starting seeds are sunflowers, zinnias, marigolds, and petunias. In general you can grow just about anything in a little cup or pot as long as it gets some sun and a little water each day. If it is still cold at night where you live, you may want to sprout your seeds indoors. Our weather has warmed up so we are growing ours on our back deck.

As an experiment you could keep some cups outdoors and some indoors just to see the difference in their growth. (That’s extra credit!)

Growing plants from seeds is easy! Here are the best tips for starting seeds for a flower garden. Includes easy step-by-step instructions.

Outdoor Hour Challenge (OHC): Starting Seeds for a Flower Garden

1. Begin an eight week focus on garden flowers. Follow along with us as we adventure into the garden, whether it is your own flower pot with seeds in it, a square foot garden, a park with some flowers to observe, or anything in between. Read pages 453-456 in the Handbook of Nature Study-How to Begin The Study of Plants and Their Flowers.

“The only right way to begin plant study with young children is through awakening their interest in and love for flowers.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 453

Garden Nursery Field Trip

This would be a great week to take a field trip to a garden nursery to observe the variety of colors and textures in garden flowers that are available in your local area. While you are there, let your child pick out a flower to add to your home garden. You can pick out seeds to grow, a plant already growing in a pot, or both.

Shirley Vels shares, ” I love the idea of starting seeds in egg shells. It’s is a great way to recycle using organic materials. You can plant the entire egg shell once your seeds are strong enough, just crush the shell a little and plant straight into the ground.

Alternatively you can use cardboard egg cartons to start your seeds. Again, because cardboard will eventually degrade, you can just tear off each little segment and plant it straight into the ground. Here is a little video to get you started.”

More in Shirley’s Spring and Easter Special Homeschool Nature Study

Start Your Engines…I Mean Seeds

If you haven’t started a garden yet, pick a flower that you can grow in a container either on your back porch or in a window. (Please note that in week 16 we will all be starting sunflowers and you may wish to pick those seeds up while you are at the nursery.) If you are starting some garden flowers from seed, make sure to water them according to the directions on the package. In general you will want to keep them moist during the germination period (until you see the plant popping out of the ground).

2. Take your 10-15 minute outdoor time to look for some garden flowers in your own area. If you already have some of your own garden flowers blooming, pick one to identify and see if it is listed in the Handbook of Nature Study.

Growing plants from seeds is easy! Here are the best tips for starting seeds for a flower garden. Includes easy step-by-step instructions.

3. Start a new list in your nature journal of garden flowers that you have planted or that you have seen while on your field trip or during your outdoor time. Make sure as you start this study of garden flowers that you turn to the Handbook of Nature Study’s table of contents to the “Garden Flowers” section and mark or highlight those garden flowers listed that you think you will encounter during your nature study time. Each week pick one flower to read about before you have your OHC time and this will help you have some interesting information to share with your children. If you found a new flower during your nature time, be sure to follow up with a reading in the Handbook of Nature Study if it is listed in the book.

4. Give an opportunity for a nature journal entry. Drawing flowers is a very enjoyable experience for most children.

5. If you are going to make field guide cards for your garden flowers, start those this week. Try to make one card per week and at the end of this focus period you will have eight cards completed. 

This challenge is part of our Garden course. This course has ten garden related challenges that will walk you through a study of garden flowers using the Handbook of Nature Study. In addition to the challenges already written, there will be more photos, nature journal examples, book lists, and totally new notebook pages designed to go with each of the Garden Flower Challenges.

More Garden Activities for Your Homeschool

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

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. 

Make a Good Friday Garden : A Family Easter Activity – It’s a tradition that points to Jesus and a hands on way to make memories together.

Gardening Projects for Kids: Growing Your Own Little Gardener – a book that encourages a gardening way of life..spending lots of time with your children in the outdoors in your backyard working and playing together. I love this message found throughout the book.

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!

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
  • and MUCH more!
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 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.”

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!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

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. She and her husband, Steve, are also publishers of Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett.

By Barb McCoy May 2008, updated by Tricia Hodges April 2025

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100+ Ideas To Use In Creating Your Backyard Habitat

A giant list of 100+ ideas to use in creating your backyard habitat designed to attract birds, bees, and butterflies!

Here are 100+ ideas to use in creating your backyard habitat! This list is for all of us to use in creating a backyard habitat designed to attract birds, bees, and butterflies. I’ve heard from so many of my readers that they think their backyard space is boring or nothing out of the ordinary.

So this week, I’m going to challenge you all to get outside and prove yourselves wrong!

A giant list of 100+ ideas to use in creating your backyard habitat designed to attract birds, bees, and butterflies!

100+ Ideas To Use In Creating Your Backyard Habitat: Attract Birds, Bees and Butterflies

Every space has something to observe, and the list below will help you start thinking differently about whatever your outdoor space is currently looking like at the beginning of spring.

As part of the process in creating a backyard habitat, the first step is to make an assessment of what you already have and then decide how you can improve it. Challenge your children to check off as many things as they can from the list below.

summer garden 2020 - A giant list of 100+ ideas to use in creating your backyard habitat designed to attract birds, bees, and butterflies!
Last year’s garden was filled with lots of living things.

What Do You Observe in Your Own Backyard?

  • Trees: leaves, bark, twigs, roots, flowers, cones, needles, seeds, pods, nests, birds
  • Patch of weeds: leaves, roots, bugs, flowers
  • Dirt: worms, gravel, stones, seeds, mud, ants, mushrooms, moss
  • Sky: clouds, sun, moon, stars, birds
  • Air: temperature, wind, smells, breath on a cold morning
  • Birds: flying, pecking, eating, chirping, hopping, shapes and colors, beaks, wings, tails, feet
  • Sounds: wind, frogs, rain, leaves, crickets, bees, fly buzzing, mosquitoes
  • Weather: rain, clouds, temperature, snow, ice, dew, wind
  • Flowers (garden or in a pot): petals, pollen, roots, leaves, stem, fragrance, shapes, colors, seeds

We need to train our eyes and hearts to be open to the opportunities that arise in our everyday travels.

A giant list of 100+ ideas to use in creating your backyard habitat designed to attract birds, bees, and butterflies!

Wildlife Habitat Plan with 25 More Ideas – With Requirements For Certified Wildlife Habit!

Homeschool Nature Study Members can enjoy this Wildlife Habitat Plan (with Requirements for a Certified Wildlife Habitat!) with prompts for 25 more ideas for your backyard habitat!

What would you add to the list?

A giant list of 100+ ideas to use in creating your backyard habitat designed to attract birds, bees, and butterflies!

More Resources For Homeschool Nature Study

Enjoy these ideas for even more inspiration:

How to Make Your Backyard a Natural Habitat for Wildlife – Here are some simple ways you can make your backyard a natural habitat for wildlife. You will love having the opportunity to have nature come to you in your very own backyard. Involve your whole family in the project and spend some time outdoors!

150 Homeschool Nature Study Ideas to Get Your Family Outdoors – nature study ideas and outdoors sorts of things! Make a list of your own and get outdoors!

How to Make a Butterfly Puddle – Here is an easy step-by-step on how to make a butterfly puddle right in your own backyard.


Attracting Birds to Your Yard – Here you will find all sorts of ideas for attracting birds to your yard for homeschool nature study and birdwatching.

Homemade Suet Recipe for Your Backyard Birds – Enjoy a homemade suet recipe and see how our homeschool family studied and learned about which type of food attracts a variety of backyard birds!

Nature Study Calendar included in Membership!

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 Today!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get Outdoors!

by Barb, March 2021 and updated by Tricia March 2025

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Spring Preschool Science Activities and Book Lists

These spring preschool science activities will delight your youngest homeschoolers! Butterflies, flowers, ladybugs and more!

These spring preschool science activities will delight your youngest homeschoolers! Butterflies, flowers, ladybugs and more!

Spring Preschool Science Activities

Our homeschool is more than ready for spring to arrive! We can’t wait until we can spend a huge amount of time outdoors. We miss the sun. It has been a very dreary winter.

So on the docket for this week is spring preschool planning! I’m going to be gathering the supplies and getting them ready in bins for use later this year. Some of the activities we are going to cover will be repeats from last year because they are just so much fun.

Here is some of what I have planned:

Preschool Nature Study: Butterfly Life Cycle Journal

Last year we watched the life cycle of a butterfly. All my kids found it fascinating to watch the caterpillars turn into butterflies! We will be doing this activity again– probably in May so that it will be warm enough for the butterflies to survive once released. Many of the activities and resources we will be using can be found in the Butterfly Journal in the Preschool Nature Study curriculum in membership.

Preschool Science Butterfly Books:

These spring preschool science activities will delight your youngest homeschoolers! Butterflies, flowers, ladybugs and more!

Preschool Flowers Unit Study

Spring is the perfect time to talk about and observe flowers! We will be planning and planting our garden, going on nature walks, and doing a couple of flower observation activities like food coloring flowers.

You can also find Seed Observation and Journaling activities in the Preschool course in membership!

Flower Books for Preschool Nature Study:

Preschool Ladybug Unit Study:

This will be a first for us– raising Ladybugs! Since the ant farm was such a big hit in past years, I thought my girls would like to see how ladybugs change. We’ll be getting the InsectLore Ladybug Land in order to see these tiny creatures first hand.

ladybugland

Ladybug books

I’m sure we’ll end up doing more, but for now I’m going to plan in detail these three themes.

More Preschool Homeschool Nature Study

If you are looking for more preschool science ideas, we did some cool things with ants and worms last year, plus other science activities.

These spring preschool science activities will delight your youngest homeschoolers! Butterflies, flowers, ladybugs and more!

Toddler and Preschool Nature Study Printables

Do you like the idea of involving young children in nature study but not sure how to start? Do you need a little help being intentional with your nature studies? Nature Study Printables is full of printable tools for you to use to get young children observing and talking about nature!

Preschool Nature Study with Homeschool Nature Study Membership!

Enjoy ALL of our preschool nature studies plus access to the Outdoor Hour Challenges curriculum for the whole family in Homeschool Nature Study Membership. Find out more about our Delightful Preschool Nature Study Plans for Your Homeschool.

These spring preschool science activities will delight your youngest homeschoolers! Butterflies, flowers, ladybugs and more!
Explore Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Access to All of These Resources and MORE!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

Do you have any special spring themes or topics you’ll be doing? Let me know in the comments.

By Maureen Spell, a long-time contributor to the Outdoor Hour Challenges. Maureen helps Christian mompreneurs operate their business from a place of joy, purpose, and excellence because they are clear on how their business is serving their family and others. As a homeschool mom, she believes success at home AND business without the mom-guilt, stress and burn-out is possible! Outside of work, she loves having good conversations over a hot chai or GT Gingerberry kombucha and spending time with her husband and seven children. Visit her at MaureenSpell.com

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Winter Weeds and Seeds Nature Hunt

Snowy walks are a great opportunity to spot beautiful winter weeds and seeds. Like this seed pod I noticed in our backyard. In my mind’s eye I see the seeds all sleeping inside cozy, waiting for the right time to spring out and sprout in the springtime sunshine.

Find Winter Weeds and Seeds on your next nature walk. Homeschool Nature Study Members can print the Seeds Comparison Worksheet.

Winter Weeds and Seeds Nature Hunt

What are seeds doing in the winter? In the winter, seeds are dormant and experience cold stratification. These are two great words to define and draw in your Nature Journal! We are all pretty familiar with “dormant”, but “cold stratification” might be a new concept. It means, the cold weather breaks down the seed coat and allows water to enter the seed. This process mimics the natural cycle of winter cold and precipitation, followed by spring warmth.  

Find Winter Weeds and Seeds on your next nature walk. Homeschool Nature Study Members can print the Seeds Comparison Worksheet.

Take advantage of your winter season to look for weeds and seeds. The landscape at this time of year has far less competing for your attention and weeds can be spotted even if you have snow or ice.

Tricia's family enjoyed a winter weeds and seeds hunt in their own backyard! They even found hints of spring. Enjoy their discoveries and journal pages.

Tricia’s family enjoyed a winter weeds and seeds hunt in their own backyard! They even found hints of spring. Enjoy their discoveries and journal pages here.

Seed Comparison Worksheet

If it’s still a bit too cold to start hunting for seeds – bring the seed hunt inside with this new Member’s Worksheet: Seed Comparison. Let students draw their seeds and discuss the different shapes, colors, and sizes. Find the Seed Comparison Worksheet in your Member’s Database.

seed comparison worksheet

I am so looking forward to the wildflower season this year! We have had a decent amount of rain and it should help make it a splendid show of color in a few weeks! Read more about Wildflowers from these great posts!

Join The Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

Can you believe all of these garden and wildflowers resources you will find in membership? You will also find a continuing series on gardens and wildflowers plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study 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!

Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!

first published January 2017 by Barb, updated by Stef February 2025

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Ambleside Online Nature Study Resources: Term 3

Homeschool Nature Study and Ambleside Online (AO) Term 3 can work together with The Handbook of Nature Study! Have fun learning about insects.

If you’re using Ambleside Online for your homeschool year, you know that the nature study rotation for Term 3 of 2024-25 is studying insects! Some people love insects, and many do not; but if you look closely at them, they have so much about them that is interesting!

Homeschool Nature Study and Ambleside Online (AO) Term 3 can work together with The Handbook of Nature Study! Have fun learning about insects.

And, insects can be found literally everywhere! We’ve gathered the Outdoor Hour Challenges that go along with Term 3 for this year in this one post for you. We hope it will help to make insect nature study a breeze for Ambleside Online users over the next few months. . .and lots of fun, too!

Don’t forget your copy of the Handbook of Nature Study! So may of these studies follow right along with that book, and it’s great if you have it on hand to reference. It’s always helpful to read it ahead of time; so you can tell it back to your kids without having to read it out loud to them word for word.

Ambleside Online Nature Study Resources Term 3: Insects

Here is an Outdoor Hour Challenge perfect for this time of year!

Homeschool Nature Study Outdoor Hour Challenge: Winter Insects

Insect Nature Studies – Outdoor Hour Challenges

If you work your way through the section on insects in the Handbook of Nature Study, the lessons listed below line up with the Outdoor Hour Challenges!

Homeschool Nature Study and Ambleside Online (AO) Term 3 can work together with The Handbook of Nature Study! Have fun learning about insects.
Homeschool Nature Study and Ambleside Online (AO) Term 3 can work together with The Handbook of Nature Study! Have fun learning about insects.

Here are some other ideas that go along with Ambleside Online’s study of insects:

Take a closer look at insects with a magnifying lens!

A sweet post encouraging us to take the time to observe flowers and insects:

This post has ideas for building winter habitats in your backyard for wildlife. . .including insects!

Homeschool Nature Study and Ambleside Online (AO) Term 3 can work together with The Handbook of Nature Study! Have fun learning about insects.

More Insect Nature Studies with The Outdoor Hour Challenges

Here are even more nature studies for discovering and learning about insects!

  • There is a wonderful Insect and Invertebrates Nature Study Grid in the Insects course in Homeschool Nature Study membership! You can also enjoy a Butterfly Journal Page, an Insect Scavenger Hunt, Insect Photo Hunt and a Dragonfly Coloring Page. More insect studies are included in each of the seasonal courses.
  • Preschool insect studies – enjoy spider, bee, butterfly and more preschool nature studies for your youngest learners.
  • A Fun Insect Study From a Bug’s Eye View! (with a free printable)
  • Summer Insect Study – There’s such a wealth of knowledge about insects in the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock
  • Insect Nature Study for Kids: 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!

If you’d like to look back our post about Term 2’s nature study from the school year 2024-2025, you can find that post here. It also gives a quick overview of the Ambleside Online curriculum and several helpful links.

Happy insect observing!

Spring Nature Studies with the Outdoor Hour Challenges

Our Homeschool Nature Study members have access to endless year round nature studies, including these courses with Handbook of Nature Study references, follow up nature journaling activities, printable notebook and journaling pages and resources to inspire and guide you.

Find Out More About Homeschool Nature Study Membership Here!

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

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.