This month in the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter I created a brand new printable for helping your children start working in their very own nature journal.
The printable Nature Journal Toppers are a simple way to help a child get over the “blank page” fear by providing a simple prompt.
What is a Nature Journal Topper?
The prompts in the Nature Journal Topper will allow them to cut and then adhere a short nature study idea to the top of any page, then complete the suggestion in their own way. Sometimes the page will include a suggestion for a sketch, a photo, a list, or an observation.
I chose to start with the spring tree Nature Journal Toppers as well as the list prompt provided in the March 2014 newsletter. Allow your child to create a page that fits their style. I used watercolors to paint a background on my page but that is my personal style. I will fill in the page as the month goes by.
Your child can complete as many of the prompts each month as they wish. I am hoping that these Nature Journal Toppers will give you family a little help in encouraging even the most reluctant nature journaler.
I will be including this feature in the up-coming editions of the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter. Some families really enjoy the nature study grids from the newsletter so we may go back to those in the future.
I would enjoy hearing how using the Nature Journal Toppers help your family.
Our December was filled with birdwatching. We had some exciting new birds and lots of old favorites.
Here is my list and then a few photos: December 2013
Anna’s hummingbird
White-breasted nuthatch
Western scrub jay
Oak titmouse
House finch
House sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
California towhee
Spotted towhee
Junco
Bewick’s wren
American goldfinch
Lesser goldfinch
Mockingbird
Northern flicker
House wren
Nuttall’s woodpecker
Mourning dove
European starlings
Hermit thrush
California quail – heard but didn’t see
Spotted towhee
Junco
House finch
Thinking this is a Hermit thrush-first time we have seen this and only in the snow.
Bewick’s wren
Anna’s hummingbird – at least three still at our feeders in December
Now a little something to inspire you…
I also finished my December nature journal entry for the extraordinary in the ordinary and December Grid Study. I cut some of the squares from the grid and then used them on my journal page. This is a quick and easy way to create a record of a variety of nature observations in a month.
We are definitely building a snowman birdfeeder again…it was so much fun for us and for the birds!
Outdoor Hour Challenge December World Observations
This challenge will help you appreciate your world during the month of December. This slowing down to make careful observations during December will help your child have something to compare with in each successive season. Learning the cycles of the natural world helps your child gain confidence by being about to distinguish the joys and blessings of each month of the year.
We have make careful observations in the past using the challenges listed below. If you would like an additional challenge, use the Shadows and Silhouettes activity below.
This really simple photo challenge can be accomplished at any time of the year. Before setting out for your outdoor time, sit with your children and discuss what a shadow and a silhouette are and how to find them. Allow them to take a photo of any shadows or silhouettes they observe during your nature walk. Print one or two of the photos for their nature journal.
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #2. Finding words to record in your nature journal after your walk outside is an easy way to remember the experience. Make sure to discuss the walk afterwards with your child and then help them complete the accompanying notebook page for this challenge.
Additional Activity: Hearts and Trees Digital Camera Fall Scavenger Hunt
Download and complete this fun and easy digital camera scavenger hunt to include in your nature journal. Hearts and Trees (my daughter Amanda) has put together a fun outdoor activity that would make a great family project this week.
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #6.Use your time outdoors this week to collect a few things to put on your nature shelf. Start a collection of anything that interests your children. Use the accompanying notebook page to record your collection ideas. You may also want to check out the ideas in this entry: Start a Rock Collection.
You are welcome to submit any of you blog Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.
Autumn Watercolor – Leaves, Clouds, Acorns, or Anything Else
Bring out your watercolors (or watercolor pencils or watercolor crayons) and create a page for your nature journal as part of your Autumn Weather Challenge.
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #1.If you haven’t tried any of the Getting Started suggestions yet this season, give Challenge #1 a try…super easy for every family to just take a walk together and then have a follow-up discussion and offer time for a nature journal page. Keep it light and easy.
You are welcome to submit any of you blog Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Entries for the current month are due on 10/30/13.
For this challenge, you are going to be drawing some fish in your nature journals. Use the links below to help your family get started. Don’t forget that you can use the Fish Grid Study from the newsletter during any of the fish challenges. I encourage you to get outside and find somewhere to learn more about your local fish. How to Draw a Fish
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #3.This challenge is going to help you get some sketches in your nature journal. Maybe you will want to draw a fish or if your child wants to draw something else..let them create their own page with their own subject.
You are welcome to submit any of you blog Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. Entries for the current month are due on 7/30/13.
March has been filled with lots of free notebooking pages, giveaways, and inspiration from NotebookingPages.com. I want to thank Debra one last time for having such an innovative company that is always trying to take notebooking to the next level. There are so many things I love about notebooking both for homeschooling and for nature journaling and this company always has just the right page for us to use.
Notebooking Opportunities For My Readers
I would love for my readers to take advantage of the 50% off discount code for any nature or science sets: nature50. Please note: add all items to cart before applying the discount code.
I encourage you to become a free member and have access to many notebooking pages to get started if you aren’t sure about this method of keeping your nature journal.
I invite you to one last giveaway coming up this Friday for the Nature Study Bundle of notebooking pages.
Congrats to the three winners so far this month!
Jen G
Gail F
Dianne O
I loved sharing my enthusiasm for notebooking this month and NotebookingPages.com is my preferred supplier of pages for our nature journals.
You can read more about our notebooking in our nature journal here:
Keeping a nature journal using notebooking pages has been a part of our routine for many years. Each page is a treasure, showing some aspect of our personalized learning. Taking the time to slow down and record a memory, an experience, or an interesting fact takes nature study to a higher level.
But, it is always easier to have a stock of pages on hand to quickly print when the mood strikes. That is where this month’s blog sponsor comes in….NotebookingPages.com has a huge library of pages you can use that are ready to go. Although I use many, many of their pages in our homeschool, I will introduce the nature study sets we use in our home for you to get a taste of. You will see just a sampling of the pages available and for most topics there are multiple choices with lines or no lines, some with illustrations and some with a variety of sketch boxes. There will always be a notebooking page you can adapt to your area and topic.
Note: If you have visited NotebookingPages.com before and been overwhelmed, please note that they have done a complete makeover and navigation of their many resources is now much easier and simpler.
How to Personalize Your Pages
Use colored pencils or watercolors
Add an image from your study
Use the pages to keep your life list of birds
Keep track of your garden plants
Complete a four season nature study project
Add your own stories to the page…front or back
I have always had a Treasury Membership which gives me access to all the notebooking pages on the website plus all the new pages she adds during the membership year. There is no need to download every page when you purchase your membership because along with the membership comes access to all those pages forever.
But, if you are just looking to add access to pages for your nature journal and aren’t ready to jump into a full membership, you can purchase individual sets to build up a library of pages to choose from for your nature journal.
Tip: If you purchase a set of notebooking pages, print out the table of contents as a reference. This way you will have a complete list of available notebooking pages and you will be able to quickly find the page you need when the time comes.
Basic Nature Study Set
Click over and see all 292 pages in this set for your to choose from: plants, trees, flowers, rocks, weather, etc. There are primary and regular lined pages with a variety of borders, boxes, lines, and prompts. You will have access to cover pages, bordered pages, and a special Creation Notebook set too. Follow the link above and view every page you will get in this Basic Nature Study Set. $10.95 (Take 50% off with the discount code: nature50 during the month of March 2013).
Birds: North American This is the set we use the most in our family with 97 different birds and over 280 pages available at this time. $8.95 (Take 50% off with the discount code: nature50 during the month of March 2013). World This set adds 30 more birds and over 680 pages available at this time. $5.95 (Take 50% off with the discount code: nature50 during the month of March 2013). Tropical This set adds 43 tropicalbirds for your nature study. $5.95 (Take 50% off with the discount code: nature50 during the month of March 2013). All About Birds This set of 55 pages is a must have for any family that is studying birds. It includes pages for parts of the bird, feathers, migration, and plenty of general birds pages to make it valuable as a reference.$2.95 (Take 50% off with the discount code: nature50 during the month of March 2013).
Wildflowers, Weeds, and Garden Flowers This set includes pages for 45 plants featured in the Handbook of Nature Study. I love the variety of pages that are offered for each plant including coloring pages, lined pages in both primary and regular-8 different styles for each plant. $12.95
Please note: If you already own the Notebooking Treasury Membership, you have access to all these pages already and can find them in your Member Download Center.
Outdoor Hour Challenge: For this challenge, I encourage you to start a life list of birds. A bird life list is a cumulative list of birds that a birder sees and identifies.There are a variety of ways to do a life list including a handwritten list in your nature journal, using a pre-made book, checking off birds and noting the dates in your field guide or from a checklist, keeping an online list at eBird, or using an app on your phone.
Don’t get stuck on picking the “perfect” way to keep your list. Review the choices and then get started. My only regret is that I did not start my personal life list sooner.
I have found that I like to keep multiple lists including one for our yard and neighborhood (by month), by location when you travel (like my Oregon and Yosemite lists), and perhaps even lists by the month or season. You can see my entry on Nature Journal Organization for more information.
You can also start a bird “wish list” and keep track of birds you would like to see in the future. This is especially helpful if you are traveling and can do some preparation before you leave noting the birds you may encounter.
Special Activity:Life List Printable
Bird Life List Printable
I have attempted to create a Life List Printable that will be flexible for you to use in your nature notebook. I am in the process of testing it out in my everyday bird sightings.
Your list can be as detailed as you wish.
Things to include: Date and Time of Day. Location. Gender. Weather. Bird Sounds. Number of birds seen.
Additional resources: Printable Checklists by Country or Region (updated the link with one that should get you started) Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #5.I love the quotes in this challenge from Charlotte Mason. Remind yourself that you are the key to a successful outing and follow your child’s lead as much as possible. After your outdoor time, start or add to your running list of birds you see in your backyard. You can use the notebook page from the ebook for further information.
To refresh your memory, I am going to try to collect all fifteen rocks discussed in the Rocks, Fossils and Arrowheads (Take-Along Guides).This month we spent lots of time out and about looking at rocks, collecting a few new ones, and enjoying our rock adventures. We did not actually complete any of the fifteen rocks from the book. I can see now that I need to be more purposeful if I am going to achieve this goal in the year 2013.
That is the beauty of goals…they keep you focused and on track.
We did however accomplish several rock-related activities.
We added a new rock to our front yard rock spot. We have yet to identify it but that is going on February’s list because I actually think it is some kind of shale or slate which would be one of our fifteen rocks from the book.
We collected a rock from the other side of the river canyon and comparing it to the rocks on our side of the canyon, realized it is different. This I think is going to be the value in labeling our rocks with where we collected them.
My son, my husband, and I enjoyed a warm mid-winter afternoon sitting on a big rock at the river. I collected a few rocks for a friend as a surprise.
This was a month we spent more time outdoors looking at rocks and talking about rocks and not much was recorded in our nature journals. I already have my rock grid in my nature journal so I just need to sit down with a pen and record this month’s thoughts and discoveries.
I am going to do my best to have one of my official fifteen rocks studied by the end of February.
Next week I will update you on my “using less plastic” goal for 2013…which I did a much better job with this month!
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.This month we spent lots of time out and about looking at rocks, collecting a few new ones, and enjoying our rock adventures. We did not actually complete any of the fifteen rocks from the book. I can see now that I need to be more purposeful if I am going to achieve
![North American](<a href="https://notebookingpages.com/archives/1107?ap_id=BarbaraMccoy" target="_blank" ><img src="https://notebookingpages.com/wp-content/uploads/affiliate-images/npc-square-birds-na-300X300.png" alt="Birds of North America Notebooking Pages" border="0" /></a>){kind=link}
![World](<a href="https://notebookingpages.com/archives/1109?ap_id=BarbaraMccoy" target="_blank" ><img src="https://notebookingpages.com/wp-content/uploads/affiliate-images/npc-square-birdsworld-300X300.png" alt="Birds of the World Notebooking Pages" border="0" /></a>){kind=link}
![Tropical](<a href="https://notebookingpages.com/archives/1105?ap_id=BarbaraMccoy" target="_blank" ><img src="https://notebookingpages.com/wp-content/uploads/affiliate-images/npc-square-birds-tropical-300X300.png" alt="Tropical Birds Notebooking Pages" border="0" /></a>){kind=link}
![All About Birds](<a href="https://notebookingpages.com/archives/1111?ap_id=BarbaraMccoy" target="_blank" ><img src="https://notebookingpages.com/wp-content/uploads/affiliate-images/npc-square-birdstudy-300X300.png" alt="Birds - Basic Study Pages" border="0" /></a>){kind=link}
![Wildflowers, Weeds, and Garden Flowers](<a href="https://notebookingpages.com/archives/1098?ap_id=BarbaraMccoy" target="_blank" ><img src="https://notebookingpages.com/wp-content/uploads/affiliate-images/npc-square-flowersweeds-300X300.png" alt="Wildflowers, Weeds, & Garden Flowers Notebooking Pages" border="0" /></a>){kind=link}