“Out in this, God’s beautiful world, there is everything waiting to heal lacerated nerves, to strengthen tired muscles, to please and content the soul that is torn to shreds with duty and care…. nature study is not a trouble; it is a sweet, fresh breath of air…She who opens her eyes and her heart nature-ward even once a week finds nature study…. a delight and an abiding joy.” Handbook of Nature Study, Anna Botsford-Comstock
This week we are going to get outside and observe our January weather right in our own backyard. This is a quick and easy study that everyone can do regardless of where you live or what your current weather is outside.
First go to your Member’s Library. There are two printables for you to use as a follow up to your Outdoor Hour Challenge. Choose the activity that fits your needs best. See the images and instructions below.
Know Your Own Backyard – January: This notebook page is a simple activity for your family. Take a few minutes and make some backyard observations and then follow up with a sketch and a short description of what you observed.
Winter Weather notebook page will help you make three weather observations on three different days this month. Afterwards, your child can make a comparison of the winter weather to their memories of summer weather in your backyard.
You can also download and read the December 2015 newsletter from the archives that features dozens of ideas for weather related nature study.
To purchase an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership, click on over to the Join Us page at any time.
Please use the discount code NATURE5 to receive $5 of an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
December has been a cold, wet, snowy month. We often have all types of weather in the span of 24 hours which is one of my favorite things about Central Oregon. We can have a snowstorm in the morning but by late afternoon the sun is shining, and I get to enjoy the sparkling snow and the blue sky.
I spend a lot of time watching birds at my feeders when the weather is storming outside. They zip in and out, sheltering only briefly under the roof overhang of the feeder. We watch the geese land in flocks down by the river and observe as they walk along poking here and there for something to eat. The sparrows will pop out from under the shrubs to get a bite to eat from seeds that have fallen from the feeder, then quickly dart back under the shelter before we can get a good look at them. Our gray squirrels leap around in the treetops where they search for cones still hanging on the tall pines. It seems as if there is always something going on out in the yard.
It’s our December world.
I cannot help but think back on the past twelve months sitting here now in mid-December. What a wild ride of a year for our family! We’ve had our serious struggles along with everyone else: unemployment, cross country moves, dating during COVID, caring for elderly parents who are in and out of lockdown. On the other hand, there were high spots like the celebrating of joyful outdoor weddings of two of our children and a summer filled with staying close to home and getting creative with how we can socialize safely with our children.
There has been kayaking, canoeing, floating, hiking, nights around the fire pit, bike rides, and lots of fishing.
These are all things we normally do together, but we had to be thoughtful about the execution of these activities this year.
I needed to have some “normal” in my life and I found it while hiking a trail or paddling my kayak.
We started our big garden remodel back in May and little did we know that it really was the project that would keep us sane and bring us a place to sit in peace with the world seeming far, far away. We could sit and watch the birds and insects from our little bench placed under our newly planted crab apple tree. Swallows took up residence in the nesting box within a few feet of that bench. The nuthatches and finches came to drink at the bird bath.
I’ve come to realize that there were more benefits to that garden than I could have ever imagined. It gave me a reason to go outside, it provided beautiful cut flowers to have in vases inside, and it was always a thrill to go out to the wildflower patch and spy a new variety of flower blooming.
I look back on the photos of the progress we observed as we dug the dirt, built the boxes, planted the seeds, saw the seeds sprout, enjoyed the first flowers, and welcomed the bees and butterflies and birds. This project was a joy!
In the end, it’s the place that our middle son married his beautiful bride, right there under the tall sunflowers we planted from seeds. During the ceremony, a chickadee was sitting on a flower right over their heads and it was such a happy moment even in this crazy mixed up year of 2020.
2020 gave us something wonderful after all. If it weren’t for the COVID shutdown, we wouldn’t have had such an extensive garden, we would have missed out on all the wildlife visitors coming to enjoy the garden, we probably wouldn’t have had a garden wedding, and I would not be looking forward to the promise of next summer’s flowers and bees and birds.
Maybe you had an experience like mine this year and stumbled into a project that kept your spirits up. Thank you to all of my faithful readers who have encouraged me this year with comments and email.
I’m looking forward to some winter fun and garden planning over the next few months.
We’ll be starting the winter series of Outdoor Hour Challenges January 8, 2021. There is still time to purchase a membership and follow along with us.
Please use the discount code NATURE5 to receive $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist membership.
My last Outdoor Mom post was way back at the end of August! I think my life hit the accelerator in September and is just now easing up as we enter the winter season here in Central Oregon. Our autumn was a little warmer and longer than normal and we took full advantage of it with hiking, kayaking, gardening, and birdwatching.
I kept telling the family that we needed to take advantage of the weather and get outside! We made some sweet Autumn 2020 memories.
During our outdoor time, we went…
We’ve been on several new hikes since August, thanks to my new hiking guide that I bought featuring local trails. We found a beautiful park in Bend, Oregon (Shevlin Park) that goes along Tumalo Creek. The aspens were in the peak of their autumn color and we enjoyed the sound of them blowing in the breeze. We sat for awhile on a log near the creek and just took in the sounds and sights of a perfect autumn day.
We also hiked to the top of Bessie Butte on a day after a snow shower. Our son often hikes to the top of this particular butte to think and refresh himself after work. It makes my heart happy that he sees being outdoors in nature as a way to balance his busy life. We made it to the top of the butte where the wind was howling in our ears. It was cold but so incredibly beautiful!
One morning I woke up and just had an itch to go to the beach and put my feet in the sand. My amazing husband loaded me up in the car and we took the 3 hour drive to the coast! We brought our picnic lunch and enjoyed it in the sunshine while sitting in the sand. We walked the shoreline for a long way and just took in the salt air as we did a little beachcombing. I feel so very blessed to live where I do and that I’m able to indulge my heart from time to time with a spontaneous trip to the seaside.
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
We had a crazy COVID influenced wedding in our flower garden in September. My son ended up marrying his best friend among my sunflowers in a simple, socially distanced wedding with a few family members and friends. One of my favorite moments of the day was when a chickadee landed on the sunflower right over their heads as they said their wedding vows. It was a beautiful way to celebrate the beginning of their life together.
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…I am dreaming about…
We spent a few days pruning, weeding, and cutting things down in our garden spaces. One week of below freezing temperatures at night really hurried the process along. We saved seeds and cut flower heads and then tucked it all in for the winter.
As planned, we put over 120 bulbs in the ground for spring flowering. This is our first time planting bulbs in Central Oregon, so it’s a bit of an experiment to see how successful we are with bulbs making it through the winter. Hopefully we’ll see some crocus, grape hyacinth, and daffodils next spring. I’ll be thinking good thoughts all winter as I think of the bulbs all cozy under the ground awaiting the spring warmth and sunshine to wake them up.
One last image…
It was a wonderful summer with my daughter living here with us. Spending time outdoors with her will be my fondest memories of the summer. She has since moved back to California and she’ll be getting married very soon. I hope she will come back next summer and spend time with me on the trails and on the river…probably with her sweetheart along as well. She’s starting a new adventure, but I know she loves it here as much as I do!
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…
The story of how I decided to create a more wildlife friendly backyard started a long time ago.
Our Backyard – 1967
I grew up in a world of manicured lawns and formal flower beds that required a lot of care and attention.
Our First Home in California – 1987
Purchasing our first home back in California, we were happy to be able to afford a plot of land that had a large yard with front yard and backyard lawns and bare ground that had potential for flowers and vegetables in the garden. But in those days, I hadn’t awakened my desire to garden for wildlife, only human needs.
Fast forward a few years, we started to homeschool and to spend lots more time in our own yard. Homeschooling introduced us to nature study and I was drawn to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of encouraging lots of outdoor time for children. While my boys played outside in our backyard, I haphazardly planted more pollinator friendly plants and trees as a way to create a space where we had some things to observe and learn about together.
Then we made more radical changes by completely removing our front yard lawn and replacing it with native plants and adding additional food and water sources for the birds and other animal visitors. We were creating a more wildlife friendly habitat.
Then we moved to Central Oregon and its harsher environment. We experienced the truly cold and snowy winter climate and the dry, dry, dry high desert climate in the summer. It was a bit of an adjustment to learn what would thrive in our new yard and what sorts of wildlife we needed to accommodate.
The process has been enjoyable and interesting. It takes patience and a little effort but creating a wildlife friendly habitat is worth all the energy.
Wildlife will come to you!
My husband says it’s a case of “if you build it, they will come”. This truly has been our experience.
There have been doubters in our circle of friends. We’ve had people question our choices from time to time, but once we explain why we plant certain things or leave certain plants/weeds to grow, they better understand that we really do have a plan.
My hope is that you will consider creating a wildlife garden of your own. I assure you that you don’t need a lot of land, a lot of money, or any special knowledge in order to be successful.
Think of the process as a way to invite nature right up to your doorstep.
Assess Your Yard and Make a Plan (make a headline)
Make an assessment of what you already have available in your yard. You can use either of the printables below to get started. Ask your children to help you make an inventory of what may already be working for wildlife.
Would you like a free printable plan for creating your own wildlife habitat? I created one for you to use as you assess your yard for the four elements you’ll need to become certified.
Brainstorm Ideas About Who You Would Like to Visit Your Yard
After you assess your yard, create a list of what you’d like to invite into your habitat. Your children may need some guidance in making a reasonable list of things that may come to visit.
Here are some ideas: butterflies, birds, ladybugs, bees, frogs and toads, squirrels.
My next post will help you create a plan to attract wildlife to your yard by planting and creating the habitat that will entice them to visit and stay awhile.
For now, print one of the suggested printables above and make it a family project to gather information about your current backyard habitat. I don’t want you to worry if you think your yard is a barren wasteland to start with. In my next post, I’ll help you to make a start and I guarantee you that anything you do to create a wildlife habitat will be rewarded if you’re patient.
If you want to look for a good book at your public library that will help stimulate interest in this project, I highly recommend this book that I have in my personal library.
Please note that the link above is an Amazon affiliate link to a book I purchased and value as a resource on this topic.
I will be continuing this series in the months to come. I hope it will help you begin to think about your own backyard space as a possible wildlife habitat that will bring some wild things right to you.
Leave me a comment or send me an email if you have any questions or comments.
During July 2012, our family took a trip to the Oregon Coast. We spent quite a bit of time just beachcombing for shells and rocks. I ended up with a collection that I wanted to record in my nature journal.
Rocks in general are a difficult subject to draw. I decided that the colorful rocks were much easier and that using a black pen to first outline the shape was helpful.
Recording rocks in your nature journal requires you to slow down and really examine the rock, noting its colors, shape, and texture.
I find it’s much easier to collect a few rocks and then bring them home for sketching. I have a stash of snack size Ziplocs in my nature box that I recycle from trip to trip. You can also use empty Tic-Tac or Altoid containers if you have a supply of those. We did use film canisters in the past but now that’s sort of outdated.
Sometimes you find a rock you want to draw in your nature journal but you cannot bring a sample home…like if you’re at a National Park or on private property. In that case, I take a few close-up images of the rock with my camera. Then I either use the image to draw the rock into my journal or I can just print out the image and put that in my journal.
I love looking back on these rock nature journal pages now and remembering not only the rocks but the experience of collecting them on a particular day.
Take the opportunity to create a few rock themed nature journal pages as part of the Outdoor Hour Challenge for Calcite, Limestone, and Marble (make a link) from last week. Click over and read how to get started.
Sitting on my desk is a small vase of flowers I collected a few weeks ago. Although they’re all dried up now, they are a fond reminder of an afternoon spent walking and collecting a few blooming things with my daughter.
This inspires me to share an idea with you readers. Why not go out on a crisp autumn day and collect a few flowers, weeds, and grasses from your neighborhood to enjoy in a vase?
Our family has used Dover Coloring Books for many years and we’ve built up quite a large library of books on a variety of topics. I know there are many new readers to the Handbook of Nature Study blog that might appreciate an introduction to these inexpensive resources and a few tips on how to use them in their homeschooling nature study.
Let’s start off by saying that coloring books can be used in many ways and with different learning styles.
Not all children enjoy coloring in a coloring book and I don’t blame them. It can be tedious to try to find the “right” colors to use or to keep the markers or crayons neatly within the bounds of the black lines. I had one child who no matter what you suggested would color every image his own way…quite the creative spirit.
On the other hand, many children find it comforting to not have to stare at a blank page when creating a nature journal page. They very happily complete the page with realistic colors using either markers, crayons, watercolors, or colored pencils.
Older students find it helpful to use the black line drawings in a coloring book as a starting point for creating their own drawings in their nature journals, using the coloring book drawings as a template for their own work.
However your family would like to use the Dover Coloring Books in your homeschool or nature study plan, you’ll be glad you purchased a few to have in your nature library. Creative and nature loving children will enjoy these as a complement to their own nature journal. We used these coloring books on the long, cold days of winter when we couldn’t get outside to explore.
Please note these are Amazon affiliate links to coloring books I’ve purchased and used in our family’s nature study lessons and the Outdoor Hour Challenges.
Most of the ebooks found in the Ultimate Naturalist Library here on the Handbook of Nature Study website include images from the Dover Coloring Books. If you have a membership, look for them at the back of your ebooks.
If you’d like to become a member, please click the graphic above to go to the Join Us page for more details on purchasing a membership today.
You may wish to click over and read more about our family’s experience with Dover Coloring Books.
I raised my four children in California. Poison oak was always a part of our outdoor time together. Whether it was hiking a favorite trail, or just visiting grandparents, poison oak was just a part of the landscape. It was very important to me that my children could spot poison oak and avoid any contact as much as possible.
Here is something you can teach your children:
Leaves of three… let it be!
Use this week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge to prepare your family for a possible encounter with poison oak in your future.
Gather some facts about poison oak:
Read about poison oak in your field guide or online here: Poison Oak.
Here’s a printable information sheet about poison oak: USDA Poison Oak.
Make sure to look at the images so you can easily identify this poisonous plant during your outdoor time. As an alternate study, you could learn about poison ivy instead.
See the Creepy things ebook for more poison oak nature study ideas, videos, and printables!
Please note that I will not be posting the complete challenge here on the blog. You’ll find the detailed challenge in the Creepy Things ebook that’s available both in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships. Sign into your account and download the ebook for the details, more links, and notebook pages.
We will soon be finishing up this Creepy Things series of nature studies and starting the Autumn Nature Study (2015 edition) ebook. It hardly seems possible that it’s time for the new school year to begin. But, I’m anxious to welcome all of the new families that will be joining us on September 4th.
It’s not too late to purchase a membership and become a part of the Outdoor Hour Challenge.
I am reposting the information about the upcoming school year’s plan for the Outdoor Hour Challenge.
I’m getting excited to start a new school year of nature study alongside all of you! The plan this year is packed with a variety of awesome topics that will appeal to a wide range of children and those who live around the world. My friends are all geared up to start on September 4, 2020 with the Autumn Nature Study ebook. I, on the other hand, am having trouble imagining I’ll be ready for “autumn” nature study in just a few weeks from now. But, I’m sure that by the time it arrives, September is going to be a rich month of nature time before the weather turns too cold or wet.
Join us if you have a membership by reading the instructions below and then getting your nature journals ready. Don’t forget to print out the nature planner pages for the autumn season for even more ideas in addition to the Outdoor Hour Challenge topics.
There’s something for everyone in an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership!
Here are the five ebooks that will be planned out from September 2020 to August 2021.
Autumn – Final Ebook: swallows and swifts, catbirds, cockroaches, field horsetail, sapsucker, brook study, catfish, jewelweed, prickly lettuce, hedgehog fungi, calcite, limestone, marble, chickens, and turkeys.
Winter Nature Study Continues Ebook: cattle, deer, feldspar, Orion star study, crystals, flickers, scarlet saucer, bloodroot, hepatica, violets, bleeding hearts, Dutchman’s breeches, and squirrel corn.
Bird Set #1 Ebook: pelican, swan, snipe, egret, sandhill crane, American dipper, horned lark, magpie, and Clark’s nutcracker.
Wildflowers Ebook #3: fireweed, salsify, paintbrush, forget-me-nots, and silverweed.
Herbs Ebook: cilantro, basil, bee balm, oregano, dill, thyme, sage, and mint. This ebook will be added to the Ultimate and Journey level memberships in June 2020.
Outdoor Hour Challenge September 2020 – August 2021 for Members
Get the Year Plan in a PDF: Subscribe to the Ultimate Naturalist Library, Journey, or Discovery level membership: Your membership will give you access to a detailed schedule for the entire year. You will have a printable plan that shows dates and specific topics that will be considered every Friday. This makes your planning super easy!
As there were last year, I’ve created monthly planning pages with lots of additional nature study ideas that you can use to enrich your nature study. These are similar to the planning pages I created for the newsletters in the past. If you’re a member at any level, you’ll receive all 12 months of planning pages in one pdf to download and print!
Do You Want to Join Us? Here’s what you need to do!
Purchase a membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study. Remember that if you want access to all the ebooks, you’ll need an Ultimate Naturalist or Journey Level Membership. If you purchase a membership now, you’ll have access to all of the new ebooks as they become available. A membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study starts the date of purchase and is valid for one year.
Download the ebooks as they become available.
Download the September 2020 through August 2021 plan.
Subscribe to the Handbook of Nature Study blog for reminders each Friday.
If you can’t purchase a membership at this time, you can still follow along by subscribing to the blog and each week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge will come right to your email inbox.
Click Below to Get Started!
Use the discount code NEWSTART for $10 off your Ultimate Naturalist Library membership. Code expires 9/1/2020.
Ultimate and Journey Level members can click this graphic to go directly to the library to download a copy of this new ebook. Make sure you are logged in and if you’re having trouble with your password, please leave me a comment or send me a direct email to receive my assistance. Email: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
Are you ready to learn about some creepy things? This Friday we’ll be starting the new series of nature study ideas that feature some of the “creepy things” you may have in your yard or neighborhood. I’m hoping that if you learn about these fascinating creatures and plants, you will no longer view them as creepy things but more as amazing things.
It’s the perfect time to join us each week for a brand new nature study lesson using the new ebook. (Don’t miss the discount code at the end of this blog entry.)
Here are the specific topics included in this ebook:
Banana slug
Tarantula/Tarantula hawk
Black Widow
Scorpion
Leech
Muskrat
Sphinx moth
Cicada
Millipede
Poison oak
How do you get the new Creepy Things ebook?
Members of the Ultimate Naturalistand Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired.
If you don’t have a membership yet, I’m offering a $10 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.
View a sample planning page above. These pages will be added to the Ultimate and Journey level memberships by the end of July 2020. Print the sample:
