Category: Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival

Welcome to October’s Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival! The days are definitely shorter and the temperatures are cooling off here in Northern California. The opportunities are still available for some wonderful nature study and our family has been snatching up quite a bit of time outside both in formal and informal enjoyment of the season.

The Autumn Series of Challenges are moving right along and I have enjoyed reading and viewing the outdoor time your families have shared in your entries. So, here is your carnival….sending big thanks to everyone who participated. You will get a wonderful sampling of what has been accomplished if you read each of the following carnival entries.

Signs Of Autumn
Jamie from See Jamie Blog joined us for this carnival with her entry that shares their autumn signs…don’t miss her daughter’s list.

Lynn shares their Autumn Signs from her blog, Nature Notes.

Autumn Series #2 Autumn Bird/Geese
Paula and her daughter from Belgium share their autumn bird study of the nuthatch. Read their entry, Bird Study in Town.

Another unusual autumn bird study comes from Amy in Peru. Read their entry on her blog, Fisher Academy International. They ended up comparing two of their local birds and adapting the study to fit their part of the world.

Autumn Series #3 Horses
Melissa submits their family’s horse study, With Flowing Tail and Flying Mane. Love the title and all that she writes about in her entry to the carnival.

Angie from Petra School links up with their autumn horse/dog study. She shares how they pulled in some drawing activities to compare and learn more. Great idea!

Phyllis and her family share their horse challenge experiences in their entry to the carnival. What a wonderful study and the photos really tell the story.

Autumn Series #4 Apples
Phyllis from All Things Beautiful links up to the carnival with their family’s apple study. Don’t miss the pastel art at the end…lovely.

Paula’s daughter shares their Apple Study from Belgium. Paula has adapted all the autumn challenges to fit their European habitat.  She also includes some book suggestions to check out.

Monica from Discover Their Gifts writes about their apple study and how they compared thirteen different varieties of apples. Great job on this study and the journals!

Tricia met up with Angie (The One Thing) for some apple study. What is nature study without a little dirt? They had a wonderful afternoon, I loved seeing their photos and catching up with Angie’s boys. Thanks Tricia for sharing your day.

Autumn Series #5 Autumn Tree/Leaf Study
Angie from Petra School shares their wonderfully encouraging and informative study of autumn trees/leaves. Thanks Angie.

Tricia from Hodgepodge Homeschool submits their entry to carnival with their autumn leaf study. What a rich and full study of leaves at this time of the year. Don’t miss their journals.

Phyllis at All Things Beautiful shares their tree study with a tree I have never seen before. Pop over and check out their osage orange tree study.

Mauren from Homeschool Mo shares how they adapted the autumn tree/leaf study to their preschool day.

Autumn Series #6 Queen Anne’s Lace/Weeds
Tricia from Hodgepodge Homeschool decided they didn’t have to travel farther than their backyard to find some autumn weeds to study. Read all about their nature study as part of Autumn Series OHC #6.

Amy from The Teachable Heart shares their excellent study of Queen Anne’s Lace and how she adapted the study to fit their preschool age boys. She used some garden carrots to compare to the Queen Anne’s Lace…excellent idea!

(Autumn means hanging a few more birdfeeders and filling the ones already up there.)

Outdoor Hour Challenges-Other
Karen writes on her blog The Fruit of Her Hands about their Outdoor Hour Challenge #2. I think they did a great job of coming up with words for their time outdoors. I am sure she would love to hear some encouraging words as they set out on the OHC trail.

Rhonda at Preparation Education didn’t need to go farther than their own backyard to find a subject for their weekly nature study. Read about their dragonflies and see their journals as part of the carnival. 

Amy from Hope is the Word submits to the carnival their Outdoor Hour Challenge #1. They have gone back to the beginning of the challenges and in this entry they come across some armadillos!

Makita from Academia Celestia shares their pine cone study which includes some wonderful journal examples for you to check out.  

Phyllis from All Things Beautiful writes about their mushroom study. She has a photo of a fairy circle that will amaze you!

That wraps up this edition of the carnival. I hope you enjoy reading what other families are outside doing for nature study and how the Autumn Series is helping us learn a little more about our own backyards and neighborhoods. 

Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be November 30th, 2010 and all entries from November are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

In the meantime, you will want to read what other Outdoor Hour Challenge families have accomplished in the past month. There are some fantastic entries in this carnival and I encourage you to read them for additional inspiration. This carnival is not very fancy because I have limited time this week to pull it together. The entries themselves will tell the nature study stories from August. I appreciate all the families that are willing to share their adventures and learning, it means a lot to me to be able to see how the ideas I put together are helping children all over the world become better acquainted with their own neighborhoods. Thank you.

I look forward to next month’s entries from all of you…..There is one more Summer Series Challenge that will post tomorrow and then the Autumn Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges will start on September 17th.

Starting off with the Summer Series Challenges….

Summer Series #1 Mosquitoes
Kelsey from Mud Puddles and her children did a study of the mosquito as part of this challenge. She gleaned some great ideas from other families just like we do.

Summer Series #2 Seasonal Tree
Kelsey from Mud Puddles shares the end of their year-long tree study….they learned a lot from their careful observations this past year. Guess what? Now you get to pick a new tree!

Summer Series #5 Owls
Kelsey from Mud Puddles and her children continued their owl study, complete with pellet dissection. They started off squeamish and ended up enthusiastic. I call that successful.

Summer Series #6 Frogs
Tricia from HodgePodge Homeschool shares some great photos of some unexpected tadpoles as well as their family’s study for this challenge. They are now prepared for frogs when they find them in their adventures.

Summer Series #7 Cattail Study
Angie and her boys from Petra School completed an awesome study of their cattails. They were able to make a second visit this season to do some comparing and more in-depth studies.

Kelsey from Mud Puddles wrote about their cattail observations and how they compared to their spring study. I really like their sketches too.

Summer Series #8 Fireflies and Moths
Just a note about this challenge: Since we do not have fireflies in California, I was not aware that there really is a season for observing them. I now know that it needs to really be a spring study or very early summer. I love learning new things. 🙂

Tricia and her children spent time not only studying but getting to know their lightning bugs this summer. I really like that they call them lightning bugs instead of fireflies and I can almost hear their Southern accent when I read the entry.

Summer Series #9 Evening Primrose and other Night Bloomers
Angie from Petra Schoolwas on a quest to find an evening primrose and they finally stumbled upon one to observe….literally. Let’s just say there was joy in her heart!

Kelsey from Mud Puddles is lucky enough to have a patch of evening primrose in their yard to observe up close. They were able to see them open up after dark. Awesome!

Tricia from HodgePodge Homeschool gives us a great entry sharing their night blooming flowers. They are not evening primroses but they are awesome to look at and she even includes a video.

Summer Series #10 Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Katydids
Angie from Petra School shares their entry about Bob the Cricket. This was a thorough study with some really good photos…I love reading about Angie’s boys and their adventures.

Tricia from HodePodge Homeschool shares their singing cricket study. This family is a great example of how nature study folds into your everyday life.

Summer Series #12 Raccoons (Posted early but that is totally fine with me!)
Tricia writes about their raccoon study…. a little early because the opportunity came up when Tricia’s grandmother shared some photos and experiences with raccoons in her birdfeeder. Delightful entry.

Other Challenges from the Past
OHC #22 Butterflies
Holli from Settled in My Home shares their beautiful butterfly entry. They saw quite a variety and she was able to capture some in some lovely photos.

Tricia from HodgePodge Homeschool writes about their study of butterflies, learning about the complete life-cycle and including an art project with pastels. Lovely thorough study and entry!

Spring Series #8
Makita from Academia Celestia shares their summer snake study. I love it when opportunities arise and family’s take the initiative to spend a little time learning more about the subjects that arise. Check out their great photos.

Winter Series #6 Salt
Phyllis from All Things Beautiful shares their salt study, just look at those beautiful crystals! This is an activity our boys never grow tired of completing.

Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Summer and Autumn Series entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be September 30th, 2010 and all entries from September are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Summer is hot so get outdoors early or spend some in the evenings to watch the sunset, see the bats fly, hear the mosquitoes buzz, the frogs croak, and perhaps even hear an owl. It is not too late to start the Summer Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges.

Summer Series #1: Mosquitoes
Alex and her family at Serendipity Home School share their experiences studying mosquitoes as part of the Outdoor Hour Challenge. She also has a great book to suggest to go along with your study.

Summer Series #2 Summer Tree Observations
Amy at Together for a Reason submitted their Summer Tree Observations. They picked their maple tree to observe.

Allison at Barefoot in Suburbia writes about their Summer Tree Observations. They took their study out into their neighborhood to pick a tree to study and then they went to a nature preserve to observe some more trees.

Angie at Petra School submitted their summer tree entry titled, Sniff a Tree Lately? This is a wonderful photo journal of their challenge and the results of their study.

Tricia, better known as Hodgepodge Mom, shares their family’s Summer Tree Observations. Don’t miss reading how she organizes her Outdoor Hour Challenge supplies and at the very bottom of the post a link to a pastel lesson for drawing trees.

Quinn from Inside the White Picket Fence has written about their crab apple tree Summer Tree Observations. I love the peaceful, easy study they had under their tree.

Summer Series #3 Summer Weather Observations
Angie at Petra School writes about their Summer Weather Observations: Advection Fog on the Oregon Coast. I learned some new things and I love the way this study shows how you can customize the challenge to fit your particular area. Angie submits a follow up post with some more Summer Weather Observations.

Tricia shares their Summer Weather Observations, including a great observation about the direction thesun rises and sets in their neighborhood during the summer. Don’t miss the pastel tutorial at the end of the post.

Summer Series #4 Bats and the Sense of Hearing
Makita at Academia Celestia shares their family’s bat study as part of this challenge. They took advantage of a camping trip to learn a little more about bats.

Angie at Petra School writes A Call of Joy and Dread which highlights their bat study. They were able to study a real bat up close…don’t miss the photos.

Tricia writes about the Bat Study saying, “From eewww to we love bats!” Their family learns how bats are a valuable member of their local ecosystem.

Summer Series #5 Summer Bird: Owls
Allison from Barefoot in Suburbia uses all her resources to observe some owls up close as part of their family’s Owl Study.

Angie and her boys completed their Owl Study and shared Screech the Owl Chickie with a completely thorough account of their owl pellet dissection.

Tricia shares an inspiring post about their Owl Study. Lots of great ideas and links in this post will get you anxious to study owls too.

Summer Series #6 Frogs
Angie lets us look into their frog study. Her entry will be sure to inspire you to look more closely into what kind of frogs you have in your particular area. Here is their entry: Frog Scavenger Hunt-In Three Walks.

Spring Series #10 Ants
Phyllis from All Things Beautiful writes about their study of ants and how it guided them to learn more about an interesting insect. Turns out that their ants were not ants….they were wasps. Great investigation.

Heidi from Home Grown Pumpkins shares their Ant Study for carnival readers. This is their very first Outdoor Hour Challenge so pop over and leave her an encouraging comment.

OHC #10 Picnic
Quinn and her family finished their first ten challenges with the picnic challenge. Wonderful photos here on her blog Inside the White Picket Fence.

OHC #16 Sunflowers
Tricia shares their Sunflower Study on her blog Homeschool Highlights. Nothing like a sunflower entry to brighten up the blog carnival.

Several entries came in that don’t fit a particular challenge but I thought you might like to read them anyway.

Alex at Serendipity Home School writes about a Tomato Hornworm with Parasites.
Makita from Academia Celestia shares Aquatic Critters and Summer Wildflowers.

Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Summer Series entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be August 31st, 2010 and all entries from August are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Our family is greatly enjoying the focus on using all our senses and the effort to get outdoors in the evening.

I would like to thank all of you for your contributions to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. I sincerely hope that you have continued success with your nature study activities this summer.

Summer Series #1 Mosquitoes and the World of Smell
Amy from Together For A Reason completed an evening study starting with mosquitoes and ending with lightning bugs.

Angie and her boys did an amazing study of mosquitoes and she share their entry Blood Sucking Zombie Minions and their Dog/Dragon. She took some macro photos of the larvae that you don’t want to miss.

Tricia and her children completed a mosquito study in their own backyard. What started out as a reluctant study turned out great!

K from All Creation Cries Out shares their families mosquito jar and some wonderful photos too.

Spring Series #3 Spring Bird Study
Angie from The One Thing had some baby chicks. She and her sons learned more about their chickens and they share their study as well as their journal entries.

Spring Series #5 Seasonal Cattail Study
Amy and her crew ventured outdoors with a new baby to complete their Spring Cattail Study. This looks like a lovely spring outing and they found their cattails.

Spring Series #6 Apple Tree
Amy from Together for a Reason also completed another challenge, adapting it to their particular area. Instead of apples they studied raspberries. Once again with a new baby in the sling, they did a great job of getting outdoors.

Spring Series #7 Cats
Kelsey from Mud Puddles shares their cat study. Kelsey completed the study with her kids even though she is allergic to cats. I am impressed.

Spring Series #8 Snakes
Phyllis and her children from All Things Beautiful share their snake study with carnival readers. I think that Phyllis approached this study of snakes with a wonderful attitude. I too want to equip my family to know which snakes are dangerous and which ones are not. Knowledge is powerful.

Kelsey from Mud Puddles also contributed their snake study blog entry which included a trip to see snakes at the pet shop.

Angie in GA is one brave mama. She shares their snake story complete with photos! Don’t miss their entry into the carnival on The One Thing.

Spring Series #9 Earthworms
Alex from Serendipity Home School shares their earthworm study with carnival readers. Lots of great photos and a wonderful nature journal sample are included in their entry.

Angie from Petra School shares their earthworm study. Their family constructed an earthworm jar and then invited some friends over to study earthworms up-close.

Kelsey from Mud Puddles and her children also made a worm jar and then observed worms on the sidewalk. Love the photos in this entry.

Phyllis from All Things Beautiful had a very interesting earthworm post…at least to me. She shares information on her daughter’s compost bin where she uses worms. I learned a lot. You will want to see their nature journals as well.

Spring Series #10 Ants
Kelsey from Mud Puddles shares a large variety of ants that they observed as part of this challenge. Great journal entries too!

Angie from Petra School and her boys completed a very thorough study of ants. Love their words, photos, and journals in this entry!

One more ant challenge entry was submitted from Tricia and her children who remembered just where to look for an ant hill. Check out their entry on Homeschool Highlights.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #2 Using Your Words
Yahkheena at Seeking the Narrow Way completed OHC #2 with her family and they share their entry with words, photos, and journals. This is a lovely entry.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #9 One Small Square
How about a beach square? Tricia and her family completed a wonderful one small square study at the beach. See their complete entry on Homeschool Highlights.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #13 Practicing the Flower Parts
Andi from Declared Unto Him shares their family study of the iris. Truly beautiful photos accent this entry as well as her daughter’s watercolor painting.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #16 Sunflowers
Sometimes it is hard to remember that in Australia they are experiencing the opposite seasons from those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Pauline from Giggly HQ shares their sunflower study with some great photos of cockatoos in the sunflowers.

Signs of Spring
Angie from GA shares their nature walk with lots of signs of spring. Pop over to The One Thing and see what they found interesting.

Alex from Serendipity Home School shares some lovely butterfly and bees on thistle photos in her entry to the blog carnival. Looks like a great nature walk! She also shares some colorful wildflowers on another casual nature study day.

Suzanne from Little Kisses from God found some unexpected subjects during their Outdoor Hour time. Check out her entry, Unexpected Discoveries.

I really enjoyed reading all the entries to the carnival and I hope you take a few minutes to check them out as well. I look forward to seeing all your July entries this month and I hope to learn something new.

Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Spring Series and Summer Series entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be July 31st, 2010 and all entries from July are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Here we are at the beginning of June…so glad that summer is almost here in our part of the world. This month’s carnival is a great mix of challenges and old as well as new faces. I hope you enjoy reading the entries and hopefully they will encourage you to get outdoors this month and do some nature study with your children.

This week on Friday, June 4th, I will be posting the very last Spring Series Challenge. I will be taking a break for a couple of weeks but look for the first Summer Challenge on June 18th.

Don’t forget the new Summer Nature Study: Using Your Senses ebook will give you lots of ideas for outdoor learning during this season. I will post about it here on the blog when I get it ready, hopefully today or tomorrow. It is jam packed with great stuff for you summer nature study!

I want to thank everyone who took the time to share your links both in the challenges and for the blog carnival. You all are so encouraging to me as I read every entry. I wish you a great June outdoors with your families.

Spring Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges: May Topics
Apple Tree
Cats
Snakes
Earthworms

Samantha shares some insights about nature study in this lovely entry: It Begins With Me. Although this entry is not part of any challenge, it is a wonderful reflection on how we need to remember that passion and interest in nature starts with us as the role models.

Spring Series #1 Spring Tree Study
Phyllis at All Things Beautiful discovered a new tree in their yard and their family was on a quest to identify it as part of their spring nature study. What a great way to learn about a new tree.

Quinn from Inside the Picket Fence shares their spring tree study with some heavenly photos! This post will make you feel like spring.

Spring Series #4 Dandelions
Amy at Together for a Reason shares their dandelion study this time and I love the way her photos tell a story. She has a brand new baby in the house and she still made the time to complete this study with all the rest of her children. I find that very inspiring.

Michelle from Delightful Learning also completed a dandelion study with her family. This is one dandelion study you don’t want to miss…they made a delicious dandelion dish that most of the family loved to taste. Thanks for the extra effort and information.

Loni from Hearts in Training shares a really thorough study of dandelions. So much great information here and two lovely notebook pages she has graciously shared for us all to use in our own dandelion study.

Amber from Refined Metals Academy got their nature study started with this dandelion study. If you have little ones, check out how she made this study fit her crew. I hope to see more entries from Amber in the future.

Spring Series #5 Year-Long Cattail Study
Angie/Pebblekeeper shares their cattail study on their blog Petra School. They did an awesome job studying their patch of cattails and you must make sure to click the link in her entry for their photo gallery. It will inspire you to look for your own cattails to study.

Alex from Serendipity Home School completed another cattail study with her children. This is their third season and this time their cattail were really puffy.

Spring Series #6 Apple Trees
Alex over at Serendipity Home School submits their entry for apple trees. I love the leaf rubbing on the nature journal page and the extra books she suggests. Thanks Alex.

Apple trees and more were studied as part of this challenge for Tricia at Homeschool Highlights. Lots of inspiring photos will encourage you to get outdoors and do your own tree study soon.

Spring Series #7 Mammal Study-Cats
Tricia and her children completed a study of their family cats as part of the Spring Series Challenges. Maybe it is because I am a cat lover but I really enjoyed their entry.

Clara the cat was the subject of Alex from Serendipity Home School‘s cat study. They made lots of great observations and their photos are adorable.

Spring Series #8 Reptile Study-Snakes
Angie/Pebblekeeper at Petra School has submitted their snake study for carnival readers. She is one awesome snake mama!

Another great snake entry. (Yes, I said that.) Check out Tricia at Homeschool Highlights for their family’s study of snakes.

Spring Series #9 Earthworms
Tricia at Homeschool Highlights worked on this earthworm challenge with her children and much to their disappointment, they didn’t find any earthworms to study in real life. They will be ready when they do find some in the garden.

Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations shares their earthworm study. Check out the worm jar in action.

OHC #1: Let’s Get Started
Mosey has entered their very first Outdoor Hour Challenge entry as part of the carnival. She writes about the enthusiasm that her children had as part of this challenge. Please pop over and welcome her to the challenges.

OHC #4 Focus Area Challenge
Loni from Hearts in Training shares an entry titled, Only a Male Jumping Spider.

OHC #15 Garden Flowers – Drawing
Pauline from Giggly HQ has completed a lovely entry as part of this challenge. Thanks for inspiring us to draw in our nature journal.

OHC #21 Notebook Challenge
Loni at Hearts in Training shares their cicada study and a great notebook page. Thanks Loni!

Crop Plants: Strawberries
This entry from Phyllis will make you want to run out and study your very own strawberries. Check out their family entry on All Things Beautiful.

Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Spring Series and Summer Series entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be June 30th, 2010 and all entries from June are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Last month’s blog carnival was all about winter but this month we see a real change in the season. The entries this time around show just how varied the spring season is for all the participants. This is a big carnival, full of inspiring entries.

I hope this Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival encourages you in your own family’s nature study. A few minutes outdoors each week can make a big difference!

Recap of the April Outdoor Hour Challenges:
Spring Series
#1 Year-Long Tree Study
#2 Spring Weather Study
#3 Spring Bird Study (Bird Songs)
#4 Spring Wildflower Study-Dandelions
#5 Year-Long Cattail Study

Year-Long Tree Study
Kelsey and her kids are observing their very own maple tree as part of their Year-Long Tree Study. Kelsey is reminded of the trees in her childhood memory and I’m sure her children are making some tree memories of their own.

Angie/Pebblekeeper and her boys are studying their Red alder tree as the subject of their Year-Long Tree Study. Make sure to check out their leaf print journals.

Alex shares her Spring Seasonal Tree Study of their birch tree. I bet their tree has leaves now…great notebook page example as well.

Holli and her children chose their beautiful dogwood tree as the subject of their Year-Long Tree Study. Excellent choice!

There is another pretty tree in Tricia’s entry for their Year-Long Tree Study, the redbud. I love their diligence in completing their study even after it started raining.

Angie in GA along with her boys completed both the Spring Tree and Spring Weather studies in this entry, Spring Creation Challenge. They had some beautiful blue skies to study their dogwood tree….love their photos and journals too.

Japanese cherry tree? That is what Amy and her family is studying for their Spring Tree Study. Check out their bird nest and eggs too!

Renee shares their Maple Tree Study and More Signs of Spring for carnival viewers. This study includes trees, birds, weather, and some moss. One of her children wrote in their journal, “Maple trees are cool to climb!” I totally agree.

Spring Weather Observations
Kelsey share their spring weather (sunshine, rain, hail, snow, clouds, and lots of wind) in their Spring Weather entry.

Brilliant blue skies and a sundial are the focus of Alex’s entry for Spring Weather entry. Look for the link for the sundial.

Angie/Pebblekeeper discusses how important the weather is their every day life. Weather study is the focus of their entry Spring Weather Observations. She writes, “The boys have become quite the meteorologists between knowing the cloud patterns and interpreting data available on line. ” Don’t miss their pencil shadow stick. 🙂

Amy always does a great job of adapting each challenge to fit the abilities of her children. Don’t miss their family’s Spring Weather Study, complete with journal pages.

Michelle from Delightful Learning shares their cloudy skies and how they used the Cloud Finder from the Spring Weather Observation challenge to learn more. Love their journal entries.

Tricia gives us another example of how they use workboxes to complete their Spring Weather observations. Her older children worked independently and then they all had a meal outdoors to enjoy the season.

Loni shares two entries as part of their Spring Weather study: Inquisitiveness and Living Picture Study and Rain or Not?

Spring Bird Study
Andi and her daughter completed the Spring Bird challenge, focusing on sparrows in their yard. They share some of the antics of these birds in their entry.

Don’t miss reading Tricia’s entry highlighting how their family incorporates birding and learning bird calls in their life. Read more about it here in her entry, Spring Birds. (I actually love the idea of having an “outdoor workbox” by the back door to help remind our kids of their nature study.)

Alex shares their Red-winged blackbird study along with a video. They also did a wonderful job incorporating the Cornell coloring book page in their journals.

This is the ultimate bird entry…..so inspiring and the photos really tell the story. Thank you Quinn for sharing your With Wings as Eagles entry in the carnival.

Amy shares a wonderful mother’s story about birdwatching along with a nest full of robin’s eggs. You can read their entry and view their journals in their Spring Bird Study post.

Kelsey includes in their entry their list of birds they recognize by call. Read about that and more in their Spring Bird Study.

Loni and her family visited the zoo and got some up close time with birds: Jacksonville Zoo. They also observed a Nesting Mourning Dove.

Dandelion Study
Tricia shares their Real Life Study of Dandelions. She tells me, “These studies make us notice so much more.” I couldn’t agree more.

Amanda shares their dandelion study, Dandy, Just Dandy with carnival viewers. I love that families with boys tackle even the flower challenges. They always add their own twist.

Jennifer says in her comment for this study, “We did the dandelion study today, and to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll ever look at another dandelion the same again.” I love that something as simple as a dandelion can open our eyes to what is right in our own backyard. You can read more about their wonderful dandelion study on her blog, PeaceLedge.

Kelsey and her children were able to complete the spring dandelion study this week. Read all about their insightful observations and view their journals HERE.

Andi and her daughter completed their dandelion study with tasting some dandelion greens…with bitter results. Read all about the Dandelion Study and view their photos. She has a photo of the biggest dandelion roots I have ever seen.

Signs of Spring
Michelle from the Urban Cottage is eager to share their Signs of Spring. Don’t miss their beautifully done journal pages.

Alex shares their Canadian Signs of Spring for carnival readers. Don’t miss the ducks in the garden!

Michelle from Delightful Learning shares their Wyoming Signs of Spring. Take a look at their seedlings! Great job on the journals too.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 Time to Draw
Grubs from their garden are the subject of Loni’s children nature journals. Read all about this in depth study in White Grub Worms.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #4 It’s Coming Into Focus
Suzanne and her children had a wonderful time during their outdoor hour time. Don’t miss her wonderful photos in her entry, Appreciating God’s Creation. She says, “I guess it goes to show me that we can always see beauty amongst the “weeds” when we’re looking for it which is especially true of everyday life.”

Outdoor Hour Challenge #8 Up Close and Personal
Quinn has used her resources to complete this challenge with her children. Read how they completed Outdoor Hour Challenge #8 by examining a bird nest. Fascinating!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #9 One Small Square
Quinn shares there One Small Square from the woods…what a variety of life they found. You don’t want to miss her photos in this entry either.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #12 Garden Flowers-Seeds
Andi shares their From Seeds to Flowers entry in response to this challenge. I love the photos of the seed’s progress…so interesting, she even has a video!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #13 Garden Flowers-Flower Parts
Loni and her children have been busy learning about parts of a plant using garden plants. Check out their two entries: Flowering Mustard Greens and Greens- TheRoot System.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #21 Notebook Challenge
Loni shares their Toad or Frog entry as part of this challenge to draw in your nature journal.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #22 Butterflies
Loni has written a post about their Caterpillar Habitat. Lots of extra resources in this entry.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #42 Moss and Lichen
Michelle from Delightful Learning shares how one of their signs of spring created a desire for them to know more about moss. She shares their study in this entry, The Spring Journal: Moss and Lichen.

Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Spring Series entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be May 31, 2010 and all entries from May are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

It is that time again! Time for the latest edition of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival with lots of entries from the month of March. Everyone has kept busy with their outdoor time and now that spring is here we will really get into gear. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the carnival and I hope to see your entry next time!

Don’t forget that we start the Spring Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges on Friday, April 2nd. If you have your ebook you can prepare a little ahead of time for this week’s challenge. Don’t forget to give the art and music appreciation a try each month as well. If you would like to share how that goes in an entry on your blog, please feel free to submit the entry to the OHC Blog Carnival as well. I think it might inspire more families to give it a try.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #2
Kimberly shares their second Outdoor Hour Challenge on her blog: Savino Stories. This is an excellent example of how nature study can look with very little ones.

Amy and her family completed Challenge #2 this time as well, Australia style! Check out their blog entry at Marigold Cottage. They incorporated a lot of great ideas into their nature study time and to the follow-up.

Photo from Together for a Reason

Winter Series #6 Salt Study
Amy from Together for a Reason shares their family’s very thorough study of salt and salt crystals. Read more about their week here: Salt Study

Sparklee shares their family study of salt in this very thorough and interesting blog post on her blog Karmamatopoeia. Excellent job on this activity!

Jennifer the Fairy Mum, shares their study of salt as part of this Outdoor Hour Challenge. They really enjoyed this simple activity with great results.

Winter Series #7 Winter Birds
Andi has had to be creative in their family’s nature study since her daughter broke her hip. I love the way she is still including nature study in their week and their winter bird entry is such a great example. Don’t miss seeing her photos at The Learning Pomegranate.

Amy shares their new love for birds in their winter bird entry. Who knew hanging a birdfeeder would create such enthusiasm. Read all about it on her blog Together for a Reason.

Quinn is busy with baby chicks and this entry shows how they are using the Handbook of Nature Study to observe and learn about chickens as well as birds in general. Check out their entry on Inside the White Picket Fence. Don’t miss her entry on parts of a bird too!

Photo from Pebblekeeper

Winter Series #8: One Small Square
Angie (Pebblekeeper) shares their family’s small square study on her blog Petra School. There are some wonderful photos of their finds and a idea for a list as well.

Tricia and her family completed the one small square activity and completed a great journal entry to follow up. See how it went on her blog HodgePodge-Homeschool Highlights. (She even made the activity a Workbox activity!)

Kellie at the Blue House Academy finished their one small square activity in the snow! I think they did an excellent job with this Outdoor Hour Challenge.

Kelsey and her children completed three small square studies and found some great stuff. Check out her blog entry on her blog Mud Puddles.

Alex from Serendipity Home School shares their one small square study…just a little snow around the edges. They are inpsired to complete their square study in other seasons to compare. Great idea!

Dawn shares their small square activity and a special nature walk as well. Check out her entry on her blog My4Sweetums.

Winter Series #9 Mammals in Winter
Sarah on her blog Sunshine Daydream writes about their family’s Outdoor Hour going on a “mammal hunt”. They found quite a few signs of mammals to share.

Angie and her boys spent a morning focusing on this challenge with great results. She shares their mammal study on their blog TheOneThing: Creation Walk and Mammals.

Kelsey and her kids found lots of mammal signs for this challenge. She writes and shares some wonderful photos on her blog Mud Puddles.

This mammal study done by Alex is a must read for families that have not completed this challenge yet. You are going to inspired by her entry at Serendipity Home School. I love the photos she took of her dog and cat!

Photo from HodgePodge Mom

Winter Series #10 Early Spring Flowers
Tricia’s family also completed a study of their spring flowers. They have been keeping track of exactly when each kind of flower started blooming. This sounds like an excellent activity! Read more about it here: HodgePodge Homeschool Highlights.

More spring bulbs at Melissa’s house for this challenge….love her boys in the photo at her blog Bugs, Knights, and Turkeys. Her boys were even inspired to draw and write about their experiences this time!

Michelle at the Urban Cottage Homeschool writes about their Outdoor Hour Challenge time which included a hike and a study of some potted bulbs. Don’t miss seeing their journals as well.

Sparklee at Karmamatopoeia had a chance to observe some spring flowers with her children. They found and journaled about some beautiful crocus.

Signs of Spring Bonus Challenge
Samantha shares their signs of spring from a trip to a near-by nature center. Visit her blog To Be Busy At Home to read all about it.

More signs of spring from Tricia and her family in their blog entry at HodgePodge Homeschool Highlights. Her daughter even decorated a t-shirt for their outdoor time. Love it!

Gabriele shares the signs of spring in her entry on their blog The Work of Childhood. Check out her spring list.

Dandelions were the focus of Angie’s family nature study this week. Pop over to her blog at Petra School to read about their dandelions and see their journals.

Isn’t that a great list of entries this time? I love all the variety of styles and ways that different families make the challenges their own. You all inspire me. Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Spring Series entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be April 30th and all entries from April are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

This has been a very busy month for nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenges despite the blizzard conditions in much of the United States.

I am encouraged and impressed by all the families that have joined in a winter nature study routine this year. Usually, I am plodding along with a few others during the cold winter months, but this year you have all rallied to inspire each other.

I hope you enjoy reading the entries and viewing the images as much as I have over the last few weeks. Thank you so much for your participation!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #1 Let’s Get Started

Erin shares their nature study at Life in Poland. They are just getting started with the Outdoor Hour Challenges so you might want to send them a big welcome all the way over in Poland!

Quinn from Inside the White Picket Fence shares their second Outdoor Hour Challenge: Outdoor Hour. It looks so very cold, but also very beautiful!

The Chances are continuing with the Outdoor Hour Challenges in Arizona. They share their second challenge on their blog In Perpetuity Throughout Our Universe.

Quinn shares their very snowy world in their OHC #3 Entry at Inside the White Picket Fence. Don’t miss her beautiful photography!

Holli and her children took their outdoor time for this challenge and found some interesting things to learn more about and they share in their entry on their blog Settled In My Home. They also worked in their nature journals!

Quinn and her family are studying birds as their focus area. They combined several studies all in one to create this wonderful Bird Entry. Thanks for sharing your cardinals with us all.

Holli shares their family’s bird focus in her entry for Outdoor Hour Challenge #4. Warning: This entry includes cute baby chicks!

Outdoor Hour Challenge #32 Pine Trees and Winter Series #5 Pine Trees

Andi from the Learning Pomegranate shares their very wintery study of Pine Trees. I was interested in reading about the pine needle tea.

Gabby from The Work of Childhood shares their family’s study of a great big pine tree and its cones (includes a craft as well).

Angie shares their latest Pine Tree Study on her blog The One Thing, this time around with snow in Georgia! Her boys are loving it.

Amy shares their snowy pine tree study on her blog Together for a Reason. They always look like they are enjoying their outdoor time.

Angie (Pebblekeeper) shares their very interesting Oregon version of the pine tree study on their blog Pebblekeeper.

Alex shares their White Pine Study for this challenge. They even drew some pine cones.

Winter Series #2 Winter Tree Study

Makita at Academia Celestia shares their Winter Tree Study of an apple tree!

Alex shares their Canadian Winter Tree Study….their birch tree is the focus for the year in their family.

Amy at Together for a Reason completed the Winter Sky and Stars Challenge with her family….great job getting outdoors in the cold weather.

Alex shares their Winter Sky Study. Love the photo of the kids all bundled up outdoors at night!

Amy at Together for a Reason says that this weather challenge came just in time for the blizzard!

Angie and her family enjoyed the big snow this year as well. They share their Winter Weather Study with us all on her blog The One Thing.

Dawn from Masterpiece Theater shares their winter weather nature study.

Alex from Serendipity shares their winter weather with some wonderful photos of their snowy skies.

Desiree blogs about their winter weather on her blog As Long As It Takes.

Michelle from Delightful Learning completed an excellent study of salt along with four different salt evaporation activities.

Loni had a close encounter with a earwig and it made for a great nature study subject. Read her blog entry at Hearts in Training.

Winter Series #7 Winter Bird Study

Casey and her family participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count *and* her daughter started a study of robins. Here is her entry at Bumpin’ Along the Road Less Traveled.

Melissa at Bugs, Knights, and Turkeys in The Yard shares their bird count for carnival readers.

Tricia at HodgePodge shares their Great Backyard Bird Count along with some truly wonderful photos of cardinals. Don’t miss this one!

Another family participated in the GBBC…Alex and her kids counted birds in Canada and they share their results with some photos in their entry: Winter Series-Winter Birds.

Loni from Hearts in Training shares their backyard birds including woodpeckers, robins, , cardinals, and mourning doves. Here is their entry for the carnival: Winter Winged Visitors.

Kellie at the Blue House Academy shares their thoughts on bird study and some great resources in her blog entry, A little bird told me… She also has some wonderful bird photography.

Loni atHearts in Training shares their family’s study of a newborn White-tailed deer. Beautiful nature journal done by Mom.

Angie at The One Thing shares their nature study field trip along with some wonderful photos of things they saw “not so close to home”.

Thanks to everyone for all the entries and photos and participation. Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Winter Series entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be March 26th and all entries from March are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

You can find all the paintings listed here on Wikimedia Commons:
Caspar David Friedrich, Hut in Snow
Conrad Alexander Muller-Kurzwelly, Waldlandschaft in Winter
Boris Kustodiev, Winter
Nikifor Krylov, Russian Winter

Welcome to the very first ever Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival!

I hope you are encouraged and inspired by all the entries that were shared in this special debut blog carnival. Please feel free to leave comments on any blogs you visit. We all know how encouraging it is to have other nature loving families comment on our experiences. Enjoy the carnival!

Maria shares on her blog, Dirt Under My Fingernails, their very first Outdoor Hour Challenge. They were very happy to be Getting Outside.

Holli from Settled in my Home is just getting started with the Outdoor Hour Challenges and she wants to share their nature study time from Challenge #1, which includes a mouse, and Challenge #2 as well.

Quinn shares their first Outdoor Hour Challenge entry on her blog, On Just A Couple Acres. You are going to *love* her photos!

Photo from Michelle’s blog Delightful Learning

Michelle from Delightful Learning shares their wonderful entry for winter cattails. Theyfound a few surprises on their Outdoor Hour time as well. Don’t miss reading about their wonderful cattail experiment!

Angie shares their cattail study on her blog The One Thing. They had quite an adventure.

Kellie at the Blue House Academy shares their cattail entry…don’t miss the photos!

Amy at Together for a Reason shares their wonderful cattail nature study which was so much more than just cattails! Great job getting all those troops outdoors this week!

Michelle H. from Urban Cottage Homeschool shares their cattail entry which also included a little cross-country skiing! Love this idea!

Alex shares their family’s cattail entry on their Serendipity Homeschool blog.

Michelle from Delightful Learning shares their family’s study of two trees, the flowering crab apple and the willow tree in their yard. Don’t miss their wonderful nature journals.

Kelsey shares their winter tree study on her blog Mud Puddles.

Amy at Together for a Reason shares their family’s fantastic tree study along with their nature journals.

Sarah shares their winter study of their dogwood tree on her blog: Sunshine Daydream. She has some unidentified creatures living on her tree if you would care to help identify them.

Angie shares the beginning of their year-long tree study. They also picked a dogwood! Here is her entry on The One Thing.

“There is no prettier story among the flowers than that of the bracts of the dogwood, and it is a subject for investigation which any child can work out for himself.”
Handbook of Nature Study page 680

Don’t forget to check in the Handbook of Nature Study for more about the winter tree that you study. The HNS has many common trees and lots of great ideas to use to study your focus tree.

Desiree from As Long As It Takes shares their very first Outdoor Hour Challenge entry. They had a fantastic time outdoors looking at the moon and stars!

Rachel blogs at United for Christ about their winter sky and stars study. They share how they have become familiar with their Texas winter sky.

Samantha‘s family completed a winter color walk and they share their entry on their blog, To Be Busy at Home. This is a very easy winter nature study to complete on the spur of the moment.

Michelle wrote about their winter journals and making winter nature observations on her blog, Delightful Learning. They also completed Winter Wednesday #1 here on this entry: World of Winter.

Andi at The Learning Pomegranate shares their wonderful winter bird study.

Angie at The One Thing shares their study of winter ice. This is a fantastic way to conduct nature study in the winter.

Martha and her family were also focusing on winter birds…especially migration. Read her entry at Sunrise to Sunset.

Andi has another entry to share on her blog The Learning Pomegranate. This time it is for their Winter Mammal study.

Aurora from Knitting Longies wants to share their first Winter Wednesday challenge where they went out looking for colors.

Michelle from Delightful Learning shares their Winter Weeds in a perfectly lovely entry…gorgeous photos!

Thanks to everyone for all the entries and photos and participation. Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Winter Wednesday entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be February 26th and all entries from February are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Just for fun I will give you the link to all of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Photos of the Week on Flickr in a slideshow. It is hard to believe that in a few short weeks we will be marking our second year anniversary of the Outdoor Hour Challenges.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Photos of the Week Slideshow

I enjoyed remembering all the great families that have participated over the years. I think I have watched some of your children grow up over the last two years.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom