The moose is one of those animals that many of us never get a chance to see in real life. It’s large body and huge antlers make it a very distinctive and interesting animal for most children to learn about using resources you can find online or at your public library.
Here are just a couple of ideas for a moose nature study to get you started:
¨ For younger children, listen to chapter 36 in the Burgess Animal Book for Children, featuring the moose.
You can access the complete challenge by using the lesson in the Forest Fun ebook that is available in both the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships.
Sign into your account and download the ebook for the details, more links, a coloring page, and notebook pages.
We’re working through the Forest Fun ebook which is a brand new series of nature studies featuring things you might find in the forest. It’s not too late to join us by purchasing an Ultimate Naturalist or Journey level membership.
Topics in this ebook include:
Rabbitbrush
Skunk Cabbage
Azalea
Common Raven
California Quail
Western Tanager
Black Bear
Moose
Porcupine
If you don’t have a membership yet, you can click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 24 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
Did you see the brand new ebook that was posted earlier this week?
California quail are usually seen scurrying along the forest floor in and around brush and shrubs. They quick step along in a group and you can often hear them before you see them. They make such a peculiar sound: Quail pit-pit-pit sound video.
I invite you to learn more about one of my favorite birds!
Choose a resource to use for the California quail. A terrific website for bird information is All About Birds: California Quail. Check your field guide for birds for range maps and images.
Please note that I will not be posting the complete challenge here on the blog but you’ll find the detailed challenge in the Forest Fun ebook that is available both in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships. Sign into your account and download the ebook for the details, more links, a coloring page, and notebook pages.
We’re working through the Forest Fun ebook, which is a brand new series of nature studies featuring things you might find in the forest. It’s not too late to join us by purchasing an Ultimate Naturalist or Journey level membership.
Topics in this ebook include:
Rabbitbrush
Skunk Cabbage
Azalea
Common Raven
California Quail
Western Tanager
Black Bear
Moose
Porcupine
If you don’t have a membership yet, you can click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 24 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
You may never have heard of this this week’s subject, skunk cabbage! Our family has encountered it on several hikes that have taken us along creeks and damp places. Keep your eyes on the look out for this rather large, green plant and the tell- tale flower and perhaps even the odor.
Just for Fun: Before you begin your study of skunk cabbage, ask your children why they think this plant is called skunk cabbage. Let them guess and throw out ideas. You might even add these ideas to your nature journal page.
You can also view the information found at the USDA for skunk cabbage to see its range: (Eastern) skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) and American skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus ).
Please note that I will not be posting the complete challenge here on the blog but you’ll find the detailed challenge in the Forest Fun ebookthat is available both in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships. Sign into your account and download the ebook for the details, more links, a coloring page, and notebook pages.
We are working through the Forest Fun ebook which is a brand new series of nature studies featuring things you might find in the forest. It’s not too late to join us by purchasing an Ultimate Naturalist or Journey level membership.
Topics in this ebook include:
Rabbitbrush
Skunk Cabbage
Azalea
Common Raven
California Quail
Western Tanager
Black Bear
Moose
Porcupine
If you don’t have a membership yet, you can click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 24 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
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 are having trouble with your password, please leave me a comment or send me a direct email to receive my assistance. Email: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
New Ebook is Now Available to Members!
The Forest Fun ebook is now ready for you to download and use with your family. It will be a part of the 2019-2020 plans here on the Handbook of Nature Study. I’m excited to have a new set of challenges to complete along with you!
There are nine brand new Outdoor Hour Challenges for you to complete as part of your nature study lessons with your children. These Challenges are not based on information in the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock but you will be using internet links and field guides to glean information about each topic.
This 47 page digital ebook has 9 challenges and supplemental activities that will help you learn about some common things you’ll find in a forest, especially the forests of the western United States.
There are multiple custom notebooking pages for each of the topics. You can choose from simple notebook pages or more advanced notebooking pages.
Here are the specific topics included in this ebook:
Rabbitbrush
Skunk Cabbage
Azalea
Common Raven
California Quail
Western Tanager
Black Bear
Moose
Porcupine
How do you get the new Forest Fun 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 $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.
Now that there is no longer a newsletter with a planning page, I decided that I am creating a printable page for you to use instead. Keep track of the month’s Outdoor Hour Challenge topics, be inspired to create a nature journal page, jot down notes for future study, and use the list of archived suggestions to go deeper into a particular topic.
New printables are now posted in the Member’s library!
Members have access to several brand new printable notebook pages.
1. Subnivean Zone: All new notebook page for a special winter time study of the subnivean zone. Look for a post on this topic here on the blog.
2. Mammal Notebook Pages – Set of four: Use these pages to make a study of the Rocky Mountain elk, the black bear, the coyote, and the white-tail deer. Each animal has a set of three pages to use for various ages.
Print a complete list of printables available to Members for easy reference:Printables for Members
Our much anticipated trip to Yosemite for our autumn visit was a huge success. We didn’t plan it but we were leaving the day the park was closed because of the government shutdown. I was very grateful that we were able to get in our visit and hikes before the trails and campground were closed indefinitely.
The image above shows a glimpse of the devastation from the Rim Fire. This is along Hwy 120 above Groveland, CA. It was an awesome sight to see and you could see signs of the fire as we continued into the national park itself and up along the Tioga Road. Much of the area along the road had been cleared before the fire so my husband thinks that many of the trees, although scortched, will revive. We shall be anxious to see if he is right.
We had reserved a campsite along the Merced River in the Lower Pines Campground…perfect! We enjoyed our two nights in our tent with a show of stars at night that was unbelievable. The camping was a little quiet for us with no children along for this trip but it was fun to just be a couple again.We sat in chairs and watched squirrels and birds. We huddled around the campfire and enjoyed the peaceful cracking and snapping of the flames on the oak wood. The air was crisp in the mornings but not so cold we couldn’t break from the cocoon of the sleeping bag.
One afternoon we took a long walk along the valley floor. This time of year there are no big crowds around so you see lots of wildlife. In the image above, you can spy a bobcat! He was wandering along the trail and then he went down to the river. We also so numerous deer…adults and babies too. One time we saw a herd of 20+ deer grazing in the meadow.
Yosemite Falls is bone dry right now. I felt sorry for all the travelers who came from all over the world to visit Yosemite when the falls are dry…just not the same. Autumn is not a time for huge waterfalls in Yosemite but their are other reasons to come at this time of year. The story of Yosemite in the autumn is the change of season with colors and the quiet awesomeness of viewing the granite that also change in color with the light.
Our campsite was visited by many, many squirrels. They were busy collecting seeds of some sort and having a feast. The Stellar’s jays and Common ravens also came to visit and first thing in the morning they were very noisy. The seemed to say, “Wake up! Wake up! You are missing the sunrise!”
Our second day we hiked the complete Panorama Trail. This is an eight mile hike that includes three waterfalls…that actually have water. The image above is the very top of Nevada Falls and although it is not running with much water, it is still a fabulous waterfall. (see below)
Here I am after hiking down from the top with Nevada Falls in the background. Isn’t it an awesome sight? It is hard to describe the sound of a big waterfall, especially this one back in the corner of the valley. The sound cracks and echoes all around you. About this time in the hike, I am getting tired and the downhill climb is harder than climbing up.
Here is a portion of the trail that is a little easier and the views are phenomenal. I love the sky in this image. When I’m hiking, I always watch the sky for signs of storms but this day it was perfect with partial cloud cover a lot of the time. Breezes would cool us off as we hiked. Autumn really is a terrific time to hike at Yosemite.
This is also about the point where we observed a mama Black Bear and her cub…off in the distance but we still became hyper-aware of our surroundings. There were several other hikers, some in front and some in back of us, so we alerted them to our sighting and shared bear stories before we all spread out again.
I was in the mood for looking for fall colors. The maples and oaks were starting to turn color and I found this large leaf along the trail. My husband thinks I’m nuts sometime but he cooperated and took my picture so I could share it with you. This is a good place to point out that hiking in Yosemite is a bit of a rock scramble at times (that is the trail behind me). These are not smooth, easy trails that you can hike along without paying attention. You are always looking down for your next step…not many flat trails here. This is why I started using a walking stick…it makes my hiking so much more pleasurable.
I was so inspired by the Bigleaf maples that back at the campsite I created a nature journal page with some of the information I found interesting. My leaf sketch was a bit of a fail..I think I was hung up on trying to get it to fit in the box I had created on the page and so it looks sort of squished. Oh well, you get the idea of a maple leaf.
The last day of our trip we took the long way home and drove out Tioga Pass, along Hwy 395, and then across on Hwy 89 and 88 to get home. This took us through the high country where the aspens were ablaze with color. We stopped several times to enjoy the views. Now this is what autumn should look like!
It was a fun trip and I am looking forward to the winter season and visiting Yosemite National Park to really see the full circle in this amazing place. We are aiming to hike in the Mariposa Grove of sequoia trees whether there is snow or not. Not sure where we will stay yet…hoping that the government closure is over by then.
Roadtrip – California, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah
Mr. A loved driving across the Nevada landscape and setting the cruise control at 75 MPH. This was his first real roadtrip where he did a lot of the driving for us. I enjoyed sitting in the passenger seat and soaking in the big skies and the distant mountains still iced with snow.
Although we enjoyed the whole trip, the star of the show was most definitely the Grand Tetons. We were able to swing a room at the Jackson Lake Lodge for part of our trip and it was great home base. It was everything a lodge should be and more.
Wyoming landscapes…sun, clouds, and terrain are quick to change.
My sons were both feeling crummy with colds when we were in the middle of our trip so the long hiking days we planned had to be adjusted. Instead, we drove one day up into Yellowstone National Park and did a quick circle tour of some interesting spots in the southern part of the park.
We walked on the boardwalks around the Lower Geyser Basin. It was a fairly active day and we got to see a couple of geysers spout that don’t regularly put on a show. In fact, we got caught in the spray of one geyser….that was a first.
I spent time on the lookout for interesting wildflowers which were abundant during our trip. This Elk Thistle was interesting and beautiful as it grew alongside the boardwalk.
Our one hike of the day was down the switchback trail to the brink of Lower Yellowstone Falls. The flow was at a near record high when we were there and it was roaring down the canyon. Amazing to stand right at the edge of where the water falls over the rocks!
It was a quick Yellowstone trip but we soaked in the wonderful landscapes and made some great memories. We headed back into Grand Teton Park and alongside the road near the Jackson Lake Lodge we spotted a mama grizzly bear and her two cubs. We stopped across the road and down a little to watch the cubs playing in the meadow. This was a first for our family….we have seen lots of black bears but these were our very first grizzly bears. We didn’t stay long since we really didn’t want to disrupt them but I have to admit very exciting to see this in the wild.
One night we drove up Signal Mountain and watched the sunset over Jackson Lake. As sunset grew closer, the group of us up there got larger. I was pleased that most of us were there to sit quietly and watch with cameras in hand. The one thing about going to national parks is that you realize there are many people visiting from outside the U.S. They have come clear around the world to see what we have in our own backyards. It gives you fresh eyes to think about what you have and need to appreciate.
Those clouds in the sunset photo above turned into thunderheads and by bedtime it was quite a show. We watched from our room window as the sky came alive and the thunder was louder than I have ever heard before…almost like explosions. It rained just a little and then the storm disappeared. Perfect Wyoming experience for the boys!
When morning dawned, the skies were clear and the sun was warm. On our way out of the park we stopped to enjoy the reflection of the mountains in the lake in the early morning light. Breathtaking!
When we stopped to take the reflection photos, I noticed these huge seed clouds at my feet. We looked them up in our guide and identified them as Yellow salsify. The flowers look much like dandelions but the seeds heads are much larger. I had my son put his hand in the photo so you could see how large they are.
Our road trip is over for the summer and we have packed in some great family memories. The boys enjoyed the wildlife and the great food we enjoyed on our trip. I packed breakfast and lunch but we ate our dinners in restaurants. The most memorable meal ended with fresh homemade huckleberry pie. I am going to dream of that slice of heaven for a very long time to come.
It is nice to be home, back to my garden but it is always refreshing to get out on the open road and see some new and exciting things. I have a couple more posts to share with other aspects of our trip so stay tuned.
Imagine making unforgettable memories with your children through outdoor play. Laughter, smiles, and a time of connecting as a family are only a few virtues of simply getting outside. Immersing ourselves outdoors with our children also cultivates relationships, encourages bonding, and nurtures our mental health. These 5 outdoor games are the very best to encourage a love of the outdoors and have fun!
The Importance Of Outdoor Play
“Years of research have revealed how vital being out in nature is to our mental health: from listening to water trickle, smelling the forest air, or staring at fractals and cobwebs, it all counts as healing, soul-stirring endeavor that we’d do well to invest time in as much as we can. All children benefit from being outside whether homeschooled or otherwise.”
In her book, Modern Miss Mason, Ms. Boden asserts,
“When we step outdoors, we find the seeds of science, biology, physics, history, mathematics, and more.”
Ms. Boden (p. 107)
In a recent outdoor time of exploring the beaches, my toddler was captivated by all the ladybugs congregating on an old log. He observed with interest and admired the ladybug’s arrangement: from her little legs, her coloring, and her black dots. My smitten toddler added four new words to his vocabulary, “babybug” (ladybug), “bots” (dots), “bwack” (black), and “wed” (red). We added a bit of mathematics as he counted Ms. Babybug’s legs and her little black dots. This time outside encouraged bonding, self-education, communication skills, and unfolded multiple subjects in a natural way.
When we create time to step into nature, a realm of gentle learning happens that is beneficial to a child’s development:
patience
teamwork
observation skills
fine and gross motor skills
and so much more!
So, how do we reap the all the benefits of outdoor time? And how do we involve our children outside more? Let’s take a look at a few ways we can facilitate this special time in nature with our loved ones.
The 5 Best Outdoor Games For Kids
Are you interested in spending valuable time outdoors with your children? Do you desire to hear a lot of giggles, build gross and fine motor skills, shape social skills, practice teamwork, and foster family connections? Try the five best outdoor games for kids. We have included games that are perfect for all ages. Beware! When you’re all done, you may hear your children eagerly exclaiming, “Mom, let’s play that again!”
Sack Races
This game is extremely easy and fun. Sack races also help with getting those wriggles out. Start your players with boundaries by creating a “start” line and a “finish” line. Each player places both feet in a sac or pillow. When they hear a “START!” or “GO!”, all players hop to the finish line. The first one to the finish line wins!
Sharks and Minnows
Sharks and Minnows is among one of our favorites. I love it because you don’t need any equipment, just a space large enough to run back and forth. There are several versions of Sharks and Minnows, but if this is your first time playing, I suggest beginning with the most basic rules.
Begin by setting your boundaries and safe zones; one safe zone on one end of the field and another on the other end. Pick one player to be the Shark, the rest are minnows. The minnows place themselves on the safe zone. The Shark places himself in the middle of the field. When he is ready, he calls the minnows out.
The goal of the minnows is to get safely to the other side of the field into the safe zone without getting tagged. Once they arrive at the safe zone, they are safe. If they are tagged by the shark, the minnows then turn into a shark and help tag the remaining minnows. When there is only one minnow left, it is time for the next round. The last standing minnow is the shark in the next round.
Croquette
This colorful game involves stakes, wickets, mallets, balls, and two to six players. Each player picks a colorful ball and a mallet to match. Players take turns hitting the ball through the wickets. The key is to make sure that the balls pass through the wickets and stakes in the correct order. The player who scores all fourteen wickets and two stakes wins!
Water Balloon Fight
You can play so many games with water balloons! We love to simply fill up a lot of water balloons and throw them at one another. Although this game is a blast, we find it helpful to create boundaries before the fun begins. Each family is different and may need to tailor boundaries to fit their family size and dynamics.
On a Roll
Homeschool Nature Study provides a link to this enjoyable game titled, On a Roll. It’s easy to create and is wonderful for fine and gross motor skills. Using a shovel (we used a plastic shovel that came with our beach toys), dig holes big enough to fit a tennis ball. We formed the holes very similar to the way bowling pins are set up; in a triangular pattern. Then roll the tennis ball and try to land it in the holes!
More Fun Outdoor Game Ideas
Tug of War
Hide and Seek
Eye Spy
Three Flies Up
Wiffle Ball
Homeschool Nature Study And Outdoor Play
Nature simply promotes outdoor play. When a child embarks on a journey outside, he has the freedom to explore, use his imagination, run in the grass, jump in a puddle, build a fort, touch a friendly frog, create. It’s delightful to watch a child engage in activities that are pure and lovely and learn at the very same time. Would you like to spend more time in nature with your children? Do you have a desire to make outdoor time a habit whether it’s participating in outdoor activities or simply taking a walk?
Unearth the benefits of spending outside time with your children and watch dynamic learning unfold with the Homeschool Nature Study membership. Homeschool Nature Study is designed to support your child’s healthy development, encourage outdoor time with your family, and nurture relationships. It’s equipped with endless outdoor hour challenges, courses, nature crafts, and an interactive nature calendar that keep children involved and engaged.
That’s not all! Getting outdoors isn’t beneficial just for children! It’s essential for us moms too. Homeschool Nature Study offers the Outdoor Mom Series just for mothers. Shirley Vels writes monthly devotionals that stir a time of quietness in our hearts, reflection, and the desire to slow down…even if it is for five minutes. Included are ideas for outdoor time for mom and nature journal prompts! You don’t want to miss it.
Be Inspired. Be Encouraged. Get Outdoors!
Jamie is the author of A Brown Bear’s Language Arts Study, a literature-inspired homeschool mom of eight, and a former educator. She enjoys a bookshelf bursting with colorful picture books and children’s stories of all genres. Indulging in a read aloud with all of her children around her is one of Jamie’s favorite moments of her days. Be sure to find Jamie on Instagram and visit her blog, Treasuring the Tiny Moments Homeschool, to be encouraged by all her learning adventures with her wonderful family.
Even if you or your children are squirmy about insects, there is so much to discover and learn! In this insect nature study, learn how to identify an insect with simple steps!
“Insects are among the most interesting and available of all living creatures for nature study. The lives of many of them afford more interesting stories than are found in fairy lore; many of them show exquisite colors; and, most important of all, they are small and are, therefore, easily confined for observation.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 294
I am finding this to be the case in our everyday life…there are insects everywhere. The caterpillar above we found on our hike yesterday. The more we looked, the more we found.
Rain beetle: Although she looks dead, she really wasn’t. She kept flipping over on her back and wiggling and stretching her legs. Today was a first. I actually looked closely at a very ugly beetle. Yes, I am becoming an insect gal. I know this for sure because my daughter and her friend Shyloh brought me home a very large, very alive beetle creature. I had asked all my family to bring home any interesting insects they find and had even given them each a ziploc sandwich bag to bring them home in. Yesterday was the first time someone brought me an insect treasure. They said they couldn’t bear to put it into a baggie so they used a small plastic container from my daughter’s lunch box. She said there were hundreds of the beetles so she felt like she could bring one to us to study
How to Identify an Insect
At first I was disgusted by this creature but after taking her out of the container and looking carefully, I once again found the beauty in the design of the Creator. Now all that was left to do was to discover what sort of beetle this insect was.
Steps To Identify An Insect
1. I pulled out my field guide but could not see any beetles that looked like this one.
2.So it was off to the internet and we started by looking up “beetle, california” on Google. I am finding that if I Google something and then look at the images it takes me far less time to identify a creature.
3.Once you find an image that looks like your insect, click on the link associated with that image. The majority of the time this is enough to get you pointed in the right direction.
Insect Nature Study For Kids
Here’s what I learned about this little female insect: Rain beetle or P. puncticollis (more on classification at BugGuide.net)and can be found in California woodlands. The male is approximately 1″ and the female can be slightly larger at 1 3/4″. The males have wings but the females do not. They range in color from reddish-brown to black. The underside is covered in hairy bristles.
The interesting thing about this beetle is that it makes a sudden appearance after a soaking rain….hence the name Rain beetle. We had a really good rain all the night before so I think this is probably why we were able to see this amazing creature. The life cycle of the Rain beetle is very long. The larvae, who feed on roots of live trees and bushes of oaks and conifers, take up to as much as 10-12 years to mature but once they become adults the males wait for the first rains to bring them out for their mating flight and the females dig a tunnel to the surface to wait for the males to find them. Here is the fascinating part:The conditions that trigger the males and females to emerge are so stringent that this may only happen in a population for a single day in a given year. This made the finding of this insect all the more precious since it is a rare event.
This is the head of the beetle and if you look closely you can see her little “horns”. The males fly slowly over the area, low to the ground, looking for the females who although rarely leave their underground burrow, wait at the burrow’s entrance for the arrival of the males. She puts off a pheromone that attracts the males. After mating the female closes off the entrance to her burrow and lays her eggs. These mature the following spring.
I love this photo that shows her leg parts.
Wow, so much to learn. I have a new appreciation for the study of insects after learning that this was not just an ugly bug. It has a whole life story to learn and now I can share it with others.
“When it is properly taught, the child is unconscious of mental effort or that he is suffering the act of teaching.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 6
I did all this research and it hardly felt like any effort at all. I will be striving to make our nature study so that it is interesting and feels not like work but like refreshment.
If you’re not a member here at Homeschool Nature Study yet, please consider joining to gain the benefit of having a nature study library at your fingertips. There are numerous resources available for you to help create the habit of nature study within your family.
When I first saw salsify, I thought it was a giant dandelion. Upon closer examination, I realized the leaves and flowers are quite different. Here in the U.S., there are 2 plants that are called salsify:
Look for salsify along roadsides, vacant lots, pastures, and disturbed areas. Normal blooming time is from May to September.
This should be a fairly easy flower to spot if it’s blooming. It looks like a really large dandelion, purple or yellow depending on where you live. The seed head is also a larger version of the dandelion.
If you have a membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you’ll find the complete challenge with images, more links to resources and videos, journaling ideas, a notebook page, and ideas for studying flowers in the aster family. You’ll need to sign into your Ultimate or Journey level membership to see the book download.
Ebook includes nature study lessons for common silverweed, fireweed, salsify, Indian paintbrush, and forget-me-nots.
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