“The purpose of all these lessons on the hen are: (a) To induce the child to make continued and sympathetic observations on the habits of the domestic birds. (b) To cause him involuntarily to compare the domestic with the wild birds. (c) To induce him to think for himself how the shape of the body, wings, head, beak, feet, legs, and feathers are adapted in each species to protect the bird and assist it in getting its living.” Handbook of Nature Study
Do you raise backyard chickens? Do you have friends or neighbors that have chickens? Use the ideas in this week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge to learn more about these interesting birds! The lessons in the Handbook of Nature Study can apply to all sorts of birds as well as chickens, so read through the lesson suggestions to find something to observe up close and then create a nature journal.
If you don’t have a membership yet, click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 26 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
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.
Rock Study: Calcite, Limestone, Marble Nature Study
Most families that have been taking time for nature study have no doubt started an official or unofficial rock collection. I know when my boys were young, they would fill my pockets with rock treasures on our nature walks and then insist I take them home for our nature table. So many rocks!
I must admit that I still collect rocks! You may wish to read this entry that shares 5 ways to organize rock collections: 5 Ways to Display Rock Collections.
Use this week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge to learn a bit about rocks that you may already have in your collection. Or use the information and videos in the original challenge to build enthusiasm for a rock hunt soon.
If you have access to the ebook, there is a general rock activity on page 39 that everyone can use: Rocks Up Close printable. Take this notebook page along with you this week during your Outdoor Hour Challenge and see how many things you can find.
Newsletter Resources: Members also have access to the two newsletters in the archives that feature rock nature studies: January 2013 and February 2016.
Alternate Study: Members can download and print the Under a Rock Notebook Page. Find a rock, turn it over and then observe what you can find underneath. This is a fun activity with or without the notebook page.
If you don’t have a membership yet, click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 26 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
To many of us, a desire to learn about rocks does not come naturally. Rocks can seem ordinary and we don’t take time to really notice them.
Possible Reasons for Lack of Interest in Rocks
¨ Little interest in rocks because they seem commonplace
¨ Limited knowledge about rocks and how to identify them
¨ Lack of physical subjects to examine
We stub our toe on them when hiking and we work hard at digging them out of our gardens, generally they just seem to be in the way. But, upon closer examination, those same rocks we see as annoyances can become an interesting topic for a lifelong nature study interest. Collecting rocks and minerals as we go about our normal business and when we travel can become a source of awe and wonder at their beauty and structure. So how do we go about offering a “hard” study like rocks and minerals?
How to Overcome the Obstacles
¨ Develop interest over time – Use all of your available resources to make rocks more interesting. Does your child find volcanoes fascinating? Did they find some cool rocks on their nature walk? Have they looked at rocks with a magnifying lens? Do they want to make jewelry with rocks? Find ways to pull in lots of different ways of learning about rocks.
¨ Build Up Knowledge – Kids like to be armed with facts so a field guide or books from the library on rock topics can be a source of fueling a new interest in the topic. Finding a mentor in your local community that collects rocks or visiting a rock and gem show can be a huge help in generating a spark of interest in rocks and rock collecting.
¨ Start a Collection – A rock collection that contains both rocks from your nature walks and rocks you perhaps purchase from nature shops while on field trips or vacations will over time give your family a great reference tool. Keep track of where you find or purchase the rocks with labels either on the rock or in a boxed collection.
Look for the upcoming Outdoor Hour Challenge for calcite, limestone, and marble. Remember the thoughts above when you read through the challenge and see if you can find a way to make the study interesting and fun for your family.
Going on a fungus hunt is one of my favorite things to do! As I was planning this entry, I was so enthusiastic about it that I dropped everything and convinced my husband to go wandering in the woods with me to look for mushrooms. It had snowed a bit a few days before and it was cold as we hiked along, but we were rewarded with finding several different kinds of fungus to look at and take photos of for my nature journal.
If your family is new to mushroom hunts, you might want to give a little instruction ahead of time about whether you should touch or pick the mushrooms you find. As a rule, I don’t pick mushrooms but get down on my knees to look at them closely. I take a few photos and let them stay where they are as part of the habitat.
You can use this Outdoor Hour Challenge as a means of learning the different shapes of mushrooms. See this post from the archives that focuses on mushroom cap shapes: Mushroom Nature Study with Cap Printable.
Also, there is a new Fungi Photo Hunt printable activity in the Member’s Library if you’re interested in using that idea during your outdoor time this week.
If you have access to the ebook, there are two notebook pages to choose from for your nature journal.
Newsletter Resources: Members also have access to the two newsletters in the archives that feature fungus/mushroom studies: March 2013 and November 2016.
Alternate study: Within the lesson is the suggestion to read Lesson #198 in the Handbook of Nature Study on mushrooms. I would suggest using the lesson ideas from Lesson #198 to observe any fungi you find for this challenge.
If you don’t have a membership yet, click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 26 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
Now available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships:
1. Fungi Photo Hunt: Download and print this activity for your family to use as part of a fungi hunt. The suggestions on the printable will help guide your family on a fascinating and fun nature study featuring fungi of all kinds. Our family recently took a fungi hike and we found five different kinds to take photos of and we are anxious to go again soon!
2. Autumn Changes Notebook Page: Autumn is a perfect time for your family to get outside and note the changes you see and then follow up with a nature journal page. Autumn provides plenty of colorful and interesting things to observe and sketch for this notebook page.
(See the end of this post for more information on how you can become a member.)
Print a complete list of printables available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships by clicking the button above.
Members also have access to the Nature Planner pages in their library.
Print out this month’s page and use it to stimulate your weekly nature study time.
We had a rather large crop of prickly lettuce in our yard this summer, so I can say from firsthand experience that it’s an interesting topic for a nature study lesson. Do you have a child that likes to use a compass? The lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study suggests using your compass as part of your observation of the prickly lettuce plant.
The prickly lettuce is also a great subject for a lesson on thorns, spines, and prickles. Make sure to observe the prickles and talk about how this protects the plant from being eaten by animals.
If you don’t have a membership yet, click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 26 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
To refresh your memory, here’s a list of my nature study goals for the year 2020 along with our efforts towards reaching those goals.
Goal 1- Keep a nature journal. I shared earlier this year how my life has been full of so many unexpected responsibilities and this has impacted my ability to stay current with my nature journaling. But now that things have slowed down just a bit, I’m back on track to “catching up” with a lot of the pages I imagined creating when I was crazy busy with life. I’ve been sharing a few images of my nature journal pages on Instagram, but here are a couple that I hope inspire you in your efforts.
Goal 2 – Add to our backyard habitat. This really has been a focal point of our outdoor life in 2020. I’ve found such comfort in being outside digging in the ground and walking in the garden. We tackled a huge section of lawn and transformed it into a wildflower and sunflower garden that attracted birds, bees, butterflies, and toads over the summer and even now into the autumn. I’ll be sharing the process in future posts.
Here’s a short list of what we did to add to our wildlife garden so far in 2020.
Replaced grass with natives and wildflowers.
Planted bushes that have flowers for pollinators and berries for the birds to eat.
Added two crabapple trees.
Moved a bird bath where we could keep it full every day.
Added more nesting boxes – attracting swallows, western bluebirds, chickadees, and wrens.
Added more large rocks and moved a stump for shelter.
Goal 3 – Take local hikes. Using a local hiking guide, we’ve been on a couple exciting new hikes this summer. I really need to share blog entries for both (add them to my writing schedule). I must admit that at first, we were hesitant to get out and hike during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, once we gave it a try, we realized that we could safely be outdoors and for the most part we observed others being as cautious as we were by wearing masks and staying distanced.
Goal 4 – Make notes in my field guides. I find such joy in recording in my field guides the dates and places I observe subjects. The problem is that I don’t do this consistently, either because I don’t take the time, or I don’t have a pen to mark it down. So, I took a morning and paged through my wildflower field guide and at least made a check mark next to all the wildflowers I can remember seeing in real life. If I remembered where I saw the wildflower, I noted that as well. Now I am keeping a pen inside each of my field guides so there is no excuse for not keeping notes when the time comes.
Goal 5 – Continue to participate in Project Feederwatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count. We participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count back in February and we are eagerly waiting for November 14, 2020 when we start counting feeder birds again as part of Project Feederwatch.
Goal 6 – Visit a new national park. This sadly may be a goal we do not reach this year because of all the COVID-19 restrictions. We had a road trip all planned out for June 2020 to Olympic National Park (in Washington state) but we had to cancel all of those reservations. I’m not going to give up on those plans and since I have all my notes and itinerary still in my planner, I can easily book another trip when we can travel more freely and into Canada. Yes, our trip even included a jaunt up into British Columbia! Another change since making this goal is that we sold our rather large travel trailer. We may need to wait until we find a new smaller trailer that fits our needs as we ease our way into retirement.
All in all, I think we’ve done a pretty good job of working towards and reaching our nature study goals this year. I’ve now made a few notes in my planner to work on fully accomplishing the goals we can achieve by the end of the year.
Did you make goals for 2020? Were you able to reach some of them?
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Many families live in areas where you can readily find milkweed growing. Autumn is a fantastic season to start a milkweed study because the pods and seeds are so amazing and fascinating to most of us.
As an added bonus, the sample challenge from the More Nature Study – Autumn ebook is the milkweed study. You can take a look at what the challenge looks like in the ebook by downloading the sample.
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