Enjoy these preschool printables alongside our Delightful Preschool Homeschool Nature Study Curriculum!
Do you like the idea of involving young children in nature study but not sure how to start? Do you need a little help being intentional with your nature studies? Nature Study Printables is full of printable tools for you to use to get young children observing and talking about nature!
Nature Study Printables For Toddlers And Preschoolers: An Overview
Nature Study Printables for Toddlers and Preschoolers is a 60+ page eBook containing all of our toddler and preschool nature study printables plus 20 exclusive pages available only in this book! Use these tools to help informally introduce young children to the natural world around them.
Table of Contents:
*Debunking Preschool Science Myths *Neighborhood Nature Walks with Young Children *10 Tips for Studying Nature with Toddlers and Preschoolers *Printable I Spy Cards
Animal Edition
Spring Edition
Garden Edition
Fall Edition
Winter Edition
*Printable Nature Booklets
Ants
Butterflies
Fish
Worms
Nature
Frogs
Ladybugs
F.A.Q.’s About Nature Study Printables For Toddlers And Preschoolers
Copypaper and cardstock. Basic supplies such as binoculars and a magnifying glass are fun tools to have on hand but are not necessary. If you don’t have frogs, butterflies, ants, worms, or ladybugs on hand to observe there are kits available for purchase.
How do you make the preschool nature journals?
How to make easy preschool science nature journals.
Fun Preschool Learning in Homeschool Nature Study Membership
Enjoy relaxed preschool nature study plans for your homeschool with nature table suggestions, simple nature study activities, field trip ideas, images to print, coloring pages, and so much more. What a privilege to introduce children to the glorious world God created!
Have children eager to be outside? You can think of the earliest years outdoors with your children as the way to grow a love and curiosity about the natural world. This habit develops gradually over their childhood. The earlier you start building a habit of nature study in your family, the easier it will be to encourage children to be engaged in nature study.
By Maureen Spell, a long-time contributor to the Outdoor Hour Challenges.Maureen helps Christian mompreneurs operate their business from a place of joy, purpose, and excellence because they are clear on how their business is serving their family and others. As a homeschool mom, she believes success at home AND business without the mom-guilt, stress and burn-out is possible! Outside of work, she loves having good conversations over a hot chai or GT Gingerberry kombucha and spending time with her husband and seven children. Visit her at MaureenSpell.com
This guide has everything you need for camping activities for kids. Includes ideas for preschool through high school.
Family Camping Activities for All Ages
You might want to start with the super simple ideas in our Backyard Camping: Fun for the Whole Family! If you have been reluctant to try camping, this is an easy way to test it out with your family closer to home. You may just end up liking it! Who knows where you will take your tent next? Make memories together that will last a lifetime.
S’mores are another natural start to family camping activities. Roasting marshmallows around the campfire is an experience we all need to check off our summer bucket list. Find an easy s’mores recipe here.
One fun family camping activity for kids is to plan a picnic! Even a snack in your backyard will make for a fun time together outdoors. You will be surprised at all you notice while you are outside.
Keeping your running Calendar of Firsts updated – mark the first campfire of the season and any other camping discoveries in your nature journal.
If you are camping towards the end of summer, you might enjoy this fun Last Days of Summer printable and have fun checking off the items!
Of course, camping in the backyard is fun but here are some ideas for nature study while you travel for your camping adventures.
You might want to take along the book, Last Child in the Woods, to read while you are camping!
And if you’d like to skip the mosquitoes all together, consider Online Summer Art Camp with our sister site, You ARE an ARTiST, for some really fun activities including a treasure map, a camp song, your own backyard tent site and campfire.
The Curriculum Choice also has a great round up of summer camp fun for your family.
Enjoy a family homeschool river study finding crawdads and crayfish!
Have a creek near by? What a great way to make memories together. This study is part of Homeschool Nature Study membership and is so much fun!
Camping Activities For Kids: Toddlers and Preschoolers
This summer, many families will be joining the Great American Backyard Campout. In honor of that event, I thought I’d share some toddler and preschool camping activities you can do camping at a camp ground or in your own backyard. Here are five toddler and preschool camping activities to keep your kids exploring and entertained:
Even my 19mo. old was able to join in our treasure quest. She was quite proud of all the rocks she found.
1. Nature Walks and Nature Treasure Hunts
Sometimes we use our printable Nature I Spy cards when on our hikes, or we have a certain object that is the “treasure” of the walk that we must find. On this particular walk we were looking for rock and sea shell treasures (Be sure to know the rules of the campground and whether or not you can remove items found in nature.) Find printable Nature I Spy cards in Homeschool Nature Study membership.
My 3yr. old was thrilled whenever she found a shell. It’s not every day that we find shells in the Midwest.
2. Nature Crafts: Create Nature Sculptures
Now I had a specific purpose in mind when we went on our various treasure hunts. We were going to use these nature treasure to make nature sculptures.
I made a batch of lavender playdough ahead of time and brought it with. The girls used this to make various sculptures and imprints of the objects they had collected on our nature walks. For the lavender playdough recipe, check out Sun Hats & Wellies post on making natural nature playdough.
3. Outdoor Games For Kids: Rock Memory Game
My 19mo. old was so good at collecting rocks that we had enough to make our own rock memory game!
I just used a Sharpie marker to make simple designs on the rocks and flipped them over for an easy game of memory!
4. Bandana Bingo
I found these Bandana Bingo games a few years ago and love how easy they are to carry along on a hike or camping. We own Bug Bingo, but there are other boards available. This is fun to play in teams and see who can find the most items on the grid.
5. Camping Clipboards
Each of my children have their own clipboard (afflink) that stores paper and pencils. I fill these clipboards with blank paper, some printed activities such as the nocturnal animals sort, and a couple of pencils. Sometimes they draw their nature treasures, do tree bark rubbings, or just doodle. They love their clipboards and I’m thankful for a quiet sitting activity that they can do.
Camping Activities for Older Children
Oregon Camping – some beautiful tidal pools, beach and trees to explore!
Homeschool Nature Study Printables for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Do you like the idea of involving young children in nature study but not sure how to start? Do you need a little help being intentional with your nature studies? Nature Study Printables is full of printable tools for you to use to get young children observing and talking about nature!
Nature Study Printables for Toddlers and Preschoolers is a 60+ page eBook included in Homeschool Nature Study Membership containing all of our toddler and preschool nature study printables plus 20 exclusive pages available only in this book! Use these tools alongside Homeschool Nature Study Preschool Curriculum to help informally introduce young children to the natural world around them.
Homeschool Nature Study Membership
Join us for even more homeschool nature studies for all the seasons! With a new nature study each week, you will have joyful learning leading all the way through the homeschool year for all your ages!
Do you have any family camping or camping with toddlers and preschoolers tips? Will you be doing a backyard campout this year?
By Maureen Spell, a long-time contributor to the Outdoor Hour Challenges.Maureen helps Christian mompreneurs operate their business from a place of joy, purpose, and excellence because they are clear on how their business is serving their family and others. As a homeschool mom, she believes success at home AND business without the mom-guilt, stress and burn-out is possible! Outside of work, she loves having good conversations over a hot chai or GT Gingerberry kombucha and spending time with her husband and seven children. Visit her at MaureenSpell.com
Backyard Camping with The Great American Backyard Campout
Each year, The National Wildlife Federation sponsors the Great American Backyard Campout and you are invited. From their website,”Spend the night under the stars with National Wildlife Federation and take your family’s first step into a lifetime filled with healthy, outdoor fun.”
If you have been reluctant to try camping, this is an easy way to test it out with your family closer to home. You may just end up liking it! Who knows where you will take your tent next?
I know that sleeping outdoors can seem scary and unfamiliar but overcoming the fear of being outside at night is worth the effort. You will realize there are some amazing things going on between sunset and sunrise right in your own backyard!
Combine nature study with an overnight backyard campout and you will build family memories that last a lifetime.
Nature Study Ideas from the Outdoor Hour Challenge for Backyard Camping Fun
Stars and Moon (winter study you can adapt – Winter Curriculum)
Sounds (Summer Curriculum)
Night Blooming Flowers (Summer Curriculum)
Pick a challenge, read the pages in the Handbook of Nature Study, and then look for an opportunity to apply what you learned. Keep it fun and always, always, always follow your child’s lead if they find something they are interested in. You can follow up with a library book or a Google search in the morning.
Bring a few art supplies outdoors and your nature journal so you are prepared if you find something of interest. If you have a nature related storybook or a favorite outdoor adventure book, bring it out for some after dark reading with a flashlight.
More than anything else, be aware of your surroundings and use all your senses, when you can’t rely on your vision…listen, feel, and smell the nighttime in your backyard. Try to spend a few minutes just sitting quietly in the dark if your children are able and see what you notice. Even a few seconds of quiet is good for younger children.
Summer Nature Study with Homeschool Nature Study Membership
Join us for even more homeschool nature studies for all the seasons! With a new nature study each week, you will have joyful learning leading all the way through the homeschool year for all your ages!
Try an Outdoor Hour Challenge at night! With the warmer evening temperatures and longer twilight hours of summer, your family can enjoy a few nighttime nature study activities. The list below is just a taste of the opportunities you can create for learning about the natural world right in your own backyard.
More than anything else, be aware of your surroundings and use all your senses. When you can’t rely on your vision…listen, feel, and smell the nighttime in your backyard. Try to spend a few minutes just sitting quietly in the dark if your children are able and see what you notice. Even a few seconds of quiet is good for younger children.
Homeschool Nature Study Members: Download and complete the My Backyard at Night Notebook Page after your nighttime nature study.
Discover Nature at Sundown: Great Resource for Summer Nature Study
Wondering about the summer nature study book, Discover Nature at Sundown? This helpful review includes a fantastic idea (and free printable!) for families to take a nature walk in the evenings. Find out more about Discover Nature at Sundown.
A Spectacular Night Sky Nature Study for Your Summer Homeschool
Take some time this next week to get outside at night and enjoy a beautiful night sky homeschool nature study. Allow plenty of time for your eyes to adjust to the darkness and just enjoy gazing up at the heavens. Use some of these suggestions to get started with some simple night sky observations. Get your free Night Observations Printable HERE!
More Fun Summer Learning for Your Family
Summer is a perfect opportunity to mix up learning opportunities. Enjoy these summer nature studies as well:
We invite you to check out membership here at Homeschool Nature Study and Bring the Handbook of Nature Study to Life in Your Homeschool. The benefits of a membership are numerous including 26+ courses, printable curriculum and dozens of printable nature journal pages and activities.
Wondering about the summer nature study book, Discover Nature at Sundown? This helpful review includes a fantastic idea (and free printable!) for families to take a nature walk in the evenings.
Discover Nature at Sundown: Family Summer Nature Study
Discover Nature at Sundown by Elizabeth P. Lawlor is a book that our family has used for many years. When my children were younger, we would pull it off the shelf every summer to use as a reference and as a source of nature study ideas.
Our Summer Nature Study Curriculum features Discover Nature at Sundown and its topics, which you can find referenced below (Summer Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges).
Main Topics in Discover Nature at Sundown
Here are some of the many topics you can enjoy in your summer nature study:
owls
frogs
moths
fireflies
bats
opossums
raccoons
and skunks
There’s a little something for everyone’s taste! Dissect an owl pellet, try to entice moths to your nature hike, chase a firefly, listen for crickets, or hunt for traces of raccoons and opossums. My strategy was always to complete an entire in-depth study from this book each summer. Over time, your family will have covered a lot of interesting topics in a relaxed and enjoyable way.
Great Ideas for Summer Nature Journaling
For those of you that keep nature journals, you’ll be happy to note that the illustrations and charts are all very well done and our family would often copy them into our nature journals for future reference. The black and white line drawings are simple enough to inspire even the most reluctant nature journaler.
The ideas in this book will help you use your senses during your nature study to learn more about each of the topics. These skills are so useful in all scientific study but especially so for nature study. Plus, using all your senses is lots of fun! The book will help you with ideas for honing these skills and explain how we can enhance our natural senses.
Take a Sunset Nature Walk – A Fun Way to Work on Using Our Senses
Summer evenings are a cooler time of day for getting outside with your children. The after dinner hours are still light enough that taking a nature walk is a possibility.
You could go on a dinner picnic at a lake and then take a long walk in the evening air. There will still be plenty of things to observe, including a delightful sunset, the chirping of crickets, the song of the robin, the breeze in the treetops, and the buzz of mosquitoes.
Your nature walk doesn’t need to be a long one and you can adjust the time of day and length to fit your particular family. For a first outing, plan on 15-20 minutes and then see how it goes. If you can encourage your children to walk silently, even for just a minute, they are going to get more out of the experience. As your children are able, try to spend longer periods of silence as you listen for any signs of life during your outdoor time.
Take a Nature Hike at Sundown Printable
This printable is also available to Homeschool Nature Study members in your Summer course. Please be sure to share photos of your sunset walk and tag us on Instagram @outdoorhourchallenge
Summer Nature Study in Homeschool Nature Study Membership
Join us for even more homeschool nature studies for all the seasons! With a new nature study each week, you will have joyful learning leading all the way through the homeschool year for all your ages!
“One afternoon a week, the students in our ‘Practicing School’ [taught by the student teachers at Charlotte Mason’s teacher’s college] go for a ‘nature walk’ with their teacher. They notice things by themselves, and the teacher tells them the name or gives other information only if they ask for it.”
“The teachers are careful not to turn these nature walks into an opportunity to give science lessons, because they want the children’s attention to be focused on their own observations.”
“They’re allowed to notice things with very little direction from the teacher. By doing this, children accumulate a good collection of ‘common knowledge.’ ”
Homeschool Nature Study in Your Own Backyard – There is such freedom in homeschool nature study in your own backyard and in learning what is closest to home! In your own backyard, your children will learn to observe, to write about their experiences, to draw their treasures, to be patient, to imagine, and to explore. You don’t need a special textbook or kit to get started.
5 Getting Started in Nature Study Tips – What a delight nature study learning is and what joys you will discover outside your back door. We will help you with simple encouragement along the way.
June Nature Study Activities
Cicada Nature Study – This cicada homeschool nature study will be a lesson in learning to listen and distinguish the sound of the cicada. In the past we’ve listened in the evenings for other insects like the cricket. Now we’re going to learn about the cicada by listening and observing like investigators during the daylight.
Day Hikes Near Home – I realized over time that we didn’t need to travel far to find places to go on short notice or even for a half day’s hike. I loved being able to roll out of bed, decide to go on a hike, and be out the door in a short period of time. So, how did I overcome the dilemma of finding places to hike near our home?
Study Nature as You Travel This Summer – If you are planning a trip to a natural area to enjoy the outdoors, you may want to include nature study for your summer travel plans. Implement some of the ideas below to enhance your outdoor time.
FUN Summer Nature Study Photo Challenge! Enjoy a fun summer nature study photo challenge plus first day of summer ideas! I don’t know about you but I’m so very ready for the summer season! The most noticeable change is the amount of daylight. The sun is up early and it lingers in the evenings.
Beautiful Lupine Wildflower Nature Study – Enjoy a beautiful lupine wildflower nature study for your homeschool! Don’t miss the free lupine resource download and the free event!
Keeping a Nature Journal Review – Keeping a Nature Journal is a great homeschool nature study resource and contains a wealth of ideas that you can pick and choose to use as inspiration. This book is a tool like so many other tools we use in our family’s nature study.
For even more homeschool nature study ideas, join us in Homeschool Nature Study membership! You’ll receive new ideas each and every week that require little or no prep – all bringing the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool!
Enjoy all of these and more in homeschool nature study membership:
Victoria shares this really fun nature craft! “Summer is nearly upon us but the odd rain shower still hangs around, so now is the best time to make these little nature boats. Float them on a puddle after a summer rainfall, send them drifting across a pond or sailing down stream. these little nature boats will bring copious amounts of joy to a summers day.”
How to Make a Dandelion Crown Nature Craft
We are weeks away from Summer and the hedgerows and fields are glowing with dandelions, so now is the time to make dandelion crowns. One of the best uses for dandelions (there are MANY) is to create bright golden crowns to adorn our heads.
The Outdoor Homeschool Mom in June
This June, be encouraged by Shirley with all of her lovely Outdoor Mom prompts! Shirley shares, “So this summer I want to encourage you to take lots of walks. Eat lots of picnics outdoors. Take your shoes off and paddle in cool streams with your children. Lie down in flower-filled meadows looking up at the blue skies and find shapes in the clouds. Take time to plan a long, slow, purposeful summer with your families.”
Enjoy these tips for a conglomerate rock nature study and have fun hunting for them on your next nature walk.
Conglomerate rock is a sedimentary rock that contains large rounded particles. The rock particles are stuck together with sand that filled in the spaces. There can be many different colors of conglomerate rock depending on the color of the gravel and sand where the rock was formed. Colorful conglomerates may be called “puddingstones”.
Tips for a Conglomerate Rock Nature Study
We were able to find some awesome specimens of conglomerate rock during our trip to Oregon. Actually, my son found the one below and my husband found the one above. I told them what I was looking for and I was shocked they found two so very different from each other.
You can look for conglomerates in rivers, ocean beaches, or even in dry rocky desert areas where there used to be water.
Rock Cycle Activities for Middle and High School
An introduction to geology with rock cycle activities for middle and high school. This is a great homeschool nature study and a simple way to explore rocks as a nature study in your own backyard!
Note To the Parent: There is a lot of great information in this study, far more than can be covered in a week. Use this study as an introduction to geology as it relates to nature study in your own backyard or neighborhood. Read the information in the Handbook of Nature Study and share any facts or ideas with your child that make sense to you. Keep it simple. (includes an interactive rock cycle!): Rock Cycle Activities for Middle and High School
Follow-Up Rock Activities For Your Homeschool:
Choose one of the rocks you collected outdoors and look at it closely using a hand lens. If you collected some granite, can you distinguish the various components? Record your observations in your nature journal.
Advanced study: Diagram and describe the rock cycle in your nature journal.
Advanced study: Use your observation skills and record your information in your nature journal. Use a rock identification key to identify your igneous rock.
All three of my sons enjoy digital photography to capture our time outdoors.
A love of the natural world does not come automatically for all children and sometimes we need to find a way to hook them into getting outdoors. We live in a world of “wired” children….they have a lot of screen time each week as part of their normal routines. How do we get these children to move from their indoor screen to one that they can take outdoors?
My teens both had cameras on last year’s trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons. They took amazing images.
The Benefits of Digital Photography in Nature Study
It slows them down.
Helps them focus and really see an object.
Everyday things in their own backyard can now be captured and viewed.
They can see the beauty.
They make their own connections.
Perfect for our teens…they are comfortable with the technology and love to share with their friends.
Technology in the Natural World
Would Anna Botsford Comstock and Charlotte Mason have approved of this use of technology in the natural world? I think they would have accepted that sometimes we need to help our children make connections in a way that is comfortable to them. If our 21st Century children are using technology on a regular basis, they are going to find it an easier transition to move from inside screen time to outside time with the aid of a digital camera.
Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge insect study and a digital camera might be just the invitation your child needs to get started on their own outdoor experiences this month. You don’t need to travel far to capture great images with your digital camera…your own backyard will reveal some interesting subjects for even the youngest photographer.
One of Mr. D’s calendar images.
I have encouraged my children to take digital photos for a long time now. This past summer, I challenged my oldest son to capture six images for next year’s family calendar. He blew me away with his nature photography! They are all stunning….I shared one of the photos above.
At some point we can hope that the technology is put away and our children just enjoy being outside but don’t overlook the power of digital photography to get your kids outside and exploring.
You can plan a simple outdoor picnic with the benefit of homeschool nature study! Even a snack in your backyard will make for a fun time together outdoors. You will be surprised at all you notice while you are outside.
“..by beginning with the child in nature-study we take him to the laboratory of the wood or garden, the roadside or the field, and his materials are the wild flowers or the weeds, or the insects that visit the goldenrod or the bird that sings in the maple tree, or the woodchuck whistling in the pasture.”
Picnics don’t need to be fancy. Wrap up a sandwich in a cloth napkin, grab a piece of fruit, and some water and you are set. Venture outside even if it is only to your own yard to sit on a blanket and enjoy your lunch. Afterwards you can make time for a short period of nature study.
I love eating outside with my family, especially in the summertime. This week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge encourages you to share a meal outside with your children. Keep it simple as far as food selections and location. Even if all you do is put a few things in a bag, grab a blanket, and then spread it all out on your own backyard lawn, I’m sure you and your children will enjoy the fresh air and the time spent outdoors sharing a meal.
Our family looks back fondly on the meals we shared outside in the summertime on our back deck. It made us slow down a bit and take notice of the things that happen outside like clouds floating by, birds chirping, and trees swaying in the breeze. We watched loads of sunsets and I remember a few times being sprinkled on by a passing late afternoon thunderstorm.
Our family eats dinner outside every night from June to September….longer if the weather allows. We have arranged our patio table under a canopy and the citronella candles are always kept nearby. We have a tree that the hummingbirds sip nectar from in the dusk hours and after our meal we sit and observe their dinnertime.
“…When the weather is warm, why not eat breakfast and lunch outside?…Besides the benefit of an added hour or two of fresh air, meals eaten outside are often delightful, and there’s nothing like happiness to convert food and drink into healthy blood and bodies.“
Charlotte Mason, Outdoor Life pg 43
Summer Nature Study Tip
Purchase some inexpensive, unbreakable dinnerware and reusable utensils. Make sure you have a small ice chest and some cooler packs to pop into your freezer. Gather a blanket or camping chairs to leave in your garage for those last minute excursions to the park for a picnic. Make sure to bring your nature journal and some pencils so you can create a nature journal page if the opportunity arises during or after your picnic.
Outdoor Hour Challenge Picnic
1. The challenge is to have a picnic. No need to go far or to even have a picnic table. Food always tastes better outside and if you don’t want to commit to a whole lunch, why not just a snack?
After you eat, sit and listen to the sounds of the spring.
“Given the power of nature to calm and soothe us in our hurried lives, it also would be interesting to study how a family’s connection to nature influences the general quality of family relationships. Speaking from personal experience, my own family’s relationships have been nourished over the years through shared experiences in nature-from sharing our toddler’s wonder upon turning over a rock and discovering a magnificent bug the size of a mouse, to paddling our old canoe down a nearby creek during the children’s school years, to hiking the mountains.”
2. After your picnic, spend 10-15 minutes observing your surroundings. Add anything new to your list of items observed in your focus area that you are keeping in your nature journal. Make note of any additional research that needs to be done for things your child is interested in. Make a journal entry if you wish.
This challenge is found in the Getting Started ebook which is included in Homeschool Nature Study membership. The ebook provides the challenge as shown above as well as custom notebook pages for your follow up nature journal if desired.
Homeschool Nature Study MembersHave Great Resources at Your Fingertips
Consider working through the first three Outdoor Hour Challenges in the Getting Started ebook. These three challenges can help build your nature study habit. I highly recommend following the suggestions for reading in the Handbook of Nature Study that go along with those challenges. The words expressed in those readings include timeless advice to parents about the value of regular nature study close to home. Make sure to have the printable nature journal pages bookmarked in case your child is ready to create a record of their Outdoor Hour Challenge.
#1 Let’s Get Started #2 Using Your Words #3 Now Is The Time To Draw
Look for the Outdoor Hour Challenge Planning Pages printable in the Planning Resources course. Use these pages to make a rough plan for your nature study.
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.
Nature Study Encouragement for Your Outdoor Hour Family Time
Before you begin homeschool garden activities, enjoy these ideas for getting outdoors with your family.
Nature Study in Ripples: Simple Ways to Study Nature
Simple Ways to Study Nature – Here are some simple ways to study nature in your homeschool. Start in your own yard then let your discoveries grow out like ripples in a pond.
“Nature study is, despite all discussions and perversions, a study of nature; it consists of simple, truthful observations that may, like beads on a string, finally be threaded upon the understanding and thus held together as a logical and harmonious whole.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 1
99 Homeschool Nature Study Ideas to Get Your Family Outside
Homeschool Garden Activities Perfect for May Nature Studies
“A child who makes a garden, and then becomes intimate with the plants he cultivates, and comes to understand the interrelation of the various forms of life which he finds in his garden, has progressed far in the fundamental knowledge of nature’s ways as well as in a practical knowledge of agriculture.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 20 in the section “Gardening and nature Study”
Here are some great nature study ideas for your May homeschool!
Garden and Wildflower Nature Studies with the Outdoor Hour Challenges
You can enjoy a simple garden and wildflowers homeschool nature study with these resources we have gathered for you to use in your own backyard. It is such a delight to study and learn about a garden and the beauty of wildflowers!
Make a Wagon Garden
For this particular garden, I have a rusty old Red Flyer wagon that has wheels that no longer turn…How to Make a Wagon Garden.
World Turtle Day Nature Activities
Turtle Nature Study for Your Homeschool – Learn about pond life, pondweed and a pond habitat with this fun turtle nature study for your homeschool. Includes activities for learning about tortoises and microscopic pond life too.
Mammals: Goat Nature Study
This goat homeschool nature study is packed with fun from fainting goats to advanced mammal studies! Bring the Handbook of Nature Study to Life in your homeschool! Here’s a peek at what you can expect to enjoy in this Outdoor Hour Challenge for Homeschool Nature Study members.
Butterfly Nature Study: How to Make a Butterfly Puddle
Over the years, I’ve observed butterflies along hiking trails in the muddy edges. There will sometimes be 10 or 12 butterflies sitting on the mud slowly opening and closing their wings. This behavior fascinated me! After a little research on the internet, I discovered that butterflies are attracted to mud puddles for not only the moisture but the minerals and salts that are present in the mud. Learn How to Make a Butterfly Puddle!
Homeschool Garden Activities: The Great Sunflower Project
What is the Great Sunflower Project? This is a citizen science activity that you can participate in with your children. If you can grow a sunflower (or selected other flowers), you can join the project with just a few minutes invested later this summer.
Beautiful Queen Anne’s Lace Wildflower Nature Study
Our family made great memories together one year while noticing and studying Queen Anne’s lace throughout the seasons. Enjoy this beautiful Queen Anne’s lace nature study for your homeschool and see what you notice in each season too!
Charlotte Mason Nature Study: Simple Ideas for Wildflowers
These timeless Charlotte Mason nature study ideas are as relevant today as when they were written and I’m forever grateful for the encouragement these gave me when I was a new homeschooler.
Gathering Things for Your Nature Table
Unsure of what a nature table is exactly? Here is a simple definition with some ideas and tips. These will help you begin the habit of gathering things for your homeschool nature table during your Outdoor Hour Challenge time.
Plan a Picnic
You can plan a simple outdoor picnic with the benefit of homeschool nature study! Even a snack in your backyard will make for a fun time together outdoors. You will be surprised at all you notice while you are outside.
The Ultimate Guide to National Parks Nature Study
Ready to enjoy a trip to a national park? Use this guide to national parks nature study for your homeschool and enjoy nature study learning while you explore the great outdoors!
More Homeschool Garden Learning
Gardening in Your Homeschool – As the plant world comes alive again in springtime, what better way to teach our children about nature, food, hands-on history, and practical skills than by gardening? Whether we do a formal study or make gardening a purely hands-on project, our children will learn with a homeschool garden.
Get Them Gardening! Fun Garden Books for Kids – As spring starts to roll in, we turn our thoughts to finally getting outside and enjoying the nice weather. Along with this comes budding trees and growing plants, and gardening both for food and flowers. This collection of garden books for kids will help you include gardening in your homeschool.
12 Delightful Farm Activities for Kids – These 12 delightful farm art activities for kids include fluffy baby chicks, a tractor, a barn, ducklings, a lamb, a cow, a piglet and even the chicken life cycle. Such fun learning for your homeschool!
More Nature Study Ideas for Your May Homeschool
Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story – Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story is a beautiful picture book biography about the author of The Handbook of Nature Study. Anna Botsford Comstock was passionate about children getting out of the classroom and into nature to learn first hand about our beautiful world.
3 Tips for Nature Journaling When You Think You Can’t Sketch – Here is some encouragement for you with 3 tips for nature journaling when you think you can’t sketch. My personal nature journal is a source of great joy and it gives me such pleasure to create pages that record my observations and memories of a particular day, excursion, or season.
How Nature Study Enriches Your High School Biology in Your Homeschool – Just how to include homeschool nature study as part of high school biology? Here you will find a break down of nature study suggestions and accompanying resources for each module of your homeschool biology lessons. I really think it depends on the family and how much nature study you have time to fit in with your high school age children.
Flower and Gardening Activities and Notebook Pages
Learning leaf parts
Poppies and buttercups
Ferns
Looking for pollen
Pressing flowers
How to draw flowers
Learning flower parts and dissection of flowers
The garden snail
Garden Seed Ideas
Coronation Crown Nature Craft for Annual Homeschool Nature Study Members
Victoria Vels shares, “May’s nature craft has landed for our lovely members and we’re feeling rather patriotic with these stunning Nature Coronation Crowns, just in time for the crowning of King Charles II.”
You will find hundreds of homeschool nature studies plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!
Outdoor Mom Encouragement for Annual Homeschool Nature Study Members
The Outdoor Mom in May Helps Us Refocus
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to attend your own business and work with your hands –
1 Thessalonians 4:11
It reminds me to re-focus my goals and ambitions so that they align with God’s will rather than my own, often more worldly, ambitions.
This verse grounds me. When I put this verse into action in practical ways in my everyday life I find that life slows down and I have enough head space to allow my thoughts to centre on what is important.
The May Outdoor Mom includes:
Choosing a journaling spot
10 (!) May nature prompts for outdoors, for journaling and for either the seashore or mountains
Ideas for working with your hands
Six ideas for making the ordinary extraordinary – including planting a kitchen garden!
