Aug. 28, 2009
Outdoor Hour Challenge #2/Nature Walk 8-28-2009
We went to Beaver Lake after supper tonight so the kids could do some nature hiking. This is some of the stuff we found:
We are going to display some of our finds on a shelf in the living room with a magnifying glass.
The most beautiful thistle I've ever seen was obtained by my 10 yo dd, Snow Crystal. Isn't it gorgeous?
I'm especially pround of her drawing of it in her nature journal. This by a girl who usually ends up drawing people on our nature walks!
This cattail was a big hit with 5 yo DoraGirl and 2 yo Little Critter:
My dh snapped this shot of a dragonfly:
Doragirl decided to draw one of the many daisies that were abundantly decorating the paths:
11 yo Mountain Princess, on the other hand chose a "shrew" to put in her nature journal.
On our way home we discussed the things the children "heard" or "saw" or "smelled". It was cute to hear my two year old say "pone corn" for pine cone! The bigger girls talked about how they had observed the rings the water makes when you throw rocks in it, and how they tested the rate at which two things fall, no matter the weight... It was an unusually quiet night, but they found that if they took the time to listen they could observe much more.
I spent much of my time with my five year old dd. She at first wanted to draw the first clump of daisies that she found. I talked her into doing her observing first, which she did enjoy, although her mouth had a hard time keeping itself closed long enough to listen!
We did this activity as the second lesson of "The Outdoor Hour". If things go as plan, I hope to use Fridays as a time for doing more of these activities. If you aren't familiar with this program, you should go to http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/ and check it out. I'm really excited about some of the challenges she has put together for free for people to use along with Anna Comstock's Nature Study Handbook.
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