You never know what kids will do if given a little time to stretch their imaginations in nature.  For us not all nature study is organized.  Sometimes it's just all about play.  And in the process, they are exercising and growing their imaginations and sometimes they are even getting along and growing their relationships.

Sometimes logs become houses with walls made of sticks and even old walnut shells become cups and a dish.  And sometimes even acorns are eggs and bark can become bacon turned with a stick on a stove made of stones.

And of course I'll never miss a grand banquet with such delicious foods placed so carefully on a plate made of just the finest rocks on a table of wood.

And then on occasion we'll even allow a special something to be set up.  To us it may be just a tent, but to them it's a new world, palace, or secret hideout.

Or perhaps a secret sister's club!

For us it's not all about structure and lessons when spending time in nature, sometimes, some things are just more important.  Now, please excuse me, I must take my seat, my bacon and eggs are being served.

Shhhh.....listen closely, can you hear it?  Can you hear the wind blowing in the old oak?  Listen closer, how about the Mockingbird singing his heart out while sitting on the fence post, can you hear it?  And there's the serenade of the cicadas coming from the treetops, listen.

One of the most enjoyable things for my children and I to do is to just sit and listen to Nature.  Sometimes we hear lots, sometimes we hear a little, but we always hear something.  Through the seasons Nature's soundtrack changes, and it's interesting to observe the differences and take note.  In the Spring, it's the beautiful and uplifting melodies of the songbirds.  In the late Summer, it's the buzzing serenade of the Dog-Day Cicadas.  In the Fall, it's the rustling of leaves being blown about by the wind.  And in the Winter, there's the cracking of a falling branch or the crunching of the snow beneath your feet.

Being "in tune" with Nature creates an appreciation in our hearts for the diversity of God's Creation.  And helps to sharpen our observation skills while lending us peaceful moments.  Depending on the ages of your children, it's not always easy to convince them to listen, at least not for long periods of time.  But even just a few moments at a time are appreciated.  And then there are times that I take my walk, by myself, and just sit for long periods of time listening.  Such as today...

In such a hurried world, it felt so good to just sit and have my senses renewed.  A time when I stopped and thanked my Lord for the blessings in my life.  My kids see this too.

And don't forget that Nature's orchestra plays during the evening too.  Be sure to get outside when the nightlight stars appear and listen to the nocturnal chorus.  Frogs, toads, crickets all love to have an audience...we think it makes them play louder.

There's no doubt that everyone loves a neatly trimmed and manicured lawn.  One kept with grass and landscaped with beautiful store bought trees, shrubs and garden flowers.  But have you ever thought about what might grow in your yard if even just a small part is left to itself?

My husband has a gifted ability to make our landscaping around our home look wonderful, but he's also well aware of letting nature show off it's own landscaping abilities.  All around the bottom edges of our yard, right where our creek is and where it meets the woods, we allow about a 5-6 foot area to "grow wild".  This is where we've been blessed to be able to identify some of the most beautiful plants and wildflowers (see that patch of Black-Eyed Susans in the above photo?  That's where I got the photo for my blog banner!).  We've also observed countless cool-looking insects and have discovered little bird's nests perhaps built by Sparrows who prefer their nests down low to the ground.

And another thing that is really neat about God's natural landscaping, is that it changes through the days and seasons!  One week we may have Robin's Plantain growing and the next Chicory, it's always giving us a different view.

Around the base of trees is also a neat place to "let it grow".  There we may find different kinds of wildflowers and insects.  And we keep a few old logs and rocks around the bases of some of our trees just for those instances when we'd like to turn them over!

Even if your yard space is limited, perhaps you could spare just a very small area to let it grow wild.  Even in a small space, a new world awaits to be discovered!

"Can I keep him?" questions your nature-lovin' child.   He has just brought you his latest captive, and as always desires to not only give it a name, but also a new home.  This is a very familiar scenario in our home.  From roly-poly bugs to tree frogs, to crickets and katydids, my children would run a zoo if I let them!

I've been working hard lately to take every possible chance to make something an educational opportunity.  So if keeping the "new pet" is at all possible, we go for it!  Setting up an animal habitat is an excellent learning opportunity.  For us, it is certainly not a permanent thing; we usually keep them for maybe a week before releasing them back into their natural habitat.  A week is usually long enough for the kids to observe and learn and be ready to set their captives free!

And surprisingly, setting up habitats has been fairly easy, especially if you have older children.  My older ones are 11 and 9 years old, and I give them no more than slight directives to find what they need for setting up the habitat.  Even younger children can do this though with a little more assistance from Mom.  After a quick Google search of the internet I've always been able to find helpful instructions for setting up habitats.  I'll print those instructions out and hand-them over to my zookeeper trainees! 

Our latest pets have been a Field Cricket and a Crayfish (or Crawdad as we call em' here in Kentucky).  I unashamedly admit that I've been shocked at how well they've accomplished the task of setting up their habitats!

Crayfish Habitat (by Alex and His Friend Della)

They did a great job of reading about how the crayfish would love to have a place to hide in and under.

The thought the neatest thing they saw was when the crayfish changed from a dark brown/black to this translucent light color to camouflage itself on the pebbles!

Cricket Habitat (By Alex and Hannah)

I had previously purchased this 2.5 gallon aquarium with screen cover, but I'm sure using another plastic or glass container you may have around the house would work just fine too as long as it has a cover and adequate air holes.

The neatest thing they learned when setting up this habitat is that you cannot put a container of water in it, or they will fall in and drown!  So they used a cotton ball soaked in water and placed in a water bottle cap (see above).

Not only are the children getting a lesson on the needs for an animal's habitat, but also in the care of keeping the habitat (my kids are responsible for tending to their daily needs).  And also, during our regular school year, I always try to incorporate it into our regular teaching time (nature journal entries, new spelling/vocabulary words, writing about it, etc.).  My kids are so much more happy to do some of their regular studies this way!

So the next time you hear, "Can we keep it?"  If at all possible say "Yes!"  And consider it a teaching and learning opportunity. 

Cricket Habitat Instructions

Crayfish Habitat Instructions

Before I fell head over heels in love with nature, mud was a "dirty word."  Literally!  Mud on the walls, mud on the floors, mud on clothes, all invoked a gasp of terror from me.  But, like everything else in nature, I've learned to appreciate, yes, even mud.  Do you remember as a child taking your shoes off and squishing your feet in the mud?  How cool and refreshing that was on a hot summer day!  To my mother's dismay, never once was there a care or concern about getting my clothes muddy.

"This is a material that provides children with a rich range of sensations and opportunities for play.  Mud is just good, clean soil, easily washed off and harmless, yet many parents shudder at the thought of their precious children becoming mudlarks.  Relax.  Every once in a while there is no harm in letting children wear their oldest clothes and get well and truly stuck in it."

- from Nature's Playground, by Fiona Danks and Joe Schofield

Just recently Hannah came carrying inside her latest mud creations - Mr. and Mrs. Mud and Baby Mud (see photo above).  She, being my artsy one, has created numerous works of art from mud.  She proceeded out to the back deck and found a perfect little decorative birdhouse for the Mud Family to live in!  I especially loved the special touch on Baby Mud of the white clover picked for Mama Mud!

So my simple backyard nature tip for today is to encourage, not discourage, an occasional tromp in the mud, perhaps even take your shoes off and enjoy the coolness!  And, if it doesn't happen naturally (which it probably will!), show them how they can have fun making a little mud art using mud and other materials in nature; and/or bring along some molds and tools such as old plastic bowls and cups and plastic utensils.

I just happen to live around an area where mud is usually not hard to find, especially this year when it's been quite rainy.  However, if your backyard is covered in it's entirety with grass, consider digging up a small box area just for dirt and mud play.  Or use an old sandbox to fill with dirt.  If the rain's holding out, get out the garden hose and make some mud!

How could we discount the need to "get our hands" into creating something from something such as mud/clay which is quite moldable and fun to work with?  In attempts to make this need cleaner, human beings have created such things as Playdoh and the like.  But... my kids seem to still prefer to create and be inspired by using God's natural creation in mud!

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."

~ Genesis 2:7