July's meeting was less of a nature day and more a celebration of water.  We had a water field day!  Each of the moms brought a water game or two which turned out to be tons of fun. 

Let's see, the kids played a relay carrying containers of water on their heads, a sponge and bucket relay, and competed in a water obstacle course.  They had to try to keep water in their cups while jumping rope ten times, and they had a water balloon launching contest.  They also had a frozen t-shirt contest, trying to be the first to thaw and put on a wet t-shirt that had been folded and frozen solid.  And apparently, it doesn't matter where the water is, kids will jump in and have fun (see the cow watering container below.  It was clean!)  Here are a few pictures from the day.

And look!  My friend, MonkeyX4, brought me a whole box of cucumbers since we haven't been having any luck with them this year.  I was able to can 14 quarts of dill pickles this morning!  Thank you, D!!

Our Creation Club (nature club) is going really well.  The kids are having fun and seem to be learning so much.  We get to learn outside and, if nothing else, that sparks great enthusiasm for the activities.  :)

During the nature workshop at the CHEK convention, I talked about some of the resources I use for choosing activities during our club meetings.  I forgot to add a few of those resources to the workshop handout, so I promised I'd post them here.

The book that got the ball rolling for the club is the Creation Club Idea Book.  In it are all sorts of ideas for particular broad themes in nature.  You will find Bible references, active games, craft ideas and more.

During our club, though, I typically try to focus in on one or two aspects within a broad theme.  For instance, instead of a study on water, we studied ponds.  In fact, we even limited that study to life around a pond and just within the water's edges.  Because the Creation Club Idea Book's themes are broad, I use other resources to round out a particular study's focus.

Of course, the #1 resource is the internet.  I'm amazed at the worksheets, diagrams, activity ideas and information that pops up when I do a quick search of the topic!

The #2 resource is the library.  Depending on the topic, I've found all sorts of activity books and information books that fit the bill perfectly.

Below are some other books I've found useful for adding activities that are suitable for groups.

• Nature Crafts for Kids 
• Science Crafts for Kids
• AIMS education books (Activities in Math and Science)
• Project Wild activities 
• Project Learning Tree Activities
• Creek Stompin' and Gettin' Into Nature
• Considering God's Creation
• Janice van Cleave books

I'd LOVE to hear about a nature club that you start.  If you already take part in a nature club, I'd love to hear about that, too!

FYI - I'm working on another post to answer some MSG questions and pass along a few recipes.  I probably won't be able to complete it until next week sometime, so stay tuned.  I've really appreciated those of you who have shared - even the ones who disagree with me about MSG's overall negative effect in our food supply.  ;)

Yep, we're still as busy as beavers around here!  I thought I'd stop in for a few minutes to show you some of the fun from our Creation Club this month.....

We met at the local cemetery.  Cemeteries are wonderful for nature study!  Typically, they have a huge variety of trees, shrubs, fungi, weathering and even critters to be found.  With tweezers and baggies in hand, the kids' first job was to go on a Tweezer Trek.  Basically, they were asked to collect anything and everything nature related that they could pick up with tweezers.  We had a show-n-tell time and studied a few things under the magnifying glasses.

The next activity was to dissect flowers.  Thanks to a couple local nurseries, we had an abundance of flowers to use.  Apologia's Exploring Creation with Botany has a wonderful flower dissection tutorial that we went through.  Before digging in, though, we read The Reason For a Flower and labeled a flower diagram.  As you can see, our little botanists were very serious about their dissection and recording what they had found.

Here are a few great sites to go along with flower dissection...

Virtual Flower Dissection

Color Photos of Flower Parts

Flower Dissection Lab Activity

Okay, one last post before my blog vacation!  ;)  .......

Below is a call for submissions to an E-Book on Creative Nature Study that I'm putting together for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  It's going to be a compilation of wonderful ideas that have sparked nature study time for real moms!!  (Believe me, it's going to be good -  there are already several contributors whose ideas are outstanding!)  If you've ever wanted to "have your name in lights" or just have an awesome idea for nature study that you'd like to contribute, now's your chance!  (If the staff  - not me - at TOS approves your idea, not only will your writing be included in the book, but you'll have a chance to include your bio as well.  This could mean more exposure to your blog and/or business. )  Read on below.....

I'd love to see all my CM friends submit something!  Hint, hint...

We are looking for contributors for more E-Books. If we use your idea(s), your name will be included in the E-Book and you will receive a $5 gift certificate to the Schoolhouse Store, up to three copies of the E-Book, and a copy of the audio book, once it is finished as well!
 
Check our our current E-Book offerings in the Schoolhouse Store!

So, without further ado, please read through this topic and send in your responses to gena@tosmag.com - Important: send to Gena, not me.
 
NATURE STUDY
Do you love nature study?  TOS is compiling a new E-Book that will be bursting full of ideas regarding nature study.

1. Have you implemented some really creative ideas to spark nature study time? 
   
2. Share your ideas for creative nature walks. 
   
3. What are some fun activities to do during nature study? 
   
4. Where are some interesting places to go? 
   
5. Please send in your ideas for focused walks, activities, art, writing, places to go and anything else you have used during nature study that was creative.

After about four days of observing the little critters we brought home from the pond, we decided it was best to return them to their rightful home.  Why?  Well, one one variety of little critters swimming around was mosquito larvae!!  No, thank you for them finishing their life cycle in my house!

We also believe we had tadpoles, caddis fly larvae, water louse, some sort of teeny tiny black shelled snails (we saw two mating!) and unidentified microscopic black spots swimming everywhere.  That was a lot of critters in one cup full of pond water!

Before heading home, we visited two springs near the pond.  The first is a small spring flowing into a creek.  The second is a spring that was dammed up many, many years ago as a watering hole for farm animals.  Isn't it pretty?  Does anyone know what sort of plant is growing in it?

Oh, and look who we heard, then saw as we headed back toward the truck.  If you can't tell, its a woodpecker!

We've known about a couple of sinkholes on our farm since we bought it six years ago.  Of course, when you think sinkhole, you think cave.  Especially living in Central KY and knowing that limestone is a predominate rock in our area. 

A couple of summers ago, we found cave dwelling salamander - fittingly called a Cave Salamander near one of the sinkholes. 

After a huge amount of rain this spring, one of our sinkholes is eroding in a big way.  In fact, last fall my husband was easily able to drive his tractor over the area as the sinkhole was hard to see if you didn't know exactly where is was.  Take a look at it now! 

There are three main holes with several smaller holes all in the same area.  As you can tell, hubby has put up markers to keep the tractors away!! 

Here is a picture of the lay of the land.  After visiting Mammoth Cave, this lay of the land looks very similar to the sinkhole land you find there. 

Now I just need to find someone willing to do some exploring and find out just what sort of cave system we might be living on! 

We have hawks on our farm that we've spotted before.  Usually we see them swooping through the sky or hear their screachy call.  On occasion, we've come upon one on the fence post, but it's always flown away very quickly.  The other day, though, we were given a rare opportunity by this red-tailed hawk (I think) to sit in the car and watch it for almost a full minute!  It's a beautiful creature that's even more lovely when it flies.  And those talons - watch out mice!

So here's what I had envisioned.  A peaceful day at the pond with children who ever-so-quietly and diligently explored life in and around the pond.  Children who would pull out their nature journals at every interesting find, writing lovely poems and prayers.  A day of discovery and awe. 

Here's what happened.  Children racing around the pond, boys jumping in, muddy water, lots of laughing, and yet lots of exploring still.  I'm not sure much nature journaling was accomplished, but most of the children went home with a cup full of nature to continue exploring.  Their plan was WAY BETTER than mine!  (Oh, and Colleene, SO sorry about the shoes!! ;)

 

 

 

The day started in my house with prayer, a little pond talk and the making of our underwater viewfinders.  (These are easy.  Cut the bottom out of an old container - milk, 2-liter, large yogurt.  If needed, cut a bit of the top out, too, so you can easily look down through the container.  Cover the bottom with plastic wrap, securing with a rubber band or duct tape.  Submerge the plastic side into water and see what you can find under the water!)

 

 

 

 

Then, off to the pond we went.  The kids had to first walk all the way around the pond, observing life on the edges.  They were supposed to journal something they found.  (Notice these are all girls!)

 

 

Then, they used the viewfinders to look down into the water.  Again, they were supposed to journal something they found. 

 

 

Finally, they used "jilly jars" to scoop water and life out for observation.  Again, they were supposed to journal something they found.  (JIlly Jar Pond Scooper inspiration) 

 

 

 

 

Talk about hands-on learning.  I think we might even be able to call this body-on learning.  They had so much fun and I'm sure learned a thing or two in the process.  At least that's what I'm still envisioning. 

 

 

 

 

We brought home a bit of moss and pond water.  This morning, we were able to identify at least SIX different forms of life in about a cup's worth of water!!  For sure we have some tadpoles, water bugs and tiny snails.  There are also tiny, tiny, tiny specks swimming around, tiny, tiny, tiny snake-like creatures and some oblong clear eggs with no observable animals inside.  I can't wait to see what grows!

 

 

Later today, we're going to do a bit of pond life research.  Below are some great links I found.

 

For microscopic pond exploration:

 

Pond LIfe Online Identification

 

Ameba Worksheet

 

Pond Water Survey

 

 

Song of the Boatman and other Pond Poems is a book full of pond poetry.  Yes, I had even carted this to the pond thinking some sweet child would just love to write poetry in their nature journal.  It wasn't cracked open until later in the house!

 

Remember this deep, moist, straw, mud and manure area on our farm?  Look what we found there yesterday!

My BFF, Melissa, has sparked a renewed interest in nature study around our house!  We've always loved nature, but I think living on a farm and seeing or hearing nature everyday has caused us to take for granted the wonderful things going on around us.

But lately, our eyes and ears have been on guard.  And to our excitement, God is putting on a wonderful show!  (You know, He'll do that when you take time to listen and watch!!)  In the past couple of days, we've seen:

Baltimore Orioles

Canada Warblers (probably) 

And not seen, but heard (very excting, indeed!) - the Great Horned Owl

We're running a tight ship this week to finish up school for the year, but I have big plans for unscripted, untimed, lazy-days-of-summer nature study starting next week!  Our nature journals are ready (mine, too) and our pencils and colored pencils are sharpened.  We'll be ready for whatever flies, cries, walks, crawls or slithers our way!

By the way, our next nature club will be focused on pond life.  We're going to have so much fun!  I'll give you a sneak peak at one of the studies we'll be doing - Jilly Jar Scooping.  Thanks, Barb!!

As we headed off to the zoo Friday, we were driving along praying for our day, which is our usual custom when we head off for a trip before we've had time for Bible and prayer together.  One of the kids or I pray aloud as we begin our journey.  We hadn't gone far down the lane when our prayer was focused on praise to God for all the glorious creatures were going to see that day.  All of the sudden a brilliant streak of black and orange flew past us and landed on a fence along the road. 

I was able to get a picture of husband and wife before they flew away.  (Even with 10x zoom, they were a bit hard to get a good picture of - especially how brilliantly orange the male was.)  I'm sure Baltimore Orioles have flown around here before, but this was our first meeting with them.  What a beautiful sight!  We promptly thanked the Lord that He not only provides glorious creatures at the zoo, but right in our own back yard as well!

Even with almost half of our club missing due to a funeral/illness/traveling, the first ever meeting of our Creation Club was a BLAST!  This month's theme focused on why we study God's creation and how God has perfectly designed plant and animal interdependency through food chains and predator/prey relationships.

The meeting started with a reading of Psalm 95: 3-6 as we talked about enjoying nature as a form of worship.  Then we talked about the importance of Christians being wise about nature and creation in order to be able to "give an answer" (1 Peter 3:15) when approached with questions - especially questions concerning creation vs. evolution.

Then the fun really began!  We recently had a flood in our area, so we headed on a hike to find evidence of flooding.  After a nice walk, the kids pulled out their nature journals to draw and write about some of the evidence they found.

Then, they went on a "mini-hike".  With a piece of string in hand, they were allowed to find any spot of land, place the string in a circle and very closely observe everything within the circle.  They journaled all their findings.

After a picnic lunch, we talked about how God has created all of nature to be connected in some form or fashion.  In other words, plants get their energy from the sun, while rabbits get their energy from plants, and a snakes can get their energy from rabbits.  However, if all the plants died, for instance, the snakes eventually would, too, since they feed on animals that feed on plants.  We used terms like food chains, food webs, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, producers, consumers, and population.

We played a few games to cement the new terms and concepts.  First was a simple food chain game.  I gave the kids notecards and they had to put themselves in correct order in the food chains.

Then we played a food chain simulation game.  "Grasshoppers" had to get energy from the plants (popcorn) by placing the plant in their body (baggie).  Lizards chased the grasshoppers.  When tagged, the grasshoppers had to give their energy to the lizards and die.  The lizards had to be careful, though, because hawks were busily hunting them!

Then we played a quick game of population survival.  Snakes (colored cards) were in a field.  Hawks (cardboard squares) tried to land on a snake.  If they did, the snake disappeared and the hawk survived.  If they didn't, the hawk died and more snakes were born (added to the field.)  As the hawks ate up snakes, the population of snakes got so low that it was harder and harder for the hawk to survive.  As the hawks died, the snake population could quickly grow to be too big.  

And to end the afternoon, I gave the kids a "test".  As a group, they had to match words and definitions of all the many concepts we had learned about. 

Oh yeah, after lunch we did a quick little craft.  The kids used a wood burning tool and made a little paper wieght with their name on it.

I'm so glad we decided to keep the group small and limit it to children in 3rd-6th grade.  Too many more children, or too many more age groups would have been very tough to teach.  I'm looking so forward to many more months of our Creation Club!

I am so excited!  Back in February when we went to the Creation Museum, I was browsing the bookstore and came across a book I just knew I had to have. 

Creation Club Idea Book

After reading about the nature club that Dawn is a part of and knowing I need to do more nature study with the kiddos, this book just called to me.  I only briefly browsed it at the museum's bookstore before buying it.  I was excited when I bought it, but after diving into it at home, I was even more excited.  It's packed full of factual information, activity ideas, active games, craft ideas and Bible tie-ins.  Much of it can be done with an individual family, but it's going to be oh-so-much more fun with a small group!

I've been wanting to start a nature club for quite a while.  We live on a farm with so much opportunity for serious study within a short walk from the house.   But why am I drawn to a group idea for nature study?  Have you ever tried to play the Food Chain Game with two people??

We will continue to enjoy quiet (or not so quiet) nature walks with our family alone, but this once-a-month Creation Club is going to be great fun!!  I'll keep you posted.  :)

We LOVE autumn!   Nature study just seems to flow so easily in autumn.  Maybe it's because the air is fresh and crisp, or the changes in nature are happening almost before our eyes.  Either way, we have always soaked up every bit of God's nature around us when fall arrives.  Here are just a few pictures from recent nature studies. 

Tell me, what public school kid could do nature study and fight crime at the same time?  (See his gun and holster?)

Even Eli loves nature study!  He was very proud of the leaf in his hand.  :)

Jacci of The Educational Life has posted the first edition of The Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival.  There are all sorts of wonderful blog articles centering around Charlotte Mason-style education.  The focus of this edition is nature study.  Have a look.  I don't think you'll be disappointed.

One of my best real-life friends, Melissa, has a great post about birds on her blog.  She gives a recipe for homemade suet and a couple of websites about bird watching.  Her ideas go along with our bird center perfectly!

Do you want your children to do more nature study? Would you like them to even do it on their own time?

I’ve found one way to get my children excited about studying nature - We keep a Nature Bag packed and near the door. They grab the bag often as they head out the door to play, or rush in to get it if some cool discovery is made in the yard. It’s become sort of an adventure bag to them!

We’ve kept many things in our nature bags in the past. I’ll give you a list of fun things to include, but we never keep all these things in it at once. The bag would be way too heavy, and changing the contents keeps it interesting!

hand-held microscope

magnifying glass

identification books - trees, butterflies, rocks, wild flowers, birds, insects

sketch pad and colored pencils

small steno pad and pencils

crayons and white paper for rubbings

bug box

tweezers

binoculars

disposable camera

baggies for collections

how to draw __________ books

scavenger hunt lists

spray bottles of water - for spraying on a spider web or seeing if an ant will come to a puddle of water or cleaning off a dirty rock

sunscreen

bottle of water

I’d love to hear any other ideas you have. Our bag is always open for new nature ideas!

Related Tags: nature study, homeschool, science, fun