I'm a big fan of spending time outdoors with the little ones. We spend a good chunk of our days outside, playing, exploring, and learning (often by accident). We also try, on a daily basis, to take a little nature hike. With 90 acres backing up to our house, we're lucky enough to have this be a pretty easy feat..
Of course, I'm always on the look out for some fun craft project to tie into, well, um, anything and everything. The nature journal is a big hit around here, and makes for a perfect way to teach both mindfulness and facts about the world around us. Sometimes we take along field guides and try to draw birds we've identified.
Sometimes we use it to capture the images of natural treasures we've picked up along the way.
Sometimes we just write what comes to mind after playing and walking in the woods.
Either way, we're capturing memories, training ourselves to pay attention to our surroundings, and honing our skills as we draw pictures with colored pencils, crayons, and words.
To make a nature journal of your own:
Take a stack of plain white paper and fold in half. That's too boring to take a picture of, even if in the digital world you don't have the "waste of film" excuse.
Use a hole punch to create your binding. Find a stick that can be snapped to the right height, and tie it to the "journal" with some thread through each hole.
Customize the cover as you wish-- we like to do a postcard-sized watercolor painting, and glue it onto the cover (it adds just a little extra somethin' I think).
All you need now are adventures-- and they can range from nature preserves or beaches to your backyard.
And while most of these walks are a great reconnection to the earth and each other, don't be discouraged if some days are better than others. Case and point? My daughter has, on one such walk, ingested rabbit poop, which she likely mistook for some forbidden chocolate treat.
This is a staged shot. Obviously it isn't outside and the rabbit poop is absent. I just wanted to show you the look on her face, because yes, it is the same smile I got after crying out "yuck! poop eater!"
*If you're looking for some fun ideas for getting kids outdoors this month, you can always pop this extra window up on your screen.
