Check out this quick guide on how to practice Nature Study in your homeschool, even if you don’t spend much time outside!
Nature Study is one of the most accessible ways for children to start making observations and learning about the world right outside their doorway. During my own childhood, we were encouraged to be outside, to smell the earth, to notice the different plants, and to explore our own interests. Unfortunately that wonderfully curious and fundamental time to explore in nature isn’t always something that is encouraged in this busy life. In our fear of potential risk, and in this golden age of technology and testing, it is quite against the status quo to carve out daily or even weekly time to learn about the natural world in your own backyard, slowly, carefully and with intention.
One of the easiest ways to incorporate Nature Study into your homeschool or into your life, is to commit to a 10 minute walk, even if it is just around your neighborhood in the perimeter of your backyard. This gets you outside and it can facilitate conversations about what you see during this time outside, like the insects buzzing about or the plants you see. Your adventures can take longer, but if you are in a hard season with a lot of babies don’t feel bad if you don’t do much beyond setting them on a blanket in your backyard for a few minutes.
Start getting curious about the plants and insects and animals in your own backyard. What do you have right outside your window? This is an excellent way to gain some knowledge and spark curiosity.
Loosey Goosey Nature Journaling at its finest! Take a sketchbook outside and draw what you see. If you really want to spice it up, bring a watercolor set with you and paint it! Watercolor is often used in nature study, partly because it is so easy to use on the go! If you have the palette, a brush and a little water, that's all you need and there are a lot of travel watercolor options as well. I really like this style on the go!
Grab a cheap magnifying glass and start looking at just one specific patch of nature, maybe no bigger than 2-3”. Notice that it is it’s own little ecosystem and identify the organisms in it, from the predators to the lush grass or encroaching weeds, seeing all those things close up is sure to make your family have questions about the world right outside!
Grab a nature scavenger hunt sheet and make it a game. We have them at SEER, but there are a lot of downloadable options out there for cheap or free. It’s a great way to get kids looking around and curious. If you are looking for more info about how to incorporate a scavenger hunt, go check out our post on that here.
Even the smallest child loves to smell the flowers! Start a garden! A garden is a great idea right now with the high cost of produce and it is a great investment as well as an excellent learning opportunity. Your garden can be as small as a few containers on the back porch or as complex as tilling up your backyard and planting everything you find at the garden center. Every day at least one of my kids wants to know if the flowers have bloomed yet or if the carrots are ready. A garden is a great way to teach kids about time, how things grow and there are a multitude of life lessons to be thrown in as well. If you need a ‘reason’ to be outside in order to feel motivated, taking care of a garden is a great way to get started.
Put out a bird feeder! Even if you never step foot outside, having a bird feeder outside your windows means that you can observe nature at its finest every day. If you put out bird seed, the birds will come! You can listen to their calls, use your field guide to identify them and all from the comfort of the indoors until you are ready to step outside and enjoy a little more
Remember that any outside time is good. It can feel like we are wasting time, just playing outside, but the benefits of enjoying a little nature are too numerous to count and any amount of time you can carve out for it will be worthwhile! If you succeed better with a plan for your time out in nature, check out our new Nature Academy Units here. They have easy to follow scripted nature reflections, activity suggestions that are free or really cheap to implement and a whole lot more!
Nature Academy lessons by SEER
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