Summer is fading as fall begins to settle in for a season. It is a wonderful time to explore nature. Children learn best through experience. Nature walks are an active and enjoyable learning experience. It is also is a lovely time to spend with your child. If you have not implemented nature walks into your homeschool or routine, you should try it. I know it will be an enjoyable time for you and your child.
Supplies for Nature Walks
Composition book
Colored pencils or crayons
Proper clothing for the walk such as bringing a raincoat, rain boots, or a hat.
Packed lunch or snacks if you venture a distance from home.
Backpack to carry supplies
Bag or bucket for collecting tiny treasures.
Binoculars
Camera
What to do on your nature walk
Explore!
Collect leaves, rocks, twigs, flowers (wild, of course), pine cones, etc.
Sit and draw the landscape.
Use binoculars to take a closer look at birds, bugs, grass, weeds, seeds, or anything you find.
Activities
Use the tiny treasures you collect to make art projects.
Look up the birds, bugs, and animals you spotted online or in a book and study them. You can pick one or two to focus on for a week.
Tell a story using your nature hike as the setting and the animals as the characters.
Keep a scrapbook in your composition book of your experiences. You can keep leaves, dried flowers, bird feathers, twigs and drawings of favorite sights on the walks.
Take pictures of your surroundings and create collages or attach to a poster to use as a display.
You will soon find that nature walks are a great way to explore together and learn together. Charlotte Mason suggested a child spend at least 20 minutes a day regardless of weather. You can follow a CM approach or take weekly nature walks.