Nature Study

Almost every homeschooler has written down for their science lessons, nature study. That can mean a wide variety of things. At one point I had a blog I followed that was entirely devoted to “The Handbook of Nature Study,” and it had a nice calming rain and nature sound that played when you opened it. This was back when all the blogs played music when you opened them. You know when we rode dinosaurs to work like the Flintstones. Back on topic, I thought it would be helpful to get all my Nature Study lessons all together to help spark ideas for your own nature studies.

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Supplies for Nature Study

Everyone will use different materials for their nature studies. For me, I liked to keep it fairly simple:

• composition notebook
• something to write and draw with (pens [I like click pens so I don’t lose caps], or pencils, coloring pencils or crayons)
• magnifying glasses
• flashlights (if going out at night)

Various Nature Guides:

• Crinkleroot books– I love these books, I’ve linked to the animal habitat one, they’re nice just for reading.
• Quick Reference Guides– I like these folding laminated reference guides, they sell them here in Texas at HEB and they have various different ones you can find when you for hikes in the area. They’re nice because it is only animals you’re likely to see on walks in the area so you don’t have quite as much to flip through and it is laminated so it will stand up to whatever you spill on it, but that does mean it will cost a bit more and it will be a bit heavier for taking on your hikes or nature walks
• Golden Guide Books– this is a more traditional nature guide and well worth getting as it will have more animals in it and won’t be as specific to where you are so you can take it to a wider range of locations and has quite a lot of information in it.

Creating places for Nature Study at home

I was all set to say I was done creating categories, and then realized a sort of sub-category of supplies is places to complete your nature study at home.

Now some of this might just be, I have a really cool chair next to a window I can sit next to and watch outside, or I’ve got this great chair on my back patio.

But some of this is how you plan your house and your life.

• How to create a birdwatching station inside your house–
• How to identify rocks using a nature guide

Outside Nature Study

Of course nature study sometimes means going outside to study nature. This could be going for a nature walk, a walk in your neighborhood, or checking out your backyard.

• 5 Simple Nature Study Ideas for Kids
• More Easy Nature Study Ideas for Kids– I almost wonder if I should combine those two posts, something to think about…
• Nature Study for Preschoolers
• Making the most of nature walks
• How to rescue a bat– you will probably never run into this scenario but it’s a fun problem to solve
• Backyard Nature Study Tips
• A Quick Nature Walk for your Neighborhood
• Science and Nature Center– this is our local nature center, but check it out for ideas of how to apply it to yours
• How to make a nature scavenger hunt
• Bring your notebook to the zoo
• How do seeds travel

Bringing Nature Inside

After going on that walk, there is a very good chance your kids will come back with their pockets full of things. Possibly even backpacks full of “nature.” Hopefully, none of this nature is alive. But, I know that is not always a true story, I even have a nature study about that. It is linked below.

• Using notebooking pages in nature study– funny story, we found this animal in our backyard and brought it inside partially to save it from the dog
• Johnny Appleseed lesson– learn about the REAL Johnny Appleseed and try some study of apples
• Shell nature study
• Notebooking animal observation

Specific animal nature studies

Over the years we’ve taken the time to study many animals in different ways. Sometimes we literally brought the animals into our house (this is not something I always suggest), and sometimes we did not. Either way it made for great observations of the animals.

• Crickets nature study
• Shrimp nature study– this all started out as a question that turned into a couple of different science lessons over time
• Armadillo nature study– because only lunatics bring armadillos inside their house, this does not take place inside
• Crawdad nature study

Studying plants inside

I found a few more as I was looking for some other ideas, so I’m adding it in as I find it. I have a suspicion this is a post I will constantly be finding more things to add.

• Pumpkin observation lessons
• Does a pumpkin float?