Nature Study

Once a week we dedicate an hour or so to the park-- nature study and running amuck (which are two different things and ought not to be confused). The running amuck part generally comes first, because it is difficult to squelch the enthusiasm of three exuberant girls presented with the freedom of grass, trees and stuff to climb.

And sometimes I even succeed in reigning them in enough to get some nature study done. "Our" park has a playground, a little wood, a meadow and even a large pond. Every so often we remember to bring our nature journals and draw a little something.

Last week I had the kids each adopt a tree in our park. My plan is to have them write about and draw their trees once a month for the next year. They have enjoyed watching our (one, poor, lonely) front yard elm tree go through its seasons for several years now. I thought they needed a change.

We had our nature journals, and they drew parts of their trees.

(This would be a really good place to show snapshots of the kids' sketches, but I haven't taken any. Maybe later.)

This week we didn't have any of our nature study materials with us. But I had my phone camera, so I let the kids take pictures:


This is Mariel's tree-- a shumard oak?


Triss' tree. I think it might be an elm. The branches go up rather than branching out too far.


Cornflower standing by her tree-- a live oak full of green leaves! (Live oaks are evergreen.)

Here are some other pictures the kids took:


The Mysterious Meadow by Triss


Outdoor Girls by Cornflower


Oops-- I took this one! Cornflower conquering the Spiderweb.