We are in the middle of winter here in Minnesota. This makes getting outside harder. While the temperatures are literally up and down, we still love to indulge in exploring nature anyway we can.
We love do have the option in our homeschool to step away from books and just go and explore when it comes to nature. It can seem rather simple at first, but when you find something that really intrigues your child, you will find yourself on a journey you may never have planned for in your lesson plans.
In our home, it can be hard in the winter months to be able to get out and explore as much as we want to, but we just get creative and find other ways to do it. Right now, we are learning about the birds of North America. We have the bird feeder set up, but we also love to take nature walks when the weather allows us.
We have started to use nature walks in more detailed ways. Before, it was just a walk to see what we could see. Now, I plan our walks. One day we will walk around and see how many birds we can see. We log them and use tally marks if we see more than one of the same birds.
I plan to use this technique as we learn about other animals around us as well. But I can also find other fun nature walks that go along with the weather and the seasons. That means my kids can learn about these animals, weather, and seasons by getting out and exploring them!
Another fun way to get out and explore nature with your kids is to use notebooking pages. These are simple and open-ended. You can give your child a sheet and see what they come back to you with. I loved it when my kids learned how to make bark rubbings from the trees around us and compare the different trees from their barks.
We have also found a lot of fun with nature studies. From doing fun simple studies on things like birds, weather, clouds, we have found ourselves outside, or watching from the window and exploring nature. Finding fun studies can help pique the interest of your child and makes them want to learn more about the topics. This is what I love about homeschooling!
What are some fun ways that you explore nature with your children?
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Thank you to Amanda from Hopkins Homeschool for sharing this article.
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