A Nature Journaling Memory

I love our summer nature studies. Oldest has especially bonded with his nature journal this summer. He’s always got it with him, including when we went on vacation. He sat on the balcony of our hotel room and sketched. When we visited with friends, he and my friend’s son sat outside on a rock pile with their nature journals and shared colored pencils.

books for nature study

I consulted two different sources this year: The Handbook of Nature Study and Nature Journaling, both from my library. The Handbook is rather intimidating, I’ll admit—very comprehensive and very hard to use with young children. I always feel like a momma bird when I use the Handbook; I have to read and digest the information and then feed it to my children in small, already-been-chewed bites. But I do understand when others write that you can’t do nature study without it. It is very comprehensive. On the other hand, Nature Journaling is inspiring and inviting. It not only provides ideas for how to have a nature journal but intentionally removes the fear factor. This book is why my son loves his journal.

journal for nature study

I haven’t forced a curriculum or made journaling an assignment. When he shows me an entry, I’ll ask him questions that relate to what we’ve been studying. Is it a vertebrate or an invertebrate? What classification is it? But his journal is not purely scientific; it’s a place for him to record his summer memories—the blue-taled skink that regularly visited our front porch, the squirrel they tried to lure with acorns, the varied leaves found in the yard.

His journal is made with my Proclick binder: a piece of cardboard for the backing, some notebooking pages with places to sketch and lines to write on, and a laminated cover.

But it’s not really how I made his journal that makes him love it; it’s about how I’m letting him make his own memories and then experience them a second time on paper.

nature study for little kids

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Published by Tracy
Our life is creative and full, challenging and blessed. I'm a pastor's wife and homeschool mom to my crew of three kids with ADHD/dyslexia. I'm passionate about helping women find joy and hope in treasuring Christ, loving their families well, and finding creative ways to disciple and teach in their homeschools. Visit growingNgrace.com to find grace for the messes and mistakes, and knowledge to pick up the pieces and make something special. Let’s grow together!

4 thoughts on “A Nature Journaling Memory

  1. This is wonderful! I loved hearing about your son who loves nature and making it his own. Thanks for sharing!

  2. Thank-you!! I saw one of the chapters with these books were different animals for example horses..etc What does it say about horses..etc My daughter wants to learn about how animals bodies work this year. This is probably more of a nature book, but I thought I would ask. And also are these books that you do the entire thing, or pieces of it. Seems like a big book. This is why I ask.

    Thanks, Kelley

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      Post Author Tracy

      Handbook of Nature Study does have a section on horses, and the book is extremely thorough (you can see sample pages and TOC on Amazon). I can’t tell you exactly what the horses section covers because I’ve had to return my copy to the library. Check worldcat.org to see if there is a copy at your local library.

      • Well that stinks!! My local library doesn’t have one only in the middle school system it seems to be in. And when I looked on the site you gave me looks like there is one in New York, but I’m in MA. Thanks for trying! Sounds like a really good book!

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