Winter Wonder and Weather Walk

Winter wonder and weather walk. We were wet. I love alliteration. And we love nature study.

For this start to our winter nature studies, we discussed and filled in the answers to the Winter Wonder questions from the Handbook of Nature Study ebook. We did this on one printed sheet, as a family, during lunch. This was a fine ‘official’ start to our winter studies. List three questions about the winter challenges you would like to answer. We wondered:

• Can we get some pansies for our yard? Yes!
• What are the differences in the different, regional chickadees?
• Do sheep eat mayonnaise? (someone spotted the mayo on the table during lunch and was being silly)

Also, list three different activities you would like to do during the winter season:

• Play in the snow, have a snowball fight, build a snowman (we had a wonderful couple of southern snowstorms last year.)
• Roll down a mountain (!)
• Go to the park across the street, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park and walk on the trails

On this afternoon we stayed right in our own backyard. With recent warm weather and several passing thunderstorms (yes, in January), we had plenty to explore out our back door. Two of the children went out ahead of the others for a silent walk. (Still some red leaves, as Eldest Girl found, above).

The rest chose the winter weather observation notebook pages. Isn’t it nice that this OHC More Nature Study – Winter Book 2 offers such a variety of suggestions and notebook pages to appeal to the age range?

There were spots of green, dandelions…

breezes that made us smile…(feel the wind on your face – suggestion from January Newsletter Study Grid)

…and, of course, the results of rain for trucks to explore…

Back inside, clothes soaking and shoes by the backdoor, we sketched our findings.

Our results. One used a dandelion as a Sketch Tuesday entry for ‘something yellow.’

I appreciate how nature study can easily be combined with other subjects, enriching and spreading to other areas of our studies. Earlier in the day we had enjoyed Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. We remembered the animals hidden in the illustrations in the woods. And we watched for maybe a sighting of a chipmunk in our backyard.

The next morning, six-year-old and I enjoyed a wonderful discussion while she colored the winter animals coloring page. She decided the page definitely needed a worm. Then she decided that God must have made worms pink so that girls would like them too.

A little time outdoors, an appreciation of weather and nature. Many thanks to Barb-Harmony Art Mom at Handbook of Nature Study.