I'm looking for ideas to have on hand when my kids want to have school outside, we are secular/eclectic and I have 2 boys ages 7 & 6. We went out today, but it wasn't as structured as I would like (not well organized) but we also don't have to be ridged (we are outside, right?) Anyway, we have a small forest, a big backyard and an okay sized front yard. What I would like to have is a list of ideas so I can just "grab" and go. Any ideas would be terrific! Thanks!
There's a nature study blog that uses anna comstocks "Handbook of Nature Study" book.. Although, I don't think you actually NEED the book to do the activities.. www.handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com
Ha, ha ... I was just going to recommend the same website! You could also find some books to read that have interesting locations. Go to a pond to read a pond story... a mountain or hilltop to read a story set in mountains... that kind of thing.
Great minds think alike.. LOL!! I haven't been to that site for awhile.. I watched her tutorial on how to use water color pencils.. The girls were really interested.. We may try to incorporate some of her challenges into our school now that the weather is getting warmer..
We like to just roam and explore whatever catches our eyes. When we go out for "nature study" we take out a backpack I made with sample containers, gloves, bug nets, field guides (along with the most popular to the kids.. the scat and tracks book), plaster (and a mixing bowl and bottle of water), baggies, a magnifying glass, a sketch pad and drawing stuff, and we take the camera. My kids favorite thing is to start turning things over... the bigger the object the more exciting the find under it. We also had hubby make us a flower press, but we have yet to use it.
What about a building project that uses a saw, hammers, and nails? My boys loved that sort of thing. Or build a rope ladder in a tree Identifying birds Identifying plants It takes planning, but what about a treasure hunt where one clue leads to the next? Have a couple and then get each boy to set one for each other. Or the two together set one for you to find the clues. Scavenger hunt Sit them still, or lie them down and read to them Get them to build something so they can go from one side of the back yard to the other without touching the ground. There's always yardwork. My children loved to chop logs for the fire. Paint outside, play with water. My children would get a bucket of water and paint the fence with dad's large real paint brushes, but that appeals to approx 5 year olds, maybe your children are already too old for that. Archery Build a wigwam/teepee. Grow vegetables
Handbook of nature study-you can get it for free at archive.org and print it out. Burgges Bird book is a good one for outdoor study as well Use http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478 along with it. Do you have read aloud books? Sometimes we just take our read alouds outside with a snack and a blanket... Geocaching or letterboxing Start a nature journal-we keep ours in a bag with a couple of pencil sets and oil pastels so we can grab and go! Rope off (with twine or string) a small area (1 sq ft), give the kids a magnifying glass, some tweezers and a container for collections. http://www.backyardnature.net/ Buy some field guides! Just walk and identify. (I MUCH prefer field guides with photos to drawings, it's much easier to misidentify with a drawing...) Our nature walks aren't at all structured or organized, let the kids explore and collect things. Then, once you're back inside, then look up what you found, identify it, learn about it, do a notebooking page on it... The only ting I try to really guide on our nature walks is making my boys slow down and pay attention to the sights, sounds and smells around them. They've gotten pretty good at identifying tracks in the dirt/mud, but I often have to remind them to look for them instead of racing through the walk....
We take school work to the park every Friday. We take their reading books, Awana, language arts books, and sometimes science or history lessons. We love doing school outside. It's a nice change of pace. After their school work is completed, we meet up with our homeschool friends and play at the park for a few hours. It's a great end to our school week.
GEOCACHING!!!! We do it as a family and it is a BLAST!!! We're probably going to try Letterboxing this spring, too.
