For some odd reason nature study tends to take a backseat in the winter. It’s cold. Ice is everywhere. And the last thing you really want to do is take the kids outside to draw in your nature journals with frozen fingers. Instead enjoy an epic indoor nature study during the winter!
5 Tips for Enjoying Nature Study Indoors
1. Keep a nature journal
Start a nature journal with the kids even though it’s cold and wet outside. You’ll need a good art sketch book and colored pencils for the kids.
As your kids study nature inside this winter, note what you see and learn. Sketch various objects. Sketch animals you see. And sketch the weather each day. Take notes about what you learn and your thought about nature. Nature journals are a great way to encourage your kids to write!
The journal will become a beautiful record of your studies!
2. Hang a bird feeder
Hang a bird feeder outside your window. Prop pillows around the window and drop a bird book on a table nearby. The bird feeder will attract birds to your house where you can study them in the warmth of your home.
Don’t hang the bird feeder with yarn though. The squirrels discovered they could gnaw through the yarn to drop the bird feeder to the ground. The squirrels had a feast!
But it limited the number of birds we were able to study.
3. Bring nature inside
Head outside or send the children out to collect fascinating objects. Grab pine cones, rocks, acorns, leaves, dried plants, bark, and anything else you find.
Bring the objects inside and lay them on the table. You can make notes about where you found the objects and take your time sketching the objects in your nature journal without fingers freezing.
Don’t forget to research the items you find. What type of trees did the pine cone, acorns, and leaves come from? What type of rock did you find?
Remember to take notes about what you learned in your nature journal!
4. Keep a weather log
Keeping a weather log in the summer around here tends to be boring. It’s one sunny day after another! But the weather in the winter keeps changing.
Changing weather makes for a fascinating weather log!
Hang a thermometer on a tree near a window. Every morning have the kids look out the window and read the thermometer. They should also note what type of weather you’re having each day. Is it stormy, snowy, rainy, or sunny?
Keep a weather log and note your findings in your nature journal each day! And don’t forget to try one of these fun weather activities!
5. Read good books
There are many, many wonderful books on nature available. So the next time you’re at the library browse the science and nature section of your library.
You’ll find books on the changing season. Books discussing weather. And books describing how animals live in the winter.
Check them out and bring them home.
Or try making your own nature study curriculum from Usborne Books.
Now you and your kids can curl up on the sofa and read the books on nature study together in the warmth of your home.
Just because the weather outside is cold and gloomy, there’s no reason to put nature study on hold. Just move your nature study inside for the season and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate while you sketch!
What is your best tip for enjoying an indoor nature study during the winter?
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