3 Indoor Nature Study Ideas

It gets cold in the winter. I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to do is head outside for nature study. As a result it gets skipped week after week. Instead of waiting until spring, try one of these indoor nature study ideas.

3 Indoor Nature Study Ideas

1. Bird watching

Birds are fun to watch from the window. They hop across the yard looking for worms. Flocks gather in the backyard after a storm. You can encourage birds to visit your yard with a pine cone bird feeder.

Find a pine cone, preferably a nice big open one, before pulling out a jar of peanut butter or vegetable shortening. Slather the peanut butter or shortening all over the pine cone. Now roll the pine cone in bird seed until it’s covered.

Tie a string around the end. Find a branch near a window and hang it there. Your kids can sit down in front of the window and watch the birds visit.

Put a guide to birds next to the window along with a journal, and have fun tracking the birds that visit your house each day.

2. Make beans sprout

If you have any dried beans around the house, try making beans sprout. This is a fun way of teaching young children about seeds. First you’ll need 3-6 beans.

First take a moist paper towel, lay the beans inside it, and place it inside a plastic bag. My daughter and I used a sandwich bag, but any bag should work. You want to create high humidity to encourage beans to sprout.

Place the bag in a dark area, such as a cabinet, and check the beans once a day. We found it took close to a week and only one of the three beans we used actually sprouted.

3. Grow a salad from a leftover lettuce stem

Place the leftover lettuce stem in a bowl with an inch of water in it. Mist it over the next few days. Once it grows roots, plant it in soil.

Carrots and radishes are grown in a similar manner. Put them in a bowl of fresh water until green tops appear. Then plant the carrots in soil.

You’ll be able to enjoy a fresh salad with your kids that you have grown yourself. In fact, try a salad buffet with your kids. They’ll love eating the vegetables grown from table scraps.