Happy Stick

While camping this past weekend Holly & I tried out a nature-style craft that I remember making at camp when I was little. I have had this idea in my head for sometime now waiting for the right time to break it out - this weekend was a great time!

We collected a couple of sticks shaped in a Y - Daddy helped to trim up anything we needed. Then using rainbow yarn she weaved on the Y shaped stick, wrapping back and forth. The final rainbow stick is fun for a special treasure you can keep, something to hold other things from nature in or as a toy. Holly labeled it her 'Happy Stick' since the rainbow yarn is so happy feeling. She met a little friend while camping and they both made one, Holly enjoyed teaching her how. The little girl said it is her new 'talking stick' - I thought that was pretty cute!

She has really enjoyed this little treasure and hopes to make more soon!

Nature Boxes

A few years back Holly did a project where we took an egg carton and painted several natural color schemes in each little egg cubby. She started to learn about shading colors, changing various greens and browns just a tad with either white or black paint. Then we took our Nature Box out for nature walks to fill it up. Such a simple project. The great thing though, is aside from learning shading she is learning to stop and take a closer look in nature. Noticing that the green of trees is not the same green for each tree or that pine cones come in several shades of brown. The nature box slows a child down and really gives some focus to their time in nature. We have also done a box that is specific to the beach with more greys and lighter colors, same concept just meant for the beach.


I decided to try this activity with some fellow homeschool kids through an activity with our homeschool group. We had a great attendance and the children really enjoyed this project. They loved painting the cartons and then had a great time using them on our nature walk. The kids kept stopping to compare contents or share with others where they found a great treasure along the path that might work for one's box. Once our nature walk was finished we gathered and the kids all did a show and tell circle with their boxes, sharing a few special treasures found along the way. This was a lot of fun to with friends!

Nature Club

I have mentioned on this blog before about my desire to get a little Nature Club together, people with like interests and desires to emerge their children in nature. Holly adores nature, it is a very natural fit for her and our families life style. We do a lot already with nature, however enjoying nature with a group of like minded people can offer up so much more in lessons, opportunities, group activities and resources. This was a dream for the past school year... however, for this upcoming school year it is now a reality! We are excited


I have met some other wonderful homeschooling mommas who share the same love for nature that we do. They too had the same hope for a Nature Club -- our paths crossed, I am sure it was meant to be! We have been talking over the past month or so, met to discuss ideas and finally created a several month plan for this new group. We have some wonderful ideas that will include nature walks, nature journaling, observing up close, pulling samples, natural art projects, hands on learning, taking adventures, exploring new areas, field trips and dissections. I think this is going to be a very fun journey!!!


For Holly I am using our Nature Club as a foundation for much of our science this coming year. We will be really diving into a nature study - taking time each week to be outdoors: observing and recording. We will be using a wonderful site I have been following for some time called the Handbook of Nature Study in which I hope to have us participate in the Outdoor Hour Challenge: Nature Close to Home. This site is fantastic and such an amazing resource of information, ideas and inspiration! http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/ As well, we will be using the Handbook Of Nature Study book by Anna Comstock, Keeping A Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie & Charles E. Roth, The Young Naturalist - An Usborne Guide by Andrew W. Mitchell and a traditional nature journal that Holly will continue with.


The Nature Club is going to be such a fun adventure!

Butterfly Release

This week our chrysalis all hatched offering up beautiful butterflies! All six of them made it without a hitch, were healthy and simply amazing! Once we found a sunny day Holly took them out to release them in the garden - what an enjoyable experience. We took it slowly and released one at a time, each offering Holly a small visit before taking flight.

First Grader!

Last night we enjoyed an evening of saying good bye to Kindergarten and hello to First Grade! We joined several other homeschool families to celebrate over good foods, children sharing about their year and favorite works from school and a ceremony to say 'job well done' to each child. Holly had a wonderful time! It is so strange to think she is starting First Grade... where has the time gone?

End of Year

This evening we are celebrating the end of our school year with some other wonderful homeschooling families. The children have all been invited to bring along some of their school work to share: a special project, a collection, a talent, an assortment - whatever the child would like to share. Holly has thought on this for a couple of weeks and just recently decided she wanted to share some of her art work from the year... an Art Exhibit she called it.

Last night we got out an old display board and she sorted through her entire collection of art we kept, unfortunately some pieces did not make it to our storage (several 3-D styles). After much debate... and it took some time, she narrowed it down to about half of her collection. She laid it out many times over until she found the right display and then we attached it. She added some various small art pieces throughout and chose others for the table portion of her display. When all was said and done -she was SO PROUD of her display!

I am looking forward to this evening for her, where she will get to celebrate the end of Kindergarten with homeschooling friends and share a bit on her life as a homeschooler! She is excited! I'll share some photos tomorrow from our evening... in the mean time here is Holly working hard on her display. I didn't think to take any photos in the beginning part of her creating this mini-exhibit... so bummed! But, here is the final stages.