A Wonderful Day in Nature
Today I decided we should do some nature study. My goal is to get outside to look at nature and do some drawing for their journals once a week. But we don’t do it that often!
So, this morning we made sure the kids’ backpacks were filled with a clipboard and white paper, sharpened pencil attached with a string, and a pencil sharpener. (They’re supposed to have a magnifying glass, too, but who knows where those all went!)
We went to a forest preserve called Middlefork Savannah (see here). It was really a prairie preserve! As we were hiking through, I kept thinking of all the descriptions that Laura Ingalls gives in her books about being out in the prairie. We saw a number of insects, such as grasshoppers, dragonflies, and even a praying mantis. We also heard lots of frogs. There is a wildlife center there, too, so we saw a turtle pond, 2 hawks, and a wallaby. I loved seeing the kids sit with their clipboards and draw the flowers and animals.
Lastly, there was a playground, which was a fun way to end before we headed home for lunch.
