Happy New Year! It’s a little late, but I wanted to share my January Nature Guide. Each month, I make a list of things we might want to keep an eye out for on our nature walks, to add interest and encourage closer observation. There is so much to observe and learn that at times it can be overwhelming and it can help to have a guide to gently direct your attention.
I have been primarily relying on The Living Year by Richard Headstrom, which was a great recommendation by the CMEC. This book is organized by month, with the author taking the reader along in walk through the woods, describing things he sees. It is fascinating and inspiring. At the end of each chapter, Headstrom provides a list of phenomenon that occur during the month and things to be on the look out for.
I use this as a starting point and then note down what we might want to be on the look out for., taking into account my children’s ages and anything we’ve recently been discussing. I don’t treat this like a scavenger hunt, but rather, use it to educate myself so that at the beginning of a walk I can share an observation with the children and then they have an idea in their mind during the walk. For example, I might say “It’s been a while since we’ve seen a squinny (chipmunk), where do you suppose they are?” (answer - they are hibernating.) This adds some interest to the walk and might inspire them to think - who is still out? Why might squirrels be active but chipmunks not?
Please enjoy this January Nature Guide, I hope it provides some inspiration!
Other Resources
The Living Year - Book by Richard Headstrom, each chapter is a month of the year, offering inspiration and ideas of what to look for on nature walks
Birding for Beginners (Midwest) - A bird identification guide by Stan Tekiela, this is a simple and easy to use guide that allows us to identify common birds and learn some interesting facts. I also search for the top birds in the local area and use those species as part of our bird study.
Pond Life (A Golden Guide) - These are a compact size, so easy to bring along for nature observation and identification. Easy to use, we use several books from this series and are gradually adding more of the titles to our home library.
