Nature Journals Past and Present
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 3:48AM Our nature journals sure have changed over the years. We first began when the Goobs were 6 and 3. For the first few years I recorded far more than they did. I did not require them to participate; I just started drawing myself, and they helped as much as they liked. (I really think this is key - nature journaling should not be an unpleasant, quarrelous activity.) It didn't matter that I can't draw, because The Goobs thought I was talented. And it didn't matter that I didn't know what everything was off the top of my head because The Goobs thought I was brilliant. (Poor things. They eventually came to their senses.) Here is a page of a family nature journal from 2003:
I did not insist on accuracy, either. If a Goob told me he or she heard a wolf and asked me to draw one, then I drew a wolf, even if I knew for a fact it was not a wolf. I'd have drawn a dragon if they'd asked me to.
As they got older, they took over more and more of the recording. I still did not require anything in particular; I didn't even care if what they drew was from nature or not. That means JM drew a lot of pictures of lunch. The boy has always liked his lunch. The next few pictures are journal pages from a little trip to Fox Island, Alaska in 2004.
JellyMan:
Anemone:
Now that they're much older, I demand... well, not too much more than I did when they were little. If I want them to document something in particular I'll turn it into an offer they can't refuse. "Okay, let's forget about math and draw this glorious spectacle of nature here instead, and then let's each find three facts about it." Well, that's a lot more fun than math, so of course they say, "Okay! Awesome! Do I have to stop at three facts?" Ha! Otherwise I'm cool with whatever they want to do. The journals belong to them.
JellyMan's brown thrasher spread was Mom directed. If you couldn't tell by the date, the numbered list is a dead giveaway.
Anemone's spread on ants was entirely her own doing. You'll notice it is not dated, and that the drawings are not from life. This is because looking at actual ants is not nearly as amusing as smacking your brother with an actual stick.
These days, our nature journaling routine is fairly simple. Once a week or so I send them out to walk around the neighborhood. Sometimes I go with them and sometimes they go separately, but most of the time The Goobs head out together. The general idea is to find three things and draw pictures of them (or take a picture or a rubbing, or collect a specimen) and then choose one of those things to write about. If we go on a hike or a nature-type field trip we journal together and forget the neighborhood walk. Since they are older now, I do encourage them to look up the scientific names for plants and animals, and I try to get them to remember to date their pages. These are really just suggestions; if nobody cares about the scientific name of a dandelion, I just write it down in my own journal. And I don't say to them, "Get back here and date this page!" That would make it into work, and we already have more than enough of that.
A few of my favorite resources are the Mother of Divine Grace natural history syllabus (that's where I got the idea of the three items per walk), Keeping a Nature Journal and Nature Drawing: A Tool for Learning by Clare Walker Leslie, Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock, Close to Home: Things to Know and Things to Do by Elizabeth P. Lawlor, BBC's The Weather by John Lynch, and How Nature Works by David Burnie. Of course we make frequent use of field guides (animal, vegetable and mineral) and the wonderful collection of older nature books at our library. Our current nature journals are moleskines, and we like prismacolor colored pencils.
Let me know if you have any fabulous nature journal ideas. Donna Young has lots of great ones, if you need any inspiration. I want to be like Donna when I grow up. Of course I've been saying that for years and I'm no closer than when I started. Also, Rosie of Dragons in the Flower Bed has some good ideas on how to encourage a reluctant naturalist.
Reader Comments (8)
These are great! What treasures to have a record of their artistic development and their view of the natural world. I agree with you about not being exact when they are first learning to observe. The brown trasher at the end is awesome! Looks like your methods paid off. I agree about Donna. I don't know what I would have done without all the ideas and help she has shared over the years. My DY friends like you really inspire me too.
Sadly, when we come to the part in the lesson plan for our My Father's World Curriculum that says "Take a Nature Walk" we tend to skip that part. Of course, in Minnesota, for half our school year it's subzero and there is 4 feet of snow on the ground which tends to put a damper on nature walking. But I really do want to make more of a point to do this next school year. You are inspiring to me and I want to be like you when I grow up!
Thanks for posing this. It gave my dd encouragement that it doesn't have to be perfect.
I understand harsh winters - our winter journal entries in Alaska were pretty limited. Moose, snow, raven, snow, snow, moose, raven, snow, eagle, moose, fox, snow, eagle, snow, moose, raven, moose, snow, moose, ptarmigan, snow, snow, raven, snow, moose, snow, raven, moose. And snow.
Good post, Melanie. I am going to check out Rosie's article. Um, where are the current pages from your journal?
I looked for pages to post from my journal, but mine reads more like a diary, and there's stuff in there I don't really want online. I suppose I could blur out the parts I don't want to publish. We'll see.
How you guided your children into nature journaling has paid off. Their current pages are very nice!! =) The early examples are cute! They've come a long way in just 4 and 5 years time!
Aw, those are lovely! I've been interested in having our kids work with a nature journal recently, and been giving it a lot of thought because we moved (before Christmas) to a place that has miles of nature trails winding through the forest, past a river, and other stuff like that...or so say the maps and brochures I've seen... trouble is, the maps and brochures also mention bears. BEARS. As in, be careful of. As in, big black furry things that will eat you for lunch. Um... we come from a small island where the biggest wildlife is the neighbour's overweight golden retriever. Be careful of the bears, they say - I see. No problem. *hides under the porch* Safe from the bears here! LOL
Call me a sissy. Or, just a girl from a place with no bears! ;-)