Winter Wednesday: Deciduous Trees

I have found it easy not to realize the beauty in a tree without all it’s leaves, blooms, and color.  But after taking the time to really observe the winter trees, I see how the tree’s silhouette is still beautiful.  The shape of the tree, design of the branches, and how the sky shines around them, each one is different. 

We started by observing the tree in our front yard.

American Crabapple

 

Big Ladybug enjoyed making a winter tree watercolor.

Here are some photos from our nature walk together.

 

This is a book that we enjoyed along with this nature challenge. 

If you would like to add a little nature to your family studies, or even just for some time outdoors together, hop over to Handbook of Nature Study.  Barb has done a wonderful job putting together outdoor challenges that you and your family are sure to enjoy.

Winter Wednesday: Snow

This was the first Winter Wednesday Challenge we participated in back in January (but I never got around to posting it.) 

Earlier this year we got our fair share of snow.  My Ladybugs and our neighbor went outside to play in and collect some.

They filled up the pink bucket and brought it inside for a melting experiment.  They filled measuring cups with 1 cup of snow.

So while they waited for the snow to melt, they enjoyed playing with and eating the rest!

       

 

How much water does 1 cup of melted snow make?

Well at our house…..1 cup of snow = 1/4 cup of water.

We then tried to filter our snow, but didn’t find anything too exciting, just a few specks of sand or dirt.

The girls had a great time with the snow!

Winter Wednesday: Insect Study

Well Big Ladybug has always LOVED bugs, bugs, and more bugs!  So when we had wonderful warmer temperatures last week, she was more than happy to go on a bug hunt.

Little Ladybug was taking a nap, so just Little Lizard helped us on our hunt.

            

 

 

Big Ladybug overturned rocks, plant pots, and anything else that a bug might be hiding under. 

 

 

 

It didn’t take long for her to find what she was looking for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then read up on what bugs do to try to survive the winter.  We also read on to learn more about the bugs, like do they hear, and do they sleep?  We both found it pretty interesting.

 

We also read a great book (thanks to my sister suggesting it) that went nicely with this study. 

 

 

Yet again we have really enjoyed another Winter Wednesday Challenge! Check out other winter bug hunting fun at Handbook of Nature Study.

Winter Wednesday: Winter Weeds

Last week was absolutely beautiful weather for February so we took advantage of it and completed some Winter Wednesday Challenges.  Here we went out to find and observe weeds and seeds in the winter.

We went to my dad’s house to collect a variety of weeds.  It was a beautiful day with almost record high temperatures around 65 degrees!  Needless to say, we had a wonderful time running around outside.

         

We collected some and took them home to look at more closely.

      

We made a beautiful weed bouquet for the kitchen table and got on the internet to see if we could identify them.  We think we collected Milkweed, Aster, Fox Tail, and some sort of thistle. 

 

 

 

This is Big Ladybug’s notebook page.

Stop by Discover Their Gifts to see a great Winter Weeds study.

You can also check out other Winter Weed studies at Handbook of Nature Study.

Winter Wednesday: Finding Winter Colors

We are full force into winter weather, cold, snow, freeing rain, icy roads and sidewalks, blustery winds, and more cold…..ick!!! 

But since we are participating in the Winter Wednesday hosted by Barb at Handbook of Nature Study, we are finding some joy in what winter has to offer!  You can read about Barb’s Winter Wednesday challenges here.

Big Ladybug, Little Ladybug, and I went out while Little Lizard was taking his nap. It was only 23 degrees, but the sun was shining so it made it seem a little warmer.  I had taken some great pictures, but accidently deleted the whole folder from my camera!  So Big Ladybug and I went out again a little later and did some quick retakes.

We ended up having a great time!  The girls were running around everywhere having fun throwing snow.

I borrowed my sister’s idea of using the color word cards.  You can check out the fun they had here.

 

 

   

        

Here is the notebook page that Big Ladybug made.  Somehow her drawings look much more inviting!

I can say I was surprised about how easy it was to find all of these colors.  We had a great time outside and are looking forward to more Winter Wednesday challenges!