Nature Study: Fall Color Walk

 

 There’s nothing more fun than a Nature Walk in the woods with your kids on a warm day!

 

Check out Barb’s Outdoor Hour Challenge: Fall Color Walk

We collected leaves of many colors.  Then the girls went to hunt for colors in the woods.  They found brown and white lichens.

They found purple flowers, red berries and pink flowers.

Such a precious age… I wish they would just stop growing up so quickly. 

Our Nature Journal

Using PrismaColor pencils, I had my girls lightly color a 1” area on the left side of their Nature Study sketch pad.  They then had to write down the specific color of the pencil lead (eg. - vermillion red or lemon yellow).  Next, they had to find a leaf similar to that color and tape it in the center of the page using double sided tape.

In the last step, I had them use Kimberly Watercolor pencils.  On the right side of the page, they were to find two watercolor pencil colors similar to the leaf colors and then color a small area with each next to each other.  They then blended the two colors with a paint brush wet with just water.  This allowed them to see how different shades can blend with ease.

MFW ECC Highlights: Week 11–Brazil

 

 Welcome to our “Week 11 in Review” using Exploring Countries and Cultures in My Father’s World!

 

Nature Study this week: Squirrels and Chipmunks

Our nature studies have been a priority in our schooling these past few weeks because the warm days are quickly coming to an end. 

This week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge was to compare and contrast the squirrel and chipmunk. 

We have lots of squirrels running around the woods near our home.  But we have yet to spot a chipmunk.  Maybe our 3 curious dachshund's keep them away! 

 

Our Nature Study resources:

 

Geography Focus this week: South America, Brazil

  This is our last week in South America.  Next  week we fly to Europe. 

We studied the colors of the Brazilian flag and learned about the crops grown there.

A fun book I have enjoyed reading short tales, as we travel the world this year, has been the book Around the World in 80 Tales.  The illustrations are beautiful too.

 

Geography Vocabulary notebook illustration: Marsh

 

Science focus this week: Tropical Rain forest

This was our last week learning about the Rain Forest.  The girls picked two animals to study more in depth: the Jaguar and Quetzal.  We watched the film Wild Amazon on the National Geographic channel.

 

ECC co-op kids:

Yummy Avocado Recipe with apples

Fall Harvest Party with pumpkin carving and costumes!

Check out what others are doing this week in My Father’s World!

MFW ECC Highlights: Fall Art & Nature

 

Welcome to our '’Week 10 in Review” using Exploring Countries and Cultures in My Father’s World!

 

We continued our studies in Brazil, South America this week.  I featured our Rain Forest lapbook, art and link in last week’s post.

Nature Study and Fall Art fun:

This week was full of hands-on ‘fall’ fun and artwork.  I would like to share our projects and links so you can see how to complete them at home.

Rain Forest ~ Thumb / Finger print art & watercolors:

I got this cute project from 1+1+1=1 blog. You just need watercolors, ink pads, the tree worksheet from the blog post, stamps and a little hand willing to make finger/thumb prints! 

My girls added a few animals found in the layers of the Rain Forest.

 

Watercolor Crayon Resistant Leaf

You just need some corrugated cardboard, water colors, crayons and a few leaves.  I got this project from an excellent resource – Art Projects For Kids blog.  Click here for details.

 

ECC Co-op Kids craft:

The ECC co-op Kids really enjoyed this fabric project lead by Kattie @ 2 Ladybugs and a Lizard.  Check out the details on her blog here.

My daughter asked to take her fabric craft one step further by sewing a star pillow!  We are still learning how to sew therefore simple projects work out best.

 

 

Nature Study ~ Fall Color

My girls went on a nature walk (in their pj’s) to collect leaves of all colors.

Using PrismaColor pencils, I had my girls lightly color a 1” area on the left side of their Nature Study sketch pad.  They then had to write down the specific color of the pencil lead (eg. - vermillion red or lemon yellow).  Next, they had to find a leaf similar to that color and tape it in the center of the page using double sided tape.

In the last step, I had them use Kimberly Watercolor pencils.  On the right side of the page, they were to find two watercolor pencil colors similar to the leaf colors and then color a small area with each next to each other.  They then blended the two colors with a paint brush wet with just water.  This allowed them to see how different shades can blend with ease.

I will be posting more details about our Nature Walk soon. 

Check out what we have done with our weekly Nature Walks scheduled for Wednesdays in the MFW ECC Teacher’s Manual:

1. Cobwebs and Spiders
2. Compare Pears and Apples study
3. Milkweed and the Monarch
4. Finding Colors Outdoors

Our current read alouds:

 

ECC Resources for Brazil:

 

Check out what others are doing in My Father’s World this week @ 2 Ladybugs and a Lizard blog.