The Magnifying Glass

Nature Exchange Update...

The response to the nature exchange has been wonderful. That also means that it is taking me a bit more time than I anticipated to send out all those e-mails matching up participants. I am hoping to contact everyone by Wednesday. Thank you for your understanding!

Please be sure to read this post before sending your package. 

Happy collecting!!

~ Dawn

 

A Nature Exchange Book List.

All of us here at TMG are very excited to have so many families signing up for the nature exchange!  It should be really fun and interesting, and I thought that I might share a few useful books to help you get started finding and identifying some of the natural treasures in your neck of the woods.  Here are a few favorite titles that you might find helpful!

 

Out of the Ocean by Debra Frasier

 

 

The Tree Book by Gina Ingoglia

 

 

My First Pocket Guide to Rocks and Minerals by National Geographic

 

 

My First Pocket Guide to Wildflowers by National Geographic

 

These are just a few titles among many that could be great resources for the exchange.  Does your family have any favorites you'd like to share? 

 

--- Annie

Nature Exchange ~ Sign Up

We love to collect bits of nature. We collect everything from sea shells to snail shells and all things in between. With our finds we create art, play games, manipulate math concepts, examine them under the microscope and share with our friends... We do love to share what we find out there in the natural world and see what others are finding as well. I am sure many of you feel the same way. 

Another thing we love around here is to see the mail truck coming up the driveway with a package just for us. The squeals of delight and calling out of it's arrival are unmistakable. 

What a wonderful thing to combine two of our favorite things... nature and mail. What fun!

Would you like to join in the fun? Would you like to share nature with another nature loving family and receive a box of their nature finds in return?

If you would like to do a Nature Exchange please do the following:

Send me an e-mail at [email protected] by November 2, 2011. 

    Include the following information in your e-mail:

• Name (first and last)
• Full mailing address
• Link to your blog (if you have one)
• Ages of you children
• If you are willing to ship international 
• Title the e-mail "Nature Exchange"

Start getting your nature box ready as soon as you sign up. For ideas on how to pack up your nature goodness please check out this post. 

By November 5th I will match you up with another family and send you an e-mail with the information needed to send your nature box to your match. I will do my best to make matches from different regions but it all depends on who signs up. Once I divide all participants into regions matches will be made by random selection. Please be understanding. 

Please send your box out by November 12, 2011. 

 

Nature Exchange with Annie 

Let me know if you have any questions.

All of us here at The Magnifying Glass are really excited about this project.

Happy Nature Collecting!

~Dawn

National Fossil Day.

As it turns out, October 12th is celebrated as National Fossil Day here in the United States.  Such fun!  The National Parks Service has a special website set up for the occasion, which includes a number of ideas about how you and yours can celebrate National Fossil Day in true paleontologist style.  You can check it out here.  There are plenty of great ideas for activities both around home and out in the field, so to speak.  If you do happen to plan a special trip, activity or project to celebrate National Fossil Day, do leave a comment and let us know- we'd love to hear about it. 

For an easy at-home fossil-themed project you can also view this post from the archives over on my own blog. Enjoy!

 

----Annie

Nature in My Pocket - Craft

These fall days have been filled with unseasonably warm walks on the trail and in the forest. Despite the warmer weather we have found our pockets and baskets full of the usual fall findings of pine cones and acorns... along with many a feather. 

This is what I found in my pocket after a recent walk...

My son asked if we could make some "men" with our nature finds. My mom is visiting and took on the challenge. They gathered the glue gun, some pipe cleaners, a black pen and a few tiny sticks. After a bit of wrapping and twisting, and some gluing they came up with the cutest little solider...

Then they made a few more.

Some fairies are next up in our house but these little people could become anything from forest folk to knights.

Such a fun and simple craft for our nature finds.

What have you been finding in your pocket this fall? 

~ Dawn

Four O'Clock Fun

Ciao and Hello! I am so sorry for the prolonged absence from The Magnifying Glass...traveling back to the States for six weeks and hosting visitors here in Sicily led to a longer than expected hiatus, but we are now "plugged" back in and have lots to share from our recent adventures starting with one of our favorite summer time activities.

 Summer days in Sicily are hot and dry which means we usually emerge later in the afternoons and evenings to enjoy the cooler breezes and dramatic sunsets. And we aren't the only ones who perk up later in the day: our four o'clock flowers do, too. It is easy to see how they got their common name because their blooms really do unfurl during the cooler parts of the day. It is pretty amazing to see those flowers opening up each afternoon right on schedule. Actually, it isn't an internal clock, but more of a thermometer that prompts them to open up later in the day and close back up again when the temps rise with the morning sun.One of my favorite summer activities as a kid was making flower crowns and bracelets from the four o'clocks that thrived in our yard and it is so much fun to now share that experience with my kids. It's a simple, but very satisfying process. Here's what we do:  find a long piece of grass/weed stem, pick a bloom, pinch off the end and pull out the stamen, thread on the grass, and repeat until you have a lovely scented lei.

 Four O'clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) are tropical and nocturnal plants which means they grow best in warmer climates and they open at dusk. Their enticing scent attracts hawk moths and sphinx moths. The seeds are also fun and easy to collect especially for eager little hands...just be sure no one eats them or decides to stick one up a nostril (like my mother did when she was a child...she didn't tell anyone until it began to swell and germinate). In warmer climates the four o'clocks will usually re-seed and multiply for future summers, but in cooler areas save the seeds for planting next spring or dig up the tubers that are formed and store those in a safe spot for re-planting in the spring (similar to what is done with dahlias).

I hope you and your families are enjoying this summer season (or winter if you are in the Southern hemisphere). Have been growing anything fun, interesting, or tasty in your yard this season?  If so, please tell us about it!

---Lucia

Texture walk

Today my son came to me with a sunflower leaf (from his sisters butterfly garden... shhhh) and told me that it was rough like sandpaper. We started talking about texture and all the different textures we find in nature. That sparked a texture walk. Since this one started with a leaf our walk had a leaf theme but it just as well could have been dirt, rocks, tree bark or all of the above. 

We found rough, smooth, bummpy, fuzzy and so much more...

His favorite... the soft and fuzzy mint leaves. 

But I think that is because he likes to nip a little taste while he is out to play, as evidence by the state of the mint leaves. There are advantages to ending your texture walk in the herb garden.

Other ideas:

~ Talk with your kids about texture and make a list of different textures before you head outside to find the textures on your list. 

~ Choose a theme, like our leaf theme, and see how many different textures you can find within the theme.

~ Place some nature items in a bag then have the kids reach in to feel them and give a guess based on what they feel. Talk about how the texture helped them figure it out.

~ You could also do a color walk or a shape walk.

Do you have any other ideas for themed nature walks? We would love to hear about your walk. 

Have fun in nature!

~Dawn

Tide pool for the day...

After a very cold and wet spring we have had a string of sunny warm days. The water is starting to warm up and that means more explorations at the beach.

The other day a request came in to take our tank over to the beach so we could set up a tide pool for some up close observations... great idea!

They collected some sea weed that was attached to little rocks.

Found some crabs and other ocean dwellers.

Placed them all in the tank with some sand and water... then watched.

It took a bit of time for the water to settle and for everone to get comfortable but they got to see the crabs back down into the sand, the periwinkes slide across the sea weed, clams filter feed (they named the one above Black Beard), along with many other tiny creatures they had never noticed in the water before. 

I am sure we will be doing this throughout the summer and I imagine the microscope will be coming across the street with us too!

• If you don't have a tank a glass pitcher would do the trick or even a one gallon mason jar. Just make sure you are allowed to bring glass on your beach. 
• If using a smaller container change the water out often throughout the observation period to keep it cool... the water in the jar will warm up quickly.
• We use our tank for lots of different kinds of observations... from beach to pond to forest. If you would like one of your own you could try scanning web sites like freecycle or craigslist to see you you can find a free or inexpensive tank. 
• Be sure to return all the creatures you observed to the locations where you found them. 
• If you are not near a beach you could also do this at a creek or pond. It is amazing the creatures you can find living in pond mud!

Happy observations!

~Dawn

 

Bookmaking with Children: Nature Journal with Twig Binding.

Those of you who occasionally wander over to my own internet living room might be aware that I often post bookmaking tutorials there.  When we decided on nature journaling as our TMG theme for this week, I realized that it made for the perfect opportunity to indulge my enthusiasm for all things book by sharing a favorite bookmaking project with you all!

This nature journal is incredibly basic and easy to put together.  I first learned a variation of this project at a teaching conference some years ago, and I definitely remember being impressed with how quickly it came together.  The aesthetically-minded may find the twig and rubberband binding technique to be somewhat lacking in the style department, but I assure you that it serves an important purpose.  Using the rubberband rather than something more permanent, such as stitching or adhesive, means that the journal can be easily taken apart to add new pages any time that you need to.  This is a really handy feature in a nature journal, I think.  This is particularly true if your kiddos enjoy pasting things to the pages and fill up their space quickly.  

Here we go!

Nature Journal with Twig Binding

What you will need:

heavy weight paper or card stock for the cover

paper for inside pages

a twig

a rubberband 

holepunch

ruler

pencil

 

What you will do: 

 

Cut your paper and card stock to the desired size.  I cut an 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of card stock in two, ending up with two pieces each 8 1/2 inches by 5 1/2 inches.  Cut your inside pages to the same size as the cover sheets.  How many pages to include in your book is absolutely up to you.  I think we started with about twenty here.  

 

Make two marks on each cover piece for holepunching, one towards the top and the other towards the bottom.  I made marks 1/2 inch in from the vertical edge and 1 inch in from each horizontal edge.  

 

Punch a single hole at each of your marks so that you now have a hole towards the top of each cover piece and one towards the bottom.  Punch holes in corresponding locations on your inside page pieces.

 

 

Find a small stick or twig that is approximately the same length as the vertical edge of your journal cover. Stack your cover and inside pages in the order that you want them in for the finished journal, carefully lining up the holes.

 

 

Loop one end of your rubberband around the twig and pull the other end through the hole at the top of the journal. 

 

 

Turn the journal over and pull the rubberband down the backside of the journal, bringing the free end of it through the bottom hole and back to the front of the journal.

 

Wrap the free end of the rubberband around the bottom end of the twig, effectively attaching the twig to the front of the journal and binding the edge of the book closed. 

 

 

And that's it!  We decorated the cover of our journal with stamps and cut-out paper leaves.  You might also think about adding an envelope to the inside cover for stashing treasures in when out and about. You can download a template for a tiny envelope that will fit nicely inside the journal by clicking the link below:

envelope template

Happy journaling!

--- Annie

Nature Journals

He wrote about things he had done, things he had seen, and thoughts he had had. Sometimes he drew a picture. He always ended by asking himself a question so he would have something to think about while falling asleep. On the day he found the swan's nest, this is what Sam wrote in his diary:

        I saw a pair of trumpeter swans today on a small pond east of camp. The female has a nest with eggs in it. The female has a nest with eggs in it. I saw three, but I am going to put four in the picture---I think she was laying another one. This is the greatest discovery I ever made in my entire life. I did not tell Pop. My bird book says baby swans are called cygnets. I am going back tomorrow to visit the great swans again. I heard a fox bark today. Why does a fox bark? Is it because he is mad, or worried, or hungry, or because he is sending a message to another fox? Why does a fox bark?

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White (p.5)  

I am currently reading The Trumpet of the Swan with my kids. Each night they snuggle next to me and we are transported to a world with a gentle boy named Sam and an amazing swan named Louis. I love all of E.B. White's books, but this one is especially dear to my heart with the exquisite descriptions of the natural world though the eyes of a boy and a swan. I am convinced that E.B. White must have had quite a collection of his own nature journals or at least spent hours observing creatures in order to bring them to life so beautifully.

Observations

Sam's swan observations remind me of one of my most treasured moments with my son at a small park in Jacksonville, Florida. We were the only ones there that day and Noah stopped playing when he noticed a large wood stork walking along the near-by creek. I stayed right where I was, but Noah slowly crept towards the water to get a better view. As he got closer, he dropped to his knees and eventually all the way down to the ground as he inched forward. I was in awe of how close he was able to get that enormous bird. And Noah stayed on his belly watching the bird for quite awhile until the bird flew further down the creek.

When Noah returned to the playground, he was bursting with observations, especially the exciting information he had to share about how wood storks urinate: " I saw him peeing. He didn't pee in a line. His pee was one little drop then another". You don't find those details in the typical field guide or bird book and I never thought I would be  so moved by a description of a wood stork peeing, but I was. It really was a magical moment for both of us and as soon as we got home Noah recorded it in his sketchbook.

I would love to say that our family is dedicated to keeping a precise and consistent journal filled with our observations, drawings, and questions about the natural world. But the reality is that we aren't. I almost always have a sketchbook and some colored pencils in the car, but that doesn't mean they get used every time we go for a hike. I'd say we are more sporadic, wanna be nature journalists. I say "wanna-be" because I really do want to be one of those people who always has a notebook handy and filled with dates and observations for future consultation. I yearn to fill pages with detailed drawings and descriptions to capture both magical moments and the more mundane.

Inspirations

Sam's journal entries in The Trumpet of the Swan have motivated me to make nature journaling more of a daily habit than an occasional event. I began my quest with a Flickr search which not only provided lots of inspiration, but also highlighted the diversity of "journals". Like this wonderful box of index cards which Leslie started several years ago:

"I started the journal in 2008.  I keep the same box and same cards (365 cards with month index dividers)year after year, and the note cards just get added to, on a new line for each year on a specific card for that day when I have something to journal, that way I can see trends."

You can read more about Leslie's nature journal at her blog, Sew Inspiring.

Take a look at the fabulous nature journals Stefani's boys produce. Drawings, observations, photographs....it is all so good and inspiring. Read more details about how their journals have evolved at Blue Yonder Ranch.

 And finally have a peek at what Jimmie and her daughter did one day: a nature sit. What a great way to focus in on tiny details no matter where you are in the world.  I love how both of their observations and drawings are included in this post about the day they chose to study a small patch of grass. It is this very process of stopping to examine and peer into the minutia that pushes me to make a more serious effort at keeping at nature journal.

My desire to learn more about nature journaling deepened when I happened upon this recent Rythme of the Home article about one family's phenology log. And yesterday I heard about the newest twist in nature journaling: iNaturalist which recently launched an i-phone app. In addition to internet research, I have also turned to a naturalist who has been keeping nature journals for over twenty years. Stay tuned for that interview later in the week.

But now, I would like to turn to each of you for help in my quest. Please share how your family keeps track of your observations and experiences in nature. And please, please add photos of your journals and drawings to The Magnifying Glass Group on Flickr.

So here are my questions for you:

Do you have a nature journal?

If so, how is it organized (file box, calendar, blank sketchbook)?

How often do you add entries to the journal?

---Lucia