This month’s nature study was sporadic- and not really study, exactly, with all of the holiday things to do and with all of the relatives we had over. We managed to get outside a few times and do a few of the Outdoor Hour Challenge grid activities. We didn’t put a ribbon in our tree (though that is a brilliant idea), but we did experience several very windy days. We watched leaves fly, our hair get whipped around, and heard the howling.
It was cold this month (for a spoiled California girl) and there was frequently frost in our grass and one day, there were ice patches on our sidewalk! The kids found these and decided to go “ice skating” on them. It was adorable. It was also the day our East Coast relatives got snowed in, so my complaining about the cold was pretty pathetic.
We went on a nature hunt in the park and found brown sticks and dead leaves, green and red leaves, and little red berries that we brought back and put in a collage. They turned out really pretty and quite festive. We didn’t find anything sticky exactly, but our poinsettia leaves were very soft.
We didn’t manage to observe any wild animals, but my sister came for Christmas and brought her puppy. She and I decided that we really wanted to get all of the children (both human and canine) out of the house, so we took them to a dog park and watched the dogs run and play.
Our favorite spice over here is cinnamon. I pulled out our cinnamon scented pine cones and the spicy scent of those was wonderful. We also enjoyed smelling the pine Christmas tree (and the little pine branches we added to our collage).
So that’s it. Nature fun in December. Happy New Year everyone!
Following Footprints 