One
of our favorite fall activities for homeschool is the nature
walk. It’s relaxing, educational, and can be adapted
to a variety of lesson plans. I’ve written some ideas
to help you ensure that the nature walk is included in your
homeschool activities this fall.
#1 Nature Walk
Leaf Collection
Children
love to collect. Mine gather rocks, flowers, weeds, bugs,
and anything else they can reach whenever we go outside. So
I thought it would be great to put that collecting fascination
to good use.
Print out some
copies of this leaf
collection worksheet and put them in a binder. Attach
a pen or pencil to the binder (so it doesn’t get lost!)
and bring it and a digital camera on your walk.
NOTE:
My children, even my 5-year-old, enjoy taking pictures.
I try to foster this love every chance I get, but all of these
lessons can be done with drawings - or even written descriptions
- instead of photos if you don’t have access to a digital
camera.
Let your child
take pictures of the tree and the leaf and then fill out a worksheet
for each new leaf. Note any seeds, berries, or flowers for each
tree.
Once you finish your walk, you’ll want to research
your finds to determine what type of tree they’re from.
Help your child glue the leaves on the correct worksheets.
You may have to use hot glue. Print out images of trees and
leaves on regular paper and instruct your child to cut and
glue them in the proper place on the worksheet.
In your binder,
you can alphabetize your leaves and even put them into groups,
such as deciduous and coniferous.
