Outdoor Hour: Scavenger Hunt

This week for our nature study I thought it would be fun to do a nature scavenger hunt. I kept coming across this idea on Pinterest so figured it was about time we tried it. The girls loved it and it really helped them be even more aware of what was around them as we took our walk. Since I just fly by the seat of my pants most of the time, I quick printed out a list from this lovely blog, The Taylor House. Next time I will try coming up with my own list of treasures to find...maybe.

I had considered giving the girls each a list, but since Ellie isn't reading yet, and it was pretty windy outside I just printed up one for us all to use, and this way we were able to work as a team to find things. Because of the list we ended up taking a little different route for our walk and discovering some new and interesting things right in our neighborhood. 

Something fuzzy (and round!): dandelion.

Two kinds of seeds: prickly goat's heads and lilac pods.

Something straight: tree trunk and pine needles.

Something round: bird nest in the tree.

Something smooth: a rock.

Something rough: a bigger rock.

Two different types of leaves: don't ask me to identify them. I just know they are different. :)

Something that makes noise: the wind. And boy was it howling today! We determined it was around a Force 5 (19-24mph) on the Beaufort Scale.

A chewed leaf (The wind kept moving it so the camera couldn't focus on it.)

A beautiful rock: We found a bunch of rocks and so we each picked one we liked best.

A pine cone: We got lucky and found two different types of pine cones.

Something green: pine trees.

We didn't think we would find a pine cone or something green this time of year, but lo and behold, at the end of the street we were walking down, there were several different varieties of evergreen trees for us to check out! We pretty much always walk down this same road but have never gone far enough or paid attention to these trees before!

A stick: from a pine tree. 

Hannah's beautiful

Ellie's beautiful

Mom's beautiful

Something you think is beautiful: We each looked around for something that we thought was beautiful. It was delightful to see what beauty we each saw in nature. That part might just have to be something we do EVERY nature walk.

And speaking of beautiful, weren't the clouds just lovely today? We were reading about clouds today in our weather study, and we are working on identifying the different types of clouds. It can be a bit tricky at times, but it is so fascinating! Each day it's like a new painting up in the sky!

Another successful outdoor hour. Next week we might venture to somewhere outside of our neighborhood. Or we might continue to explore what's right around us. There's so much to see and learn!

Blessings!