All Year Round Blog Carnival
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Sunday, 26 February 2012

Looking at Nature



Last week we made a Nature Study kit and although we haven't yet had a chance to take it with us on a nature walk, this week we went to an illustrated talk at our local Natural History Society on the flora and fauna of the cemetery which is one of our favourite places to go for walks. We've also been looking at nature books. We have a large collection of secondhand children's books including lots of unusual and vintage books and among them we found this wonderful book published in 1963, Looking At Nature: Book 3. Working With Nature by Elsie Proctor.



We really enjoyed looking through it and reading some of the pages together.


ABOUT THIS BOOK
Natural Science is a scientific study and now that you are older you should try out scientific methods of working.
You are learning to look at, or observe, Nature and, to work scientifically, you must also learn to record what you see, and to experiment and investigate in order to find out more about Nature's mysteries. There are many interesting ways of recording your discoveries as you will find out.
The basic materials of Nature are earth, air and water. Plants cannot live without these. We cannot live without them either, nor can we live without plants, so we should try to find out all we can about them. You will learn much about them from this book and you will find many experiments described for you to try.
Weather studies form part of our work. In autumn and in spring, weather conditions are changing quickly and there are interesting happenings to study...
If you want to become a Natural Scientist, there is much work to be done.

We also enjoyed looking at the beautiful illustrations of plants, animals and landscapes.



Our favourite page is about preparing a Nature Study kit.


THE EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED FOR FIELD-WORK
This boy has a small haversack with him. You will find a haversack very useful. Some of the things you may need to carry in your haversack are a sandwich tin for your lunch, a bottle of fruit juice (you can get very thirsty when out collecting), a torch, a knife, some string, some polythene bags, a pocket compass, a hand lens, some little tubes, bottles and matchboxes, your field notebook and pencil, and a trowel. If you can get it in, a long tin box is useful, but your polythene bags will be a good alternative.
Now why do you want these things?
Remember that you may be searching beneath undergrowth or looking into holes or caves, so you will need a torch.
You may have to dig for ferns or insects, so you will need a trowel.
You need to keep your plant specimens fresh, and a tin would be very useful for this. You could use your sandwich tin after lunch, or you could put your specimens in the polythene bags.
For small specimens of any kind, you will find that your specimen tubes and matchboxes are very useful.
You need a compass to check upon your direction, for you can easily get lost in a wood. It is a good plan to have a map with you too.
If the boy in the picture is going into very damp places, he should be wearing wellingtons instead of his strong shoes. He is carrying a fishing net so it looks as though he might be, although this could be a butterfly net.

On the book's advice we've added a trowel to our own Nature Study kit and will remember to wear wellingtons in very damp places!



This week we've also been reading more spring books, continued working on our spring project book, and started chitting our potatoes.

If you have a post about a spring book, spring nature walk or any post with a spring theme, we'd love you to link up with our All Year Round Blog Carnival: Spring, which is open for new links until May.

sunnydaytodaymama

More Nature Study inspiration on Pinterest.


We're also having a spring giveaway for a copy of a little vintage book, I-Spy Wild Flowers. If you'd like to enter the giveaway please leave a comment on my A homemade Nature Study Kit and an I-Spy Wild Flowers giveaway post before 3rd March.

See more play and learning ideas at:
Link & Learn at No Time For Flash Cards
Playdate at Beneath the Rowan Tree
Learning Laboratory at mama smiles
Show and Tell at ABC and 123
Thrifty Thursday at playing with words 365
It's Playtime at The Imagination Tree, Quirky Momma, let the children play, hands on : as we grow and Messy Kids
Fun Sparks at Science Sparks
Fun Stuff Fridays at Toys In The Dryer
Fun Frugal Friday at Fun Frugal Mommy
For the Kids Friday at Sun Scholars
Thank Goodness It's Friday! at Living Life Intentionally
Fun for Kids Friday at Local Fun For Kids
Play Academy at NurtureStore
Family Frolics at Multiple Mummy
Sharing Saturday at Mama Mia's Heart2Heart and Crafty Moms Share
Show and Share Saturday at I can teach my child
The Sunday Showcase at Classified: Mom and Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Outdoor Play at Mama Pea Pod, Greening Sam & Avery, Learning for Life and The Golden Gleam
See more nature ideas at:
Friday's Nature Tables at The Magic Onions
See more books at:
Book Sharing Monday at Smiling like Sunshine
What My Child Is Reading at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns
Weekly Book Blog Hop at Beck Valley Books

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

All Year Round week one: 7 Spring Ideas for Children

The All Year Round Blog Carnival began last week and already there are so many great spring posts linked up so a huge thank you to everyone who has taken part so far! I decided to feature a few posts from the carnival each week and here are just some of the wonderful ideas people have shared. You can see more spring posts, and join us, at the Spring Carnival which is open for new links until May. You can find out more about All Year Round here and also follow All Year Round on Pinterest.

We also currently have a spring giveaway for a copy of a little vintage book, I-Spy Wild Flowers. If you'd like to enter the giveaway please leave a comment on my A homemade Nature Study Kit and an I-Spy Wild Flowers giveaway post before 3rd March.



Discovery Bottles - The Four Seasons at Sun Hats & Wellie Boots


Outdoor Literacy at Growing Book By Book


Make a garden journal at NurtureStore


Sensory Gardening With Kids at Little Wonders' Days


Ever wonder what you can do with carrots? at Kids Creative Chaos


Bursting the cocoon! Caterpillar Fun at Science Sparks


Handprint Butterflies at LLM Calling


If your post is featured today then you're very welcome to get a "Featured On" button for your blog.

sunnydaytodaymama
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sunnydaytodaymama
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Carnival co-hosts:
sunnydaytodaymama, Mama Smiles, Winding Circle,
The Mahogany Way, Smiling like Sunshine, Home Baked

Monday, 20 February 2012

What To Look For In Spring (A Ladybird Book)

On Saturday we'd planned to go for a nature walk with our new homemade Nature Study Kit, but it was pouring with rain so instead we stayed home and began making a spring Project Book. We've also been reading spring books including this lovely Ladybird Book published in 1961.

What To Look For In Spring (Ladybird Nature Series 536) by E.L. Grant Watson (Author), C.F. Tunnicliffe R.A. (Illustrator)



'By the end of February many signs of Spring have already appeared and, as the days grow longer, the hearts of country dwellers are stirred to renewed wonder at the swelling of buds and the sight of the early blossoms of hazel, willow, alder and poplar.

In March come the violets and celandines, and although the easterly winds often blow strong and cold, we know that March will soon be followed by April - when windows can be opened again, and hedgehogs and dormice can end their hibernation and enjoy the sunshine. With Spring comes the greatest wonder of the year - possibly even more beautiful than the Summer.'

If you have a post about a spring book, or any post with a spring theme, we'd love you to link up with our All Year Round Blog Carnival: Spring, which is open for new links until May.

sunnydaytodaymama

We're also having a spring giveaway for a copy of a little vintage book, I-Spy Wild Flowers. If you'd like to enter the giveaway please leave a comment on my A homemade Nature Study Kit and an I-Spy Wild Flowers giveaway post before 3rd March.

See more books at:
Book Sharing Monday at Smiling like Sunshine
What My Child Is Reading at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns

See more nature ideas at:
Friday's Nature Tables at The Magic Onions

Saturday, 18 February 2012

A homemade Nature Study kit and an I-Spy Wild Flowers giveaway



Inspired by a wonderful homemade Gather Bucket at maya*made, that I featured in my preparing for spring post, I decided to put together a Nature Study kit to take with us on our spring nature walks. I found an Origins fabric shopping bag to use and then collected things to put in it that we had around our house.



Our kit contains:
Magnifying glass, binoculars, compass, plain paper exercise book, pencil, one large tin and one small tin, cardboard tub, two little jars, one large drawstring bag and three small drawstring bags, Birds of the British Isles picture cards, I-Spy Wild Flowers book, Nature Facts (Pockets) book, discover wildlife booklet, and a set of booklets about bugs, beetles, flies, dragonflies, snails & slugs and grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches & earwigs. (We added a ruler and a tape measure after I took these pictures.)

Sunnyboy said he'd like to look for bugs so for our first nature walk with our new Nature Study kit we'll take a book on bugs and a bug spotter's chart (both came from a Bugs Activity Kit).



We also have some packs of Usborne Spotter's Cards to use on more nature walks.



All of our books and spotter's cards were bought secondhand from charity shops and we have a spare secondhand copy of this little vintage book, I-Spy Wild Flowers, so I'm having a giveaway. If you'd like to win a copy leave a comment on this post. Please mention in your comment that you'd like to enter the giveaway (and include a link to your blog) and I'll draw a winner at random on 3rd March.



If you have a post about a nature study kit, spring nature walk, spring nature table or any post with a spring theme, we'd love you to link up with our All Year Round Blog Carnival: Spring, which is open for new links until May.

sunnydaytodaymama

More Nature Study inspiration on Pinterest.


The Gather Bucket


Nature Study Kit


Nature Study Kit from Recyclables


Nature Explorer Bag


Nature Table


Make A Nature Table


19 Can-Do Nature Walk Variations


See more play and learning ideas at:
Link & Learn at No Time For Flash Cards
Playdate at Beneath the Rowan Tree
Learning Laboratory at mama smiles
Show and Tell at ABC and 123
Thrifty Thursday at playing with words 365
It's Playtime at The Imagination Tree, Quirky Momma, let the children play, hands on : as we grow and Messy Kids
Fun Sparks at Science Sparks
Fun Stuff Fridays at Toys In The Dryer
Fun Frugal Friday at Fun Frugal Mommy
For the Kids Friday at Sun Scholars
Thank Goodness It's Friday! at Living Life Intentionally
Fun for Kids Friday at Local Fun For Kids
Play Academy at NurtureStore
Family Frolics at Multiple Mummy
Sharing Saturday at Mama Mia's Heart2Heart and Crafty Moms Share
Show and Share Saturday at I can teach my child
The Sunday Showcase at Classified: Mom and Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Outdoor Play at Mama Pea Pod, Greening Sam & Avery, Learning for Life and The Golden Gleam
See more nature ideas at:
Friday's Nature Tables at The Magic Onions
See more books at:
Book Sharing Monday at Smiling like Sunshine
What My Child Is Reading at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns
See more favourite posts at:
Share and Share at Heartfelt Balance Handmade Life
Made with Love at Rainy Day Mum, AngeliqueFelix.com and Mommy Labs

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

All Year Round Blog Carnival: Spring

After some recent cold, winter weather we still have a little snow left on the ground here, but we've been preparing for spring for a while now too and today I'm excited to announce the beginning of the All Year Round Blog Carnival: Spring, a collection of spring posts sharing seasonal thoughts, pictures, activities, crafts, recipes, art, projects, celebrations and more.

sunnydaytodaymama

Carnival co-hosts:
sunnydaytodaymama, Mama Smiles, Winding Circle*,
The Mahogany Way, Smiling like Sunshine, Home Baked

You are invited to join us and link up your old and new spring posts. The spring carnival will remain open for new links for the next three months (until we change to the summer carnival on 15th May) so you can come back and link up more posts throughout the spring. We hope you'll enjoy visiting the host blogs and posts from the linky for lots of spring ideas and inspiration.

Please link to the URL of your spring themed post. You're very welcome to get a button, share this post, and let your friends know about the carnival. You can find out more about All Year Round here and also follow All Year Round on Pinterest.

Wishing you a happy spring season!

*If it's nearly autumn, rather than spring, where you live then call by at Winding Circle for an autumn focus (including an autumn Linky).





All Year Round Pinterest


Spring Pinterest
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