For Budding Naturalists
A Nature Quiz, Story Walking Audios & Nature Journaling
There are seven paths to follow when you visit the Story Walking platform. Not sure where to begin? Take a quick journey quiz. We need testers to help debug features during platform construction and would be grateful for your engagement and feedback. There is a quiz option for “young explorers” and one for “grown explorers.” I am a kid at heart and chose the “Little footsteps” option. I encourage you to invite the child/children in your life to take the “Little footsteps” quiz along with you. See if they surprise you with their answers.
Your feedback and theirs can help us improve the programming.
Walking Stories - We’re also looking for feedback on Story Walking paths and audios. We share two audio samples on the Bees, Weeds, Trees & Seeds pathway. Invite your child/children to listen with you.
Ask your child/children what they liked about the story. Ask them what questions they have after listening.
We would love to read their responses if you share them in the comments section.
Nature Journaling - Today, I tested the spiral nature journal notebook we offer on our Merch page. The dots, oh, the dots… I love them.
The dots help with spacing, measuring, writing straight, and drawing borders. Young learners will find the dots super helpful.
Learn to draw with plants. Plants are easy to draw, because they stand still, unless the wind is blowing, and they don’t run or fly away. This past week, I went for a walk around our yard checking in with the trees and plants, and I noticed that my blueberry bushes survived being buried under 34 inches of ice and snow. I was beyond grateful.
I prune stems when branches get too crowded, and I pruned a stem from one of the blueberry bushes. I held it in my hand and studies it. I counted twelve buds on the cutting. I wondered how big the buds would grow. Which buds would become berries? Which buds would become leaves? How many berries could a stem produce?
Take you children outside to look at the spring buds. Choose a stem of buds. Prune it carefully, and thank the tree, bush or plant for the cutting. Bring it inside, and place it in a glass with 4-6 inches of water. Study the stem together with your children, and work together to create a written list of words describing what you notice.
Do you know what kind of plan it is?
How many stems?
How many buds on each stem?
Do the stems grow opposite to one another on the stem or do they alternate?
What color is the plant?
Get a sheet of blank paper and help your child/children write the date at the top. Then encourage them to draw a picture that represents what they see. I used my cutting to trace an outline of the blueberry stem onto a page of my new journal. Try freehand drawing and try tracing. Which works best? Connecting with plants in this creative activity is mindful, meditative, peaceful, and healing, if you seek healing.
Preserve the stem in the vase and keep the water fresh. Watch and see if the buds change in a week or two? When a cutting grows roots, and it turns from a stem into a baby plant, this is called propagation. Many plants will do this. Watch and see if your cutting grows roots. Keep track of the mother plant outside, too.
If you are interested in trying dotted paper, please visit the Story Walking Merchandise page. Product purchases support future development of the Story Walking experience. Memberships do, too.
We welcome feedback on the curiosity quiz, the walking story audios, the shopping experience, and this post, so we can make Story Walking activities more accessible, user-friendly and fun. I invite you to restack or share this post with family and friends.
Teen & Adult Listening - This month, the Story Walking Radio Hour presents Clean Made Simple: Natural Toxin-Free Living with guest Beth Newberry. Beth and I go down a rabbit hole and talk about a class of chemicals called PFAS, some of which are claimed to make sunscreens water-resistant. We discuss labels, ingredients, doing your own research, and safe recommendations for toxin-free product alternatives… reef-safe sunblocks included.