CHRISTMAS PLANTS WEEK | EXPLORING NATURE WITH CHILDREN

Christmas Plants.jpg

Next week in Exploring Nature With Children is ‘Christmas Plants Week’.

Here are some helpful links to help with your studies:

Exploring Nature With Children is an open and go curriculum. To make it even easier, I have created a free calendar for you to download. There’s a direct link in my profile.

If you’re following along with the community over on Instagram, do pop over and say hello! Think of it as your virtual home school co op! 

To enable you to connect with other families working through the ENWC curriculum, this week’s hashtag will be: #ENWCchristmasplantsweek 

Happy exploring!

DECEMBER NATURE NOTE

Book : : The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden

I hope that this December Nature Note finds you & your loved ones well.

If you are new here, and to Exploring Nature with Children, I’m thrilled that you’re joining us! If you subscribe to the blog posts on the website, You’ll receive the monthly Nature Note, which will give you an overview of the month ahead, and also the weekly Exploring Nature with Children theme posts, which I hope will be helpful to you in your studies.

For those of you who are using Exploring Nature With Children, the weeks for December fall as follows:

4th ~ 10th Week 1 Christmas Plants Week #ENWCchristmasplantsweek 

11th ~ 17th Week 2: Winter Bird Study Week #ENWCwinterbirdweek 

18th ~ 24th Week 3: Winter Solstice Week #ENWCwintersolsticeweek  

(The Solstice itself falls on Friday the 22nd)

25th ~ 31st Week 4: The Twelve Days of Christmas Week  #ENWC12daysofchristmasweek 

If you’re over on Instagram, do pop over and say hello! The Instagram page is very much about community; think of it as your virtual home school co op! Our community uses the #exploringnaturewithchildren hashtag, & also specific weekly hashtags { see above } to enable you to connect with other families working through the ENWC curriculum.

There’s a free ENWC calendar for the year to download  here.

As always, please work the weeks to suit your own circumstances best; these are just my own suggestions! 

Seasonal notes:

Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire and Christmas treat.

~ The Months by Sara Coleridge

Special days this December:

Happy exploring!

WEATHER WEEK | EXPLORING NATURE WITH CHILDREN

Next week in Exploring Nature With Children is ‘Weather Week’.

Here are some helpful links to support your studies:

Exploring Nature With Children is an open and go curriculum. To make it even easier, I have created a free calendar for you to download. There’s a direct link in my profile.

If you’re following along with the community over on Instagram, do pop over and say hello! Think of it as your virtual home school co op! 

To enable you to connect with other families working through the ENWC curriculum, this week’s hashtag will be:  #ENWCweatherweek 

Happy exploring!

Stir Up Sunday

This coming Sunday is Stir Up Sunday!

Always the Sunday before Advent, Stir Up Sunday falls on the 26th of November this year. It’s one of my most favourite days of the year.

It’s the day when, traditionally, families would gather to make their Christmas puddings and cakes, giving the flavours plenty of time to develop before Christmas begins.

The name for Stir Up Sunday comes from the opening words of the collect (prayer) for the day read from the Book of Common Prayer used in the Church of England:

“Stir-up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

It’s such a jolly day here; we listen to Christmas carols, and everyone helps with the baking. (We ice our cake just a couple of days before Christmas Day. ) Even naughty pony has her own version of a Christmas pudding prepared for her!

The Celebrating the Seasons with Children: A Nature Advent Calendar has a page devoted to the British tradition of Stir Up Sunday, to help get you into the spirit of togetherness and creating family traditions, and then follows a simple, open-and-go format that intertwines the rhythms of nature with this cherished season of the church.

Each day has the same gentle rhythm:

Create an Atmosphere of Reverence, Wonder, and Devotion.

Scripture reading

Moment of Silence and Prayerful Response

An Outdoor Activity

An Indoor Activity

The Advent Journal

You can discover more, and download the curriculum here: The Celebrating the Seasons with Children: A Nature Advent Calendar

A Nature Advent Calendar

This Advent season, embark upon a Seasonal Journey: “A Nature Advent Calendar

Follow nature’s rhythms and create cherished traditions with Celebrating the Seasons with Children: A Nature Advent Calendar.

Offering you a simple, open-and-go format, it will guide you through this season of the year, both the natural rhythm, and also the season that we celebrate as a church.

The Nature Advent Calendar is multi-age, in the same sort of style as Exploring Nature with Children, so that children of all ages can enjoy celebrating the seasons. A child that is old enough to keep a nature journal will get the most out of the Nature Advent Calendar, but it can be used by families with much younger children too.

My hope is that you will return to this resource year upon year, for layered learning. That it will ‘grow’ with your family as you establish your own traditions, and that you will experience the season in a deeply connected, and authentic way. Find out more here:

Celebrating the Seasons with Children: A Nature Advent Calendar.

Here’s to a blessed, peaceful, and nature-filled Advent, where each day unfolds as a chapter of connection and reflection. Available now for a joy-filled Advent season of shared celebration and discovery.

LICHEN WEEK | EXPLORING NATURE WITH CHILDREN

Next week in Exploring Nature With Children is ‘Lichen Week’.

Here are some helpful links to help with your studies:

What is lichen?

Bill Oddie Goes Wild: Lovely Lichens (BBC video)

Beautiful Lichen sketches, by Claire Kathleen Ward

Getting Started With Lichen Dyes by Alissa Allen

Foraging in Winter

Exploring Nature With Children is an open and go curriculum. To make it even easier, I have created a free calendar for you to download.

If you’re following along with the community over on Instagram, do pop over and say hello! Think of it as your virtual home school co op! 

To enable you to connect with other families working through the ENWC curriculum, this week’s hashtag will be: #ENWClichenweek 

Please note that lichens are very delicate structures and should always be collected responsibly.

Happy exploring!

MOSS WEEK | EXPLORING NATURE WITH CHILDREN

Next week in Exploring Nature With Children is ‘Moss Week’.

Here are some helpful links to help with your studies:

Exploring Nature With Children is an open and go curriculum. To make it even easier, I have created a free calendar for you to download.

If you’re following along with the community over on Instagram, do pop over and say hello! Think of it as your virtual home school co op! 

To enable you to connect with other families working through the ENWC curriculum, this week’s hashtag will be: #ENWCmossweek

Happy exploring!

FUNGUS STUDY WEEK | EXPLORING NATURE WITH CHILDREN

This week in Exploring Nature With Children is ‘Fungus Study Week’.

Here are some helpful links to help with your studies:

Exploring Nature With Children is an open and go curriculum. To make it even easier, I have created a free calendar for you to download.

If you’re following along with the community over on Instagram, do pop over and say hello! Think of it as your virtual home school co op! 

To enable you to connect with other families working through the ENWC curriculum, this week’s hashtag will be: #ENWCfungusweek 

Happy exploring!

NOVEMBER NATURE NOTE

Book : : The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden

I hope that this November Nature Note finds you & your loved ones well.

If you are new here, and to Exploring Nature with Children, I’m thrilled that you’re joining us! If you subscribe to the blog posts on the website, You’ll receive the monthly Nature Note, which will give you an overview of the month ahead, and also the weekly Exploring Nature with Children theme posts, which I hope will be helpful to you in your studies.

For those of you who are using Exploring Nature With Children, the weeks for November fall as follows:

30th ~ 5th Pumpkin Week #ENWCpumpkinweek  

6th ~ 12th Week 1 Fungus Week #ENWCfungusweek 

13th ~ 19th Week 2: Moss Week #ENWCmossweek 

20th ~ 26th Week 3: Lichen Week #ENWClichenweek 

27th ~ 3rd Week 4: Weather Week  #ENWCweatherweek 

If you’re over on Instagram, do pop over and say hello! The Instagram page is very much about community; think of it as your virtual home school co op! Our community uses the #exploringnaturewithchildren hashtag, & also specific weekly hashtags { see above } to enable you to connect with other families working through the ENWC curriculum.

There’s a free ENWC calendar for the year to download  here.

As always, please work the weeks to suit your own circumstances best; these are just my own suggestions! 

Seasonal notes:

Dull November brings the blast,
Then the leaves are falling fast.

~ The Months by Sara Coleridge

Special days this October:

Happy exploring!

PUMPKIN WEEK | EXPLORING NATURE WITH CHILDREN

Next week in Exploring Nature With Children is ‘Pumpkin Week’.

Here are some links to help with your studies:

Exploring Nature With Children is an open and go curriculum. To make it even easier, I have created a free calendar for you to download.

If you’re following along with the community over on Instagram, do pop over and say hello! Think of it as your virtual home school co op! 

To enable you to connect with other families working through the ENWC curriculum, this week’s hashtag will be: #ENWCpumpkinweek

Happy exploring!