I Like This Place…
Author: raisinglittleshoots
A Charlotte Mason inspired home educator, person of faith, knitter, lover of the outdoors. Author of Exploring Nature With Children: A complete, year-long curriculum
Exploring Nature With Children ~ Autumn Leaves
The first week’s nature walk for October in Exploring Nature With Children is Autumn Leaves. We headed off for a rather wet Autumn leaf hunt determined to brave the rain.
We found a lot of beautiful Maple leaves for our collection, then Rose began hunting for conkers.
We managed to collect a good haul, all the while discussing how leaves change colours.
We headed home and came across a large growth of fungus on the pavement edge
Once home, we got stuck into our nature journals.
Next job; preserving our Autumn leaves!
Happy exploring!
Nature Never Did Betray…
The October Nature Table
The October nature table is looking quite festive! Next week’s nature walk in Exploring Nature With Children is Autumn leaves, so our table is dressed accordingly.
I made the big mushroom child, the felted mushroom, and autumn leaves when the girls were small. I think the other mushrooms were from Ikea.
Tuesday was Michaelmas, so we added this little card to our nature table. Our church is St Michael’s and All Angels, and the card is a photograph of one of the stained glass windows. It is a beautiful church 🙂
Needle-felted acorns amongst the conkers.
A beautiful hand-carved set of mushrooms. Again, we have had this since the girls were tiny.
I really do love this time of year…the glorious colours & gentle light. Please feel free to share links to your own nature table in the comments.
Happy Exploring!
The Lunar Eclipse
We made it for the eclipse!
We had a very vocal visit from a neighbourhood cat, plus one of our garden hedgehogs was out enjoying the food we leave for them each night.
We listened to our hedgehog munching as we watched the final light of the moon disappear, to see the whole moon suddenly turn red! Unfortunately I could not pick it up with my camera. This is the best shot I could get.
I am sorry it is so poor! I am really not the best photographer.
We had a great night. The children are now tucked up in bed, and at 4am, I am wide awake 🙂
The Harvest Moon – Exploring Nature With Children
This week is Harvest Moon Week in Exploring Nature With Children, and what a beauty!
We went for a night-time nature walk and were treated to this beautiful, glorious moon.
My plan is to set my alarm for around 2:30am and if the sky is clear, wake up the children.
Wish me luck!
In Every Walk With Nature…
Exploring Nature With Children ~ Autumn Equinox
We had a beautiful morning for our Autumnal equinox nature walk using Exploring Nature With Children.
We found several items on the treasure hunt list:
A golden leaf
Something soft
Something wet
A cluster of berries
A red leaf; what a beauty!
A beautiful spider landed on my arm whilst we hunted, we found his web & heard migrating geese overhead.
We were slightly distracted picking Elder berries, which shall be later made into cough syrup.
Here are our nature journals from this week
Happy Exploring!
Happy Autumnal Equinox!
The Autumn Book Basket
The Autumn Equinox is almost upon us, so I wanted to share with you the children’s books that I have collected over the years. They are very much family favourites, and I hope that you will find a favourite or two here also.
Brambly Hedge Autumn Story by Jill Barklem
The Brambly Hedge stories are an absolute treasure, and these books were my own as a child. The stories are sweet and the illustrations are truly outstanding.
Mousekin’s golden House by Edna Miller
Again, beautiful illustrations. This is a lovely story for the younger child on Halloween.
A gentle, rhythmic story about seasonal nineteenth century New England farm life. This is my own personal favourite, one that I look forward to having grandchildren to read it to!
Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
A great introduction to the lifecycle of the pumpkin, a little boy plants a seed & waits for it to grow..
A book about the origins of Halloween, & modern celebrations. Beautifully told.
The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons
Another smashing book from Ms Gibbons, all about..pumpkins 🙂 Bright pictures & very informative.
Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
A simple tale of a kitten seeing the world bathed in moonlight for the very first time.
We Gather Together by Wendy Pfeffer
A glorious telling of Autumn celebrations from around the world & over time. A must!
Hello Harvest Moon by Ralph Fletcher
A beautifully written tale that is essential reading for the Harvest Moon. One you will read year after year…
Woody, Hazel, and Little Pip by Elsa Beskow
Another delightful nature tale from Elsa Beskow. Two acorn children who get carried away by the blustery autumn wind. A wonderful, curl-up-by-the-fire Autumnal read.
Please note, the booked linked is the mini edition
The Pumpkin Blanket by Deborah Turney Zagwym
The bitter-sweet story of a child giving up her treasured blanket. (Though I confess, I didn’t really think she needed to!)
The Dandelion Seed by Joseph Anthony
One for all year around, I choose to keep this wondrous tale in our Autumn basket. A smashing read about the plant lifecycle.
A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston
Inspiring illustrations (think your nature journal!) and packed with information for all ages.
A magical story that will inspire your child’s creativity. One to pull out & read before heading out of doors on an Autumn day.
Thank you for sharing with me my favourite Autumn books. I would love to hear about your own; please do share in the comments section.
Please note, I have linked to the books on Amazon.co.uk as I am in England 🙂
Some of the books may now be out of print, which either makes them super-cheap, or super-expensive!