Jack Hobe Nature Art

Looking for a fun outdoor activity to get your kids off devices and encourage them to explore the natural world around them? Try nature journaling!

Defined as recording your observations, questions and thoughts about your subject using a pencil and paper, nature journaling is a relatively simple but powerful way of connecting with the natural world. It works through intentional observation of your subject using drawings, diagrams, written notes and numerical data; asking questions about these observations; and making connections to memories or past experiences.

If you haven’t had artistic or scientific training, you may be apprehensive of starting a regular journaling practice with your family. The good news is that nature journaling is something that you can develop with practice. If you and your kids do it often enough, you will start to see these skills improve automatically as you fill up journal after journal.

Nature Journaling as an Educational Tool: Journaling is a phenomenal way to get your kids interested in nature while also encouraging them to engage in the practices of art, scientific inquiry, language arts, and mathematics, all on a single page. It is a fantastic cross-disciplinary learning tool that is much more fun than memorizing textbooks or equations – your kids will be learning about many different school subjects while they journal, and they likely won’t realize it! Journaling not only involves scientific inquiry, language arts, and mathematics, but it also provides your kids with a way to see how they would use these skills in real life. Examples include recording information about plant height through writing, discovering where the flowers grow tallest with a graph, recording various bird species that they see, and so on.

Cultivating Intentional Curiosity In Your Children: Children tend to be naturally curious, much more so than adults. You can encourage this instinctive curiosity in your child through nature journaling whether they are home schooled or in the public school system.

One of the most important elements of nature journaling is asking questions. A journal is a place where it is okay to wonder about something or to not know the answer. In fact, asking questions is at the heart of being a good scientist. Encourage your kids to be intentionally curious and to wonder without limit about everything they see in nature: “Why do the leaves look curlier the higher you get up the stem?” “How does the mantis catch the wasp without being stung?” “When will the geese return to the pond?” “Why is part of the leaf yellow and not red?” “Are there different ways leaves change color?” The point is not to answer these questions, but to encourage your kids to take the initiative to explore the unknown on their own without fear of getting an “F” on a test or having to study more homework.

By encouraging your child to be curious and ask lots of questions, you are helping him or her to be a better thinker, exploring the subject from all different angles and not just sticking with what already know (or using Google to find the answer!).

I encourage you to try nature journaling for yourself and your kids. Consider making it a part of your weekly or daily routine. We humans are social creatures and enjoy being part of a group – exploring nature together is one of the best ways to bond with your child and you will both benefit from the process. The more you all journal together, the more fun and easy it will become! If you’d like to learn more about the basics of nature journaling, you can watch my YouTube video on keeping a nature journal here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9vKqSRWA14 . I also have a Start Journaling Now article and a Journaling Supplies for Kids article on my website that are perfect for first-time journalers. Happy sketching!