Green Hour

We are a week behind and we don't have the Handbook of Nature Study yet (It has been ordered) but we are going to join the Green Hour Challenge that Barb at The Heart of Harmony is doing. I keep meaning to send in sketches for sketch Tuesday too but never seem to remember to do the assignment for that either. I read the initial challenge, for Green Hour, last week and remember thinking that it sounded good and something that we would be able to do. But as usual life got in the way and I forgot. It isn't that we don't go outside. I just forgot to do the assignment. The challenge should be even better once I get the Handbook.
I have been reading Pocket Full of Pinecones and it sounds like it is going to be a great book. I really like the idea of doing a nature notebook with Sophie. We have attempted it once or twice but I need to encourage it more and really make an effort to do it. An assignment each week should be good for us.

So now for our walk. We decided to just take a scooter ride around the block. We stop a lot along the way so everyone can pick wildflowers as well as a number of sticks and rocks.

During one of our pauses on our ride we were standing by a tree picking up all sorts of sticker balls, as I call them.
It is my assignment for the week to actually find out what kind of tree this is and what these balls are actually called. We see them all over the place and the kids love to pick them up and throw them. They aren't the most fun to try to scoot or bike over either.
While standing here I asked the kids to be really quiet and listen. I asked them what they could hear. Ian said a motorcycle. Henry said he could hear a dog. Sophie was quiet a little longer and then she replied that she could hear a bird. I asked her to point to where she thought the bird was. The tree across the street had a bird up near the top and we could hear it singing away. It took her a little while to actually see it but she got really excited once she could. Then she pointed it out to the boys. Lucky for us it chose that moment to flutter it's wings so both boys were able to see it too.

At another stop, Ian found a little red lady bug on a brick wall. The kids got a really good look at it and before I could snap a picture of them it was on its way.

We are seeing a lot of these flowers in everyone's yards now. They are really lovely.


When I asked Sophie for one word to describe something they heard she said "Sing"

Two words for something she saw - Tree and Twig

Three words for something she felt - soft, Yeow (I assume this is about the sticker balls) and rough

Thanks for the assignment. I will have to remind my kids to stop and listen more often. We often stop to look at things and even to feel them but not often stop to just listen.