Outdoor Hour - Fall Tree Study - Boxelder

I took the kids out last week to pick a tree to study for our Year long Tree Study. I pointed out the ginko tree in the front of our neighbor's house, or there are several sweet gum trees growing in our neighborhood. But the kids wanted to do the boxelder trees. There are two of them in our neighborhood and the kids love these trees because of the seeds that they get to throw in the air and watch spiral as they fall. So we got on our bikes and scooters and rode over to these trees for our up close study. Henry of course wasted no time before climbing up into one. Ian and Sophie took a few minutes to look at the leaves and the seeds and the bark of the tree. The leaves are in the process of drying out. They don't really change color as much as just dry up. They do yellow but not a beautiful crisp yellow like some of the other trees around us. This one just sort of dries up and drops its leaves.

The seeds aren't dry enough yet for throwing. They are still rather green so the kids were happy to sit and do some drawings and rubbings of the leaves.

But only for a few minutes. They really wanted to continue their bike ride.
So our tree study was only about 10 minutes long but we will revisit this tree often as we ride around the block and for a few more tree studies as the seasons change.