Nature Journaling #245: Time to Ice Things Up

All, Parks at Home for Kids, Nature Journaling

Nature journals are a fun way to pass the time. To many Great Parks nature interpreters, they are a tool that fosters meaningful connections with the natural world.

Join us in keeping a nature journal throughout 2021. This is your journal – something to help you connect to the natural world around you and make discoveries along the way.

If the weather is too awful to go outside for your nature observation, take a peak out a window from the comfort of inside your home! If you do venture outside, you may want to take a small pocket notebook to make notes or quick sketches to work further with them when you get back inside. Also, use a pencil – ink in a pen could freeze if it is too cold! Any notebook will work for your journal.

Several icicles hang from a bare tree branch.

Today’s Prompt: Time to Ice Things Up

As you head outside today, note the temperature. With snow on the horizon today, it’s going to be cold. That makes it the perfect time to have an ice day.

Can you find any icicles hanging off the roofs of your home or nearby houses? Icicles form when snow starts to melt on sunny days but it is still cold enough to freeze the water as it drips off the roof. Icicles can be pretty, but you shouldn’t eat them. The water that forms icicles could contain all the muck from your roof – including bird poop! Yuck!

Draw any icicles you see in your nature journal and write a description of how they look in the sunlight.

A Few Tips for Success:

  • Work with your child’s attention span. If they aren’t enjoying an activity, allow them to choose a new one. If they are highly focused, give them plenty of time to continue the observations.
  • Allow creativity. Children often have interests that go beyond the questions we pose. Create a safe environment so they can create and explore on their terms.
  • Journal along with your child. You never know what you may discover and it’s a great way to spend some quality time together.
  • Try activities at different times of day. Observations may change with time and temperature.

Want to try your hand at different nature journaling topics? Click here for more prompts.