For the Love of Nature Journaling

The other night we went out with cousins to enjoy the crunchy autumn splendor and cool breeze. My husband was home from his 3 week on 3 week off shift so he wore the baby and I kicked the leaves with the kids. It was one of those quintessential nights of childhood were everyone was laughing and playing and running up and down the trail. Seriously I could not have asked for a better evening stroll.

When we came to a fallen tree it was my artistic niece who suggested we get out the journals and write about our favorite leaf we found on our way. My 11 year old nephew went straight to work and started talking about shading. My kindergartner perfectionist was concerned that his drawing didn't look exactly like his leaf until I started pointing out all the details he noticed and got right and how he used a cool trick by tracing the leaf but who really surprised me was my 3 year old wild child. He was so excited to jump in with the big kids and very specific about the colors he wanted to use. He worked intently talking non stop about everything he saw and the little things he noticed which is a big deal after some of the obstacles we are overcoming with a speech delay. We took the art and the narration and talked about why leaves change color and what other signs do we have that autumn is almost over. It just flowed as part of our conversation as we wound only a short ways up the trail with all the stops for leaf fights and to let our 15 month old set the pace. 

Since this hike we have brought the journals with us every time. Sometimes we pull them out. Sometimes we don't but getting out is what makes the memories and forms connections for future study and learning.