Adopt a Tree Summer

Materials:

Nature journal, drawing utensils of choice, and a tree you can easily remember and return to.

Activity:

Go to the tree you have chosen to watch throughout the year and open your nature journal to the “Adopt a tree” section. It can be a tree in your yard, at a park, or other favorite nature study location. Draw it in your nature journal. What does it look like? What kinds of animals have made their home here? Is the tree fruiting?

Younger:

Have the young children lay under the tree then tell you what they notice, draw a basic trunk, and had them add the colors they see above it.

Older:

Encourage them to do a basic outline of the tree then another section that shows a close-up of the leaves or fruit in detail. Encourage them to write down at least one question from what they observed today.

Take it Further:

Do a mini-lesson on trees in the summer focusing on how they can be a contained ecosystem providing food and shelter to many animals.  A fun picture book for young children on this topic is the Usborne Shine-a-light Secrets of the Apple tree where they use a flashlight behind a page to show clues about animals that make their home in an apple tree.

CREATE YOUR OWN NATURE JOURNAL:

In the four pages, you have reserved for “Adopt a tree” entries. Write “Adopt a tree Summer” at the top then draw your observations.

For more nature journaling card activities click here