February Nature Study: Weather 

“This is the time to immerse children in the stuff of the physical and natural world. Constructing forts, creating small imaginary worlds, hunting and gathering, following streams and pathways, making maps, gardening and shaping the earth are all perfect activities at this stage.” – David Sobel

I love sharing the wonders of the natural world with a child. Even in the Winter there are so many interesting things you can open their eyes to. 

This month we are studying weather. We were fortunately blessed with a freak snow storm earlier this week and as the flakes continued, we decided to pack a picnic and head out to one of the beautiful beaches in our area to observe the rare weather pattern first hand. 

The best part about studying nature is that it is low cost and extremely accessible, even in more populated areas. 

We keep a well fitted backpack for Quentin stocked with a water bottle, a note pad and pencil, some small collection containers and a magnifying glass. These things are nice to have but aren’t necessary. The most important thing is as always to follow the child. We stop when something has caught his eye like these small stone structures stacked by someone else enjoying the beach at some point this winter. 

Most of the beaches here are tumbled rock. We find a quiet and sheltered place under the overhang of the forest, open our picnic and watch the waves. Tides are something Quentin has experienced living next to the Pacific but we haven’t gone into detail about them yet with him. The constant crash of the waves is something he is aware of but that’s where his interest stops. Instead, we watch the snow gently fall and talk about water vapour and clouds and catch snowflakes on our tongues. I have remembered to bring our pocket microscope purchased here and we examine some of the flakes. So much detail in just a tiny flake. 

Nature Study is an excellent winter boredom buster. Properly bundled, going outside for even just a few minutes to collect snow for melting crafts, feeding the birds or following tracks will help children connect with the natural world in all seasons and also help them build strong memories with you.