Frog Nature Journals

It has been some time since we last worked in our nature journal and we quickly realized how much we had missed it. See how our nature journals began and how we incorporate them here.

We have been reading and learning about frogs and decided to create an entry to illustrate something we learned. I focused on the frog life cycle. Owen (10 years old) focused on poison dart frogs and how poison could be extracted from them. He also included a bromeliad which is a plant with broad leaves that hold water after a rain. Adult frogs carry their tadpoles to these little pools where they swim and grow for several weeks. Madelyn (7 years old) found it interesting how adult frogs keep the eggs wet before they hatch. She also included that while poison dart frogs are poisonous, the eggs are not. The adult frogs have to protect the eggs from being eaten.

To prepare for journaling, I set out the nature journals, paints, pens, and a variety of paintbrushes. To refresh our memories, I included our recent books as well as our “Fun Frog Facts.” There is more on these in the next paragraph. We had the freedom to choose our own materials and our own area to focus on. The creative ownership made the activity more meaningful.

The lily pads seen scattered around the journals include facts about frogs. I used construction paper to create lily pads. Then I simply wrote the facts with a pen. I used some facts we read about and others I found online. I used facts that I found really interesting or shocking. The kids really seemed to enjoy reading them. It was an easy way to increase interest as well as provide bite-sized pieces of information. I would pick a few at a time to read and talk about. Sometimes this occurred before we dove into a new book or before we sat down to dinner. Unfortunately, I’m the first out of the house in the morning so I don’t get to really see the kids before school. I set a fact out for each of them to read while eating breakfast. Then we could talk about them after school. I will definitely continue this with future topics of study.

Are you currently using nature journaling with children? If you would like more information on nature journaling with children let me know in the comments below. If you are a seasoned pro and would like to share any tips or words of wisdom with this community add your expertise in the comments below as well.

The books seen in the images above include: My First Outdoor Book by Minna Lacey and Abigail Lacey , Nature Anatomy by Julia Rothman and Poison Dart Frogs by Jennifer Owings Dewey.