Skip to main content

4 Reasons To Incorporate Nature Hikes Into Your Homeschool Week

Nature hikes are one of my family's favorite activities. My kids love them, which is great because they're educational and it gets them up and moving.

In this post I will share 4 reasons to incorporate nature hikes into your homeschool week.


#thebarefootmom

Learn About Local Plant And Animal Life:

Nature Hikes are a great way to teach your children about the plants and trees that grow in your area. Check your local library or used book stores for a local plant ID book or just do a little online research and learn to identify local plant life. There's also a great app called iNaturalist that helps you identify plant and animal species. Many wild plants have nutritional and/or medicinal value and some are poisonous so being able to identify them is a great life skill to have.


Bring your binoculars and watch for birds, insects, and other animals you might see on your hike. Then go home and do a little research and try to identify the species you saw.

Learn About Geology:

One of our favorite things to do on our nature hikes is collect neat rocks that we find and then take them home to identify. Learn to make you own rock and mineral identification kit here.

There are often other neat geologic features to see while hiking, like places that have been eroded by rain or flowing water, lava caps, etc... Read about a recent geology hike my family took here.


Connect With Nature:

Spending time in nature can help children develop respect for our planet and it's delicate ecosystems.  Spending time in nature can also reduce stress levels and help maintain healthy circadian rhythms. Our bodies are deeply connected to the sun and the natural world.

 My daughters like to do an occasional "clean up hike" where we pick a trail and bring garbage bags, and pick up any garbage we see. I think this is an especially great way for kids to connect with nature and give back to our planet.


Get Some Exercise:

Nature hikes are a fun way to add some activity to your week, plus they can count for P.E. time for those of us who have to log P.E. hours.

 Many kids spend far to much time doing sedentary indoor activities these days. Nature hikes are a great way to get your kids outdoors and being active. 




If you enjoyed this post, check out:

 -Backyard Nature Activities For Kids

-DIY Kid Safe Bug Repellant

-Our Geology Hike

 -Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

Follow me on:
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter
Labels:

Comments

  1. Susan EvansJune 26, 2018 at 10:11 AM

    I need to go out on nature hikes with my kids more--they always love it, and so do I! One time we found several kinds of mushrooms, and another time we found interesting types of ferns. There's always something in nature to investigate!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brandy NicoleJune 26, 2018 at 10:30 AM

      Always neat stuff to see and learn about when out in nature! On our last hike my daughter found an old abandoned finch nest :-)

      Delete
  2. Joanne June 26, 2018 at 1:56 PM

    Oh yes! We also like to invite friends and then get in that much talked about socialization time too. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Love to Learn. Pinned.

    ReplyDelete
  3. jhonJuly 3, 2018 at 3:19 AM

    In my blog I talk about the reality of being a parent with a mental illness, trying to parent and everything in between. Take a read and subscribe!best double jogging stroller

    ReplyDelete
  4. kewkewJuly 3, 2018 at 12:13 PM

    Definitely some great benefits to taking nature hikes. Now, if I could get myself out there and do this with them more. I've always been an indoor sort of person. Thanks for sharing over on Littles Learning Link Up at Tots and Me

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Relay Races For Kids

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely love games involving water and getting wet in the summer time. In  this post I share 5 of our favorite water relay races to play with friends. These are perfect for birthday parties, homeschool get togethers, and other group events. Sponge Relay: For this relay you will need: - 2 teams of several kids each -2 large sponges -4 small buckets or containers of some sort Divide your participants into 2 teams and have each team line up single file at a predetermined starting place.  Hand out a sponge to the first participant in each line. Set a bucket of water by each team. Set an empty bucket about 20 ft away from each team.  The two empty buckets should be the same size and should have a "fill line" marked half way up. On a count of 3 (or ready set go) the first participant in each line should dip their sponge in the bucket of water, run to the empty bucket, squeeze the water from their spo...
2 comments
Read more

STEM Art: 21 STEAM Project Ideas

My kids love STEM projects and we're always looking for ways to add more art to our homeschool days, so I decided I am going to try to dedicate one morning a week this year to STEM art activities. In this post I share some of the ideas we're planning to try, plus a few favorites we've done in the past. What is STEM Education? STEM education is a blended and often hands on approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which are some of today's fastest growing industries. STEM education offers students the opportunity to problem solve and work on real world problems and questions. Sometimes the acronym STEAM is used, to include the arts. Adding art to STEM education encourages creative thinking and problem solving skills. It can also help make the other included subjects more appealing to some students. STEM Art Projects  Penny Spinners-   Learn about centrifugal force and make your own spinning tops with this fun post from Teach Beside Me. Explo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

One of my family's favorite hobbies is rock hounding. We love collecting and trying to identify neat rock and mineral specimens that we come across. You can put together your own simple kit for identifying rocks and minerals with materials you likely already have around your home. In this post I will explain how to put together your own mineral identification kit and how to use it to identify rocks and minerals you find on your adventures. Making a Rock and Mineral ID Kit Grab yourself a printable Rock and Mineral Journal for recording your observations here:  Printable Rock and Mineral Journal ,  and then gather the following supplies: -A pencil -A coin -An iron nail -A piece of glass (an old pocket mirror works well) -A ceramic tile -A small watertight bottle or container -Some vinegar -A magnet  -A magnifying glass -A dropper (optional)  -Rock and mineral guide (optional)  -A small container or bag to keep it all in Fill ...
1 comment
Read more

Learning About Thailand: Activities and Resources

Thailand ended up being a really fun country to study. There are so many amazing Thai recipes to try and lots of neat buildings and monuments to learn about. My family's favorite part of this unit study was learning about Asian elephants, they are such interesting and intelligent animals!  Basic Information  Thailand is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Andaman Sea. The northern region is mountainous while the southern region is hilly and forested. Capital- Bangkok Population- 69.6 million Size- 198,115 square miles Currency- Baht   Type of Government- Constitutional Monarchy National Anthem-  Phleng Chat Thai National Animal- elephant Flag Famous Places The Grand Palace- The Grand Palace in Bangkok was used as the official royal residence of Thailand from 1782 to 1925. It is still used today for ceremonies and state functions. The palace sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It consists of many buildings and pavilio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Learning About The Human Body Part 1: The Skeletal And Muscular Systems

At the end of each school year, I sit down with my daughter to discuss what topics she wants to learn about the next year. One of her science topics she picked to study this year was the human body. Instead of ordering a boxed curriculum set, I decided to put together my own human body unit. In this post I share some of the resources we used for learning about the human skeletal and muscular systems, plus instructions for a couple hands on learning activities. You can find my post about the human respiratory and circulatory systems  here , and my post about the human digestive and nervous systems  here . The Human Skeletal System Our skeletons are the frame of our body. They give us structure, without them our bodies would be limp like noodles. They also provide places for muscles to attach so our bodies can move. Why Does Your Body Need Calcium? Experiment: This is a simple experiment you can do to explore why calcium is important for our bones. You will need: -sever...
5 comments
Read more