Nature journaling and "sit spots"

My kids are in a sort of environmental studies/forest school class. A large part of the class is keeping nature journals to observe the world around them and write down things they notice, wonder, and learn. I couldn't resist joining in on the fun!

Step 1: Get a book!
The teachers encouraged us to get hard-cover books that allowed for both art and descriptions. I let my kids pick their own books, and I decided to use the book that I'd made as an test-book/example for my medieval history class.

My kids and my nature journals!

Step 2: Learn about "sit spots" and how to nature journal.
A sit spot is a place you pick out to sit quietly for at least 15 minutes and write down what you notice, wonder, and realize. The things you document can help you identify stuff later on! My kids teachers have 4 rules for sit spots. They should be: silent, solo, sitting and safe (you might not sit if it's raining!).

These are some of the videos my kids have watched to learn about sit spots & nature journaling:



You can pick a sit spot at your own property to continually observe the same area all year round:


Step 3: Start journaling!
You can journal at your own place, to see how thing change all year round. You can visit other places to learn about more plants. I'm kind of surprised at how much I've learned in just three weeks of nature journaling. I've found and identified my first Hawthorne, realized trees I thought were Douglas Firs were actually Sitka Spruces, and the Beaufort scale for identifying wind speeds.

It's also a really fun way to engage your creative mind and have an excuse/reason to draw and paint. But, if you don't like art, you can just use words and numbers to record what you're noticing.

I thought I'd share some of my kids' and my journal entries. This is a great way to get kids noticing their world, and also get reluctant artists and writers to see a reason for writing.

My reluctant writer wrote quite a bit!

My creative artist/writer had a lot of fun making her journal page be fun and artistic.

This was our first field trip, and so my first entry. We learned about using meta data--like maps and temperature--in our journal entries

The next week was rather fun, because I finally spotted my first hawthorn! And, I learned how to distinguish Douglas firs from Sitka spruce! One of the students found a cone with mushrooms growing out of it. They thought it was a Douglas fir, but it didn't have the little "bracts" coming out of it. I took as many notes as possible about the tree and plant, and identified it when we got back to school! Then I found out that the trees I'd planted thinking they were doug firs were actually sitka spruce!

I wish I'd recorded more info about the tree on the left. It was covered in moss & lichen, with alternate slightly-serrated heart-shaped leaves. But, I ended up spending most of my time helping my son with his journal since it was raining.

The next week, we went to the beach, and I learned about Turkish towel seaweed, identified European sea rocket (a brassica! I didn't try eating it, though. It probably had dog pee), and I learned about the Beaufort wind scale.

I had fun painting and inking parts of this page when I got home. I took a few pictures with my camera while I was at the beach so I could identify stuff better and paint them better.

I thought the Beaufort wind scale was facinating and super handy, so I transcribed it into the back of my journal!

I've always kind of wondered what wind speeds were happing outside. Now I have a way, using just what I see and feel!

Here's the video we watched about the Beaufort wind scale:

What beautiful journals you and your kids have made.

Those will be memories that can be carried down through generations.

I have my grandfather journal.  The first page that I opened talked about how my mother had taken me and gone back to her home state.

I also have a memory of my dad coming in a big red truck with all our belongings.

Thank you, Anne ♥. One of the class teachers mentioned how, if a fire happened, the first things she'd be grabbing were her and her kids' nature journals. They have like 6 years of nature journals full of beautiful memories.

I have a copy of my great-great-great grandfather's diary from when he traveled up to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Reading it really brought the past to life and connected me to my family.

If I did a nature journal it would have to be done in spring when all the wild flowers are blooming.

Or in August when all the prickly pear tunas are purple.

Maybe it would be fun to do a journal month by month so the nature journal tells a story of what can be seen each month.

How interesting to be able to read about that trip to Alaska.

I'd kicked myself repeatedly this year, as I had aspirations of detailing the succession of plants and animals that passed through Wheaton Labs throughout the year. I want it to be a kind of reference for the Boots:
- First plants blooming in the spring.
- Types of insects and when they arrive on the scene.
- When to harvest annual vegetables.
- Aggressive yellow jackets.
- Periods of 0 precipitation, hottest temps in the summer, and plant "dormancy" due to high temps.
- Last flowers for pollinators to feed from.
- Procession of perennial forage greens on the property.

I think that kind of information will be useful, even just as a foundation, for long-term residents/residence and future planning. "There's always next year..."

As for sit spots, fellow boot Esteban is chipping away at a "Boot Sit Spot" location here at Basecamp. Alongside a footpath, there's a small raised garden bed there so far. He intends to install a three-log-bench there and do a series of plantings so that Boots and other guests will have a quiet place to sit and observe nature.

Thanks for the inspiration (and reminder), Nicole...!

This is so cool.  

The kids journals are amazing

I did a bit like this a few years ago as I wanted to document what the different fruit tree flowers looked like.  I find I refer to this quite a lot in the spring and often wonder if a bigger version of a nature journal would come in handy.

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:I'd kicked myself repeatedly this year, as I had aspirations of detailing the succession of plants and animals that passed through Wheaton Labs throughout the year. I want it to be a kind of reference for the Boots:
- First plants blooming in the spring.
- Types of insects and when they arrive on the scene.
- When to harvest annual vegetables.
- Aggressive yellow jackets.
- Periods of 0 precipitation, hottest temps in the summer, and plant "dormancy" due to high temps.
- Last flowers for pollinators to feed from.
- Procession of perennial forage greens on the property.

I think that kind of information will be useful, even just as a foundation, for long-term residents/residence and future planning. "There's always next year..."

As for sit spots, fellow boot Esteban is chipping away at a "Boot Sit Spot" location here at Basecamp. Alongside a footpath, there's a small raised garden bed there so far. He intends to install a three-log-bench there and do a series of plantings so that Boots and other guests will have a quiet place to sit and observe nature.

Thanks for the inspiration (and reminder), Nicole...!

I love this, Stephen! I'm frequently amazed at how often I put things off thinking "There's always next year"...and then the things never get done.

The great thing about something like a nature journal, is that it doesn't just help future us, or other people--it helps us in the present as well. A lot of stuff we'd never notice or realize gets figured out when we just take the time to intentionally observe.

For example, we've lived and walked along our private road for over 14 years now. I've spotted western hemlocks, western red cedars, Douglas firs, and one or two blue spruces. But, no other conifers. I figured, since we had *so many* hemlocks, that it was likely logged and seeded with just hemlocks and cedars. I figured those were the only conifers out here--they were the only native ones I ever "saw" growing up.

It wasn't until I was writing in my journal about a weird cone that I found at a nearby park that I found out that there are Sitka spruce this far inland! And then I realized that the little baby "Douglas firs" I'd dug up from the gravel on the side of the road, were actually baby Sitka spruce! I took a walk with my kids yesterday and really looked at the trees and their cones, and finally found a full-sized Sitka spruce, with it's scaly bark and soft cones. It's been there all along, but I'd  just assumed it was a fir. I'd never really looked at it. We learn a surprisingly large amount when we just take the time to look, record, and wonder!

r ransom wrote:This is so cool.  

The kids journals are amazing

I did a bit like this a few years ago as I wanted to document what the different fruit tree flowers looked like.  I find I refer to this quite a lot in the spring and often wonder if a bigger version of a nature journal would come in handy.

You're journal page is so pretty, and such a great resource! Isn't it amazing how much more we learn about something when we make ourselves draw it? We have to ask ourselves lots of questions when we draw stuff--how many petals are there? How many stamen? How far apart are the leaves? What are the leaves actually shaped like? What color is that leave and that bark? We notice and learn so much that we would not otherwise!

Yesterday, we did our sit spots near a river, and I realized just how hard it is to draw a river bank, let alone paint it! I didn't have my paints with me, so I took pictures to try to get the colors right.

The river bank--hard to see through the plants in front of me!

The river bank is in the top left--it didn't really turn out. It was fun using the random mix of colors from my dried up cup of water for the grey of the water, though!

The kids also played a game called, "My Secret Plant." In the game, each kid picked a plant to try to describe in as much detail as possible--using words and drawings. They then handed their journal to a friend, and the friend had to find the plant. This was a lot of fun!

My daughter's secret plant. You can see mine above

After our Secret Plant game, we learned some gravelology and used a gravelometer to measure rocks along a transverse line of a river bank. Each kid was assigned a meter spot along the transverse tape measure and inspected a rock in their spot. They drew it, described it, and measured it with a gavelometer. It was tricky trying to draw our rocks!

Trying to draw my rock. I took a picture of it so I could paint it when I got home.

I have a lot of fun painting these when I get home. I might try bringing paints in the upcoming nature journal days, though I usually don't have as much time as I'd like to sketch things out on the spot. Painting it when I get home gives me time to reflect.

I've also been trying to challenge myself to learning and identifying a new plant each week. The first week it was Sitka spruce. Then it was sea rocket, and this week I identified our native Piggyback Plant.

Piggyback plant--it's hairy on the stem, as well as the bottom of the leaves. There's even hairs on the tops of the leaves!

One of the challenges I have is supplies.  I want to bring all the paints, but then, it's so much hassle to wait for it to dry before packing up.  If I close the paper too soon, it's all messy later.


One thing I'm experimenting with is just ink and pencil and this seems pretty good...except monochrome.

So, I have a tiny set of inktense which are basically watercolour pencils (for practical purposes).  I can colour the items in lightly on the spot, then activate with water when I get home.

Ooooh, I have a set of Prismacolor watercolor pencils that I never end up using. Maybe those would be fun to bring along! I could always augment with normal watercolors when I get back.

One thing I'm wondering about is how to carry all the things in an easy, hands-free way.

A few years back, I'd a cellphone pouch to carry my parents' old cellphone to use as a camera. That cellphone has since died, and I've moved onto using a digital camera for pictures. I'd spent a lot of time making that pouch, though, and wished I could put it to use. I've also often wished I had a book holster to carry my little notebook around in.

The pouch I'd made when it was new

So, I thought to myself, "Why don't I just make a book to fit this pouch!?" Which is what I did

Book fits nicely in the pouch! The pouch isn't as pretty as it once was, but it's still useful!

I really like that I can carry two writing utensils (my daughter forgot her pencil and so stole my extra one on the last trip), and that there's space for bandaids if someone gets bumped and scratched. I also like that I can whip it out whenever I need or want to. I'm usually carrying a heavy backpack with our lunch and extra clothes, so there really isn't room for me to store my journal in there, and it takes time to take off and ruffle through a backpack--it takes two seconds to whip out my journal from it's journal pouch!

backside of my journal and journal pouch. The book ties shut, which helps flatten paper that wrinkled when painting. The pouch also helps with that!

I wonder if I could make an art-supplies pouch that I could strap on my belt, too. It could have extra pencils for the kids, watercolor pencils for me, and maybe even a tiny paint set, like the little one I put my hand-made watercolors in. I wonder what an art-supply pouch would look like. Maybe like a tool pouch roll (like you can make in SKIP) or a sewing hussif or those little rolls you store knitting needles in.

Or maybe a pouch that opens up to display everything?

Or maybe like a quiver full of pencils and paintbrushes with a separate pouch for the watercolor set?

So many ideas!

This was the video that introduced me to nature journaling all those years ago.  This guy is great.


   

A great practice. I have a local who does this as a course at our local library. I provide notebooks and coloring supplies, she provides the instruction and they go to the park.

This is some of my nature journaling from spring, or book of the farm, to keep track of timings.  

What I didn't expect was the way the different fruits flower.   I could always tell them apart at a glance,  but I never had a reason to look this close.

This is a lovely thing to do R.
It reminds me of a book I was given as a child :

The Country diary of an Edwardian Lady
The pictures were lovely, with a little story of where and how she saw the plants and wildlife. Edith Holden used to live near where I was in the West Midlands, but when it was a lot less conurbated.
I think it was done as a school project - she was a teacher I believe, but obviously (like yourself) a pretty talented artist.

Ohhh... this looks like a fun take on nature journals.   I may just have to try it.

For those who like the idea of using art for nature journaling but aren't into realistism, try fantasy, or go abstract.  Journaling has many possibilities!

This is an image I made from some bits and pieces of aspen tree trimmings that were laying on the pavement after a road crew went through. The branch tips dried up and then got in the way in my art studio till I decided to take photos before putting them on the kindling pile. One of the photos happened to capture a cute little tree sprite who danced her way into my art. Her image will eventually become part of a larger piece I'm working on.

Before this year started I bought myself a luxurious watercolour sketchbook. The idea was this would become my Nature Journal. I thought I would draw/paint a page in it at least every week ...
Okay, maybe once a month ... Anyway: I did paint a few pages in it. And there's still plenty left for next year!


Spring. The tiny creatures enjoy the warm-ish sunny weather.


An old oak at the edge of the nature reserve near Mantinge (Drenthe, NL).


Serviceberry tree in full bloom. Springendal in the region Twente (close to the German border in NL).


'Old arm' (cut-off meander) of the river Vecht near Vilsteren (Overijssel, NL).


In my back yard.


Old farmhouse (Saxon style), oak tree and fence in the village of Meppen, Drenthe.

Nicole Alderman,
I have merged your topic into this topic. I hope that helps.

Inge, your journal entries are so beautiful! They are such an inspiration, and such a delight to look at!