5 Ways to Incorporate Nature Into Your Homeschool + FREE Nature Calendar

Spring is on the way, which means lots of chances to incorporate nature into your homeschool studies. If you’ve never considered using nature as part of your classroom or subjects of study, this spring is the time to try it!

From unit studies to nature walks, here are 5 ideas to give you a little inspiration for including nature in your homeschool schedule.

5 Ways to Incorporate Nature Into Your Homeschool

Contrary to popular belief, using nature itself, nature journals, and nature walks as a part of learning is a lot easier than most people think. It’s a resource that’s always readily available and provides its own unique learning experiences.

Use some, or all, of the suggestions below to start your nature-learning journey.

Take nature walks

This is one of the easiest and best ways to incorporate nature into your homeschool. It’s free and easy! Start exploring nature in your backyard and slowly venture out to other places.

Parks, walking trails, and neighborhoods make great places for exploring all the outdoors has to offer. As you and your children explore, use the time to talk about what can be seen and heard.

Pay attention to any major similarities or differences between the different areas you’ve walked.

Use a nature calendar

Most nature calendars, like the one in our FREE Spring Nature Calendar Pack, will be packed with nature-related activities for (you and) your kids to do.

Each day will encourage your children to connect with nature through one or more of their five senses. One day they may go on a leaf hunt. Another day they may be asked to bird watch.

The overall goal is to embrace all the great outdoors has to offer and introduce that to our children.

Make a nature journal

Also included in the Spring Nature Calendar Pack is a natural journal printable. Consider printing out several pages and giving them to your children to document what they see, smell, hear, and feel on their nature walk.

They can use the nature journal pages to create collages using a variety of natural substances, such as: leaves, sticks, flowers, and the like. Encourage them to be creative and write and/or draw all that comes to mind.

Play nature games

Nature walk bingo, “I Spy,” nature scavenger hunt, and nature match are just a few game ideas to play with your kids.

Print the scavenger hunt page from the free pack below and have a searching good time. It will have your children looking for birds, their nests, butterflies, pine cones, sticks, mushrooms, and more.

Read nature-themed books

Including nature-related books into your morning basket, together time, or in your children’s grab stack can help them become familiar with all nature has to offer.

Living books about insects, flowers, and weather help piece together what they can see with their eyes with the science behind how it all works.

Literature will real pictures and stories are said to better catch and keep the attention of children. Consider going for those as you decide what to include.

Final Thoughts

Incorporating nature into your homeschool is as easy as one, two, three.

First, make a plan to do it.

Second, use some of the suggestions above to help.

And third, follow through. That’s it!

Don’t worry about trying to do it perfectly or have all the bells and whistles before simply enjoying all nature has to offer as is.