by Merri Weaver

Created on: March 07, 2008

Your family has gone camping and it's the third day. Your kids are driving you crazy because they are bored, bored, BORED! What activity can you make up in a hurry to keep them occupied for the afternoon? How about a nature journal?

Start off by getting four sheets of Letter sized paper. That's 8.5 inches by 11 inches. Of course, it's better to use card stock for it's strength, but if you haven't got any, no worries! Regular paper will do, because really, all you are trying to do is keep the kids happy, right?

Grab your four pieces of paper and fold them in half, lengthwise, so that your stack of papers become 5.5 inches by 8.5 inches. If you have brought a needle and thread, you can use that to sew the spines of the book together now, but if not, a stapler will do. If you have neither, don't worry about it for now, you just need to paper to take on your nature hike.

Ready for the hike? Take along some crayons, pencils and possibly some markers. The crayons are very important to take, so hopefully you've got some with you. And, the best thing of all, make sure you've got your digital camera. You'll need your camera to take some shots of the pretty nature items you'll see along your hike. And, don't forget some water, because it can get pretty hot out there in the bush, can't it?

As you begin your hike, make sure you note the weather. Nature is many things, and it includes the weather. Describe in your journal what the weather was like during your hike, if it was raining or sunny or hot or mild. Describe the landscape as well. Are there many sand dunes or lots of trees? At this point, it helps also to take a digital picture of the beginning of your hike.

Hiking along, you may come to a tree stump. Examine the stump. Tell your children that the rings in the stump represent the number of years that the tree was growing. Ask the children to count the rings and get them to estimate how many years the tree lived. Then, ask them to draw a picture of the stump. Don't forget to draw one in your journal too! Now, take a digital picture of the stump. When you get home, you can print out the digital photo and add it to your journal.

Next, try grabbing a leaf from a nearby tree. Place the leaf under the piece of paper, on a hard surface. like the tree stump. Grab a crayon and make a rubbing of the leaf on the paper. Because the leaf has veins and it's bumpy, the bumps will make patterns when you make a rubbing using either the crayon or the pencil. Later on, you can identify

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