Nature Journal
You will need:
Paper
Pencil
Everything else is optional!
Stapler
Cardboard or Thick Brown Paper
Rubber Band
Hole Punch
Fasteners (3/4 inch or 1/2 inch work best)
Colored Pencils
Crayons
Water Colors and Paint Brush (Only if you are using painting paper or thick sketchbook paper. This would not be a good option for printer paper or lined paper.)
I have found with crafting to stick to Crayola for crayons and water color paints. They seem to have the most bold colored products.
Rustic Journal With Branch Binding Instructions:
- Cut your paper to the size and shape you like. I took a Crayola Spiral Sketchbook and cut the pages out. They were a great size and square shape. You might want your pages to look more rustic like These Brown Paper Pages.
- Find what you would like to use for your cover and back page of your nature journal. I used thick brown cardstock paper and cut it to the same size as the sketchbook pages. You could use cardboard, cardstock, paper or even a cut cereal box.
- Punch 2 holes in the journal paper, cover and back page – one hole in the top and one hole in the bottom of each.
- Find a branch the length of your pages.
- Pinch a rubber band and stick it through the top hole. Starting from the bottom of your journal and pull it through the hole to the top of the journal. Hook the branch under the rubber band.
- Pinch the bottom of the rubber band and stick it through the bottom hole. Hook the branch under the rubber band.
Your journal should now have a branch binding the pages together and be ready for journaling!
Now that you’ve made your journal, you can start journaling!
Write what you see, hear and feel. For my 5 year old, journaling is great writing practice. She is learning and recognizing how to write letters, when to use capitals and lower-case and improving handwriting. She is identifying what shapes she can use to create pictures of animals, plants or landscapes. For older kids, you can practice penmanship, art and poetry. Maybe write a haiku about nature.
Gold leaves rustle underfoot
Beauty in decay.
Paul Holmes
Inspiring Nature Videos Free with Amazon Prime:
We bring our nature journals and a ziplock bag with our pencils and crayons on walks. Sometimes I make a scavenger hunt list as ideas to find and write about. We have lots of memories stopping at local spots to draw together.
Not only are these great for learning, keeping a nature journal is a wonderful children’s keepsake. Make sure you save these in a safe place for your children to look back on.
*Update* 3-18-2020
We’ve been making this part of our morning routine and my daughter is LOVING it! We write the date, weather and a picture. Then, if it’s nice out, we head out to nature and find some more stuff to journal. It’s been a great addition to our homeschooling journey.
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