If you’re looking for a playful and engaging outdoor activity for your students this spring, this nature field journal for students is exactly what you need to add to your classroom! Spring is the perfect time to be outside and help our students explore. Creating a nature field journal is perfect for right before or after Spring Break. Field journals are also a great activity after standardized testing before the summer break. This lesson is great because it is an easy way to incorporate fun and exploration with learning and creativity. As a bonus, the weather is always awesome during this time. That being said, I know plenty to teachers who use this resource in the fall because it correlates better with their curriculum outline, making these field guides versatile for different seasons.
In this post, I’ll be discussing how to make a nature field journal for students.
If you’d like you can purchase my nature field journal bundle here for little explorers! It includes a nature walk and pond exploration toolkit. This 26-page guide is done for you to print and reuse as you see fit!
Nature Walk Observation and Pond Observation
First, you’ll want to make sure to have space for observations while the students are exploring. They’ll need to place to capture the nature experiences and practice their observation skills. These observation sheets are the perfect way to encourage students to be explorers and learn more about our environment.
Information to consider for these observation sheets includes:
- Date
- Time of day at the start and at the end
- Weather conditions before and after
- Season
- Write down your feeling before and after the walk to compare
- What animals did you see?
- What plants did you see?
- Did you collect anything?
- Leave room for other observations
Observation sheets are a great start to your field notebook. I like to include these prompts because they help to encourage nature study in a way that may not be inherent in younger children or even older children.
Nature Walk 5 Senses
The 5 senses nature walk is one of my favorite pages in my Nature Explorers Bundle because it is a great way to get into the habit of noticing the natural world around them. Using their five senses, students can learn to observe seasonal changes, different colors, and different smells. Whether in your own backyard or on a mini adventure, using your five senses can be lots of fun!
The students should detail what they see, what they hear, what they smell, and what they feel. For taste, I simply ask the students to write down if there is anything they could have the possibility of tasting.
Pond Bingo
B-I-N-G-O. This pond bingo is such a fun addition to your kid’s journal! My students have so much fun with the bingo games in this field journal. I love finding ways to make outdoor learning fun. Depending on the age group you can even make this a fun family activity by having older kids take pictures of what they find!
Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt
Include a scavenger hunt in your nature notebook as well! I’ve created scavenger hunts for both nature walks and pond observations. Think of all the items your students may encounter in the great outdoors during their adventure and write them down so the students can check them off. I’ve also seen this done in a visual form where the items are depicted as images for the students to know what to gather. The scavenger hunts I’ve included in this Nature Explorer Field Guide have over 30 items for students to find on their nature walk and over 30 items for students to find on their pond observation adventure!
A-Z Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt
Include a blank scavenger hunt into this nature field journal for students! The purpose of this A-Z blank scavenger is hunt is to encourage critical thinking in a creative way. Challenge students to find items on their nature walk or pond observation that match each letter of the alphabet. Students can get very creative with what they find! I like to do this at a local park because there is typically a large variety of options students can choose from to add to their A-Z Scavenger Hunt.
Blank Pages For Reflection
Time for reflection. Journaling is an important practice for young children and adults alike. Teaching students about nature journaling can be incredibly valuable for their learning and developing their relationship with nature. Allow students to freehand what they want to write in their reflection with little to no guidance. If necessary, set a timer for students. I love to do this part of the Nature Expores Field Guide as our final exercise before we go back inside.
Journal Prompt Ideas
This is the activity I complete after the students get back inside. Using these writing prompts, students can build on the reflection they’ve already begun and answer more tailored, critical-thinking questions. These can also be used as an exit ticket!
I hope you enjoyed this post all about how to make a nature field journal for students!
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