Nature Area

We have a very small but magical little nature area within 20 ft of our front door now! It has a small creek, bridge, misty forest, and a meadow area. I plan on incorporating this little spot into our homeschool day as much as possible. I can see us telling our stores by the creek, having picnics in the meadow, WELL maybe after it warms up a little! For now we have been taking brisk afternoon walks.

Birds

Our Stories over the next 4 weeks will be from the book Christmas Roses Legends for advent. This week our story is "The Legend of the Bird's Nest". In this story , a Hermit prays to God for the destruction of the world due to all the suffering it's people has created. He is a gnarled, old hermit and while he is praying, with arms outstretched to the heavens , two little birds mistaken him for a tree and build their nest in his hand. Watching these birds, and especially the baby birds that hatach, cause the hermit to have a change of heart. One of my family's all time favorites!!! This week , one project we made is a pine cone bird feeder. We gathered the pine cones from our yard and slathered on organic natural peanut butter and then sprinkled on some bird seeds. Dried fruit could also be added. This was a fun project so we decided to make a few as gifts as well.
Other ideas:
Visit a bird sanctuary
Make your own birds nest from natural or found materials OR make a little box of helpful natural materials for the birds to use.