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Nature study in the city
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We have recently moved to a city situation where we, for the first time, live in a sea of concrete and buildings. We are in an apartment with a small balcony (in France). We have access to plenty of playgrounds and city parks but nothing authentically natural if that makes sense. Have any of you been in that situation? What are some good nature study options for us? We can’t get too far out of the city because we don’t have a car. By e way, my DS is 3.
TIA!
Dana
Hi Dana, we also live in an apartment with a balcony. Some of the things we do….
Bird feeder on the balcony to attract birds. Sometimes it is only sparrows, but at least it is something 🙂
Planter box with seasonal flowers. We change them every couple of months for variety of flowers to study and draw. Flowers also attract insects to observe.
We have a small clear bug box. If we see any insects on our walk to the park, we can collect them, take them home to draw and then set free. Recently we found two caterpillars and kept them for a couple of weeks hoping they would become butterflies.
I always take my camera when we go for walks. If we see an unusual plant/flower/bug… in someone’s garden or at the park, we can photograph it and draw it later.
We also observe a couple of trees at the park and see how they change with the seasons.
Last year we had laughing doves nest on our livingroom windowsill. It was very interesting to see the whole cycle from nest building, egg laying, hatching and watching the little birds grow and finally leave the nest.
We are not in a position to have the kids outside unsupervised at all, so the only “nature” they see is on our neighborhood walks and at the park. I would love for them to be able to spend hours outside and just absorb nature and explore unsupervised, but circumstance and location play a big part in what is actually possible.
Blessings, Michelle
Hi Dana,
I don’t know what your complete situation is, but one thing that we have done occasionally is to get a membership to the local botanical gardens. That has been such a blessing: it’s peaceful, there is a variety of plants that we would never have seen “naturally” in our yard, plus – someone else maintains it!
There have been days where we have just taken our school stuff there and sat under a tree and enjoyed listening to our books along with the breeze and and the sound of the birds. Perhaps there is something similar where you are?
-Tanya
Dana, I just came across a book that is so encouraging and might be encouraging to you too. This Nature Journal starts with the author taking a walk down her city street and describes what all she saw there to sketch and observe. Most of the journal is blank with very encouraging quotes and ideas that would apply wherever you live. Plus there are a few pages in the front with tips on using your nature journal and some ideas in the back to help you identify what you’re seeing.
It’s a beautiful book for anybody, but her opening paragraphs about what she discovered in the city struck a chord with your post. Just thought I’d mention it.
(Oh, let me add that this author does slip in a few “zen”s sometimes, but if you ignore those and look to the Creator you’ll appreciate her work.)
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