A child, more than anyone else, is a spontaneous observer of nature. ~ Maria Montessori
Exploring outdoors is something I enjoy doing with our girls. Actually, our youngest Celia tends to prefer being outside than inside. She seems to be at peace when she is playing outside rather than inside. So when we have the opportunity we try to find activities outside or find new outdoor places to visit. Often, we will even bring our structured learning time outside in our front yard or at a fun new place.
Recently, we studied animals and their homes (or habitats). We read books, completed activities, and went on an Animal Home Nature Hunt. We tend to do a lot of nature hunts and end up having tons of fun!
What is a nature hunt?
We define it as exploring outdoors with a purpose. In this particular case, we were determined to find natural animal habitats to observe. We have also done flower nature hunts; which are great for the spring and summer. If you would like to learn more about our flower hunts click HERE.
It is surprising the number of animal homes you can find all around us; even inside of neighborhoods. We recently went searching for animal homes in Georgia while we were walking on a nature trail. Even at the end of the fall season, we were able to find quite a few homes which led to great learning opportunities and wonderful conversations. This particular trail even had informational signs about the plants and wildlife in the area. So even when we couldn’t see an animal or their home, we learned which animals actually do live in the area.
Animal Homes Matching Game
Prior to our nature hunt, we read this book at home. Such a cute, well-illustrated book!
(Pssstt….Click HERE to order your own book now.)
This particular book inspired me to create an activity to use in our lesson that I would like to share with you for FREE.
You can download this activity pack for FREE HERE.
In the beginning….God created a home for the animals.
This seemed like the perfect opportunity to teach WHO originally created the animals and their home. So in this activity pack, you will also find these scripture cards to use when reading the Creation Story in the Book of Genesis.
But your child wants to learn about a panda bear’s habitat!
Well, you are in luck! Check out this Live Animal Cam website. They have listed a variety of Live Animal Cams from around the world for you to access. Elephants, rhinos, penguins, owls, tigers, and so many more to choose from! Click HERE to access the Earth Cam Site.
*Disclosure: Links provided in this article are of products I have personally used in my home or early childhood classroom. I believe they are beneficial items that will assist you in educating your children. These links are special Amazon affiliate or direct consultant links. If/when someone purchases an item using the links provided, it will send a small commission to help us further produce quality content for our readers.
