Starting a Nature Journal

I have been waiting for spring to start a nature journal with Jacob. I know we could have started one in the winter but I am not a huge fan of being outside in the cold and thought it would be much easier in the spring. I got the book, Keeping a Nature Journal, out of the library and that has been a great help in inspiring me to begin and giving me ideas on directions we could go in. We are keeping it simple right now and Jacob has been drawing pictures of flowers, birds, worms, bugs, etc. that we have seen in our yard. I have Jacob write the name of the plant or animal and the date he drew the picture. We have looked up more information about some of the things we have found in our yard on-line and also in our copy of The Handbook of Nature Study. You can go here to download a free copy of the book to view on your computer. It is a wonderful book and Jacob has enjoyed having me read sections from it.

Jacob has been more enthusiastic then I thought he would be regarding keeping a nature journal. We have been going on nature hikes since he was little and sharing our love of nature with him which he seems to have caught. He has also developed an interest in drawing this last year since I started him with the Usborne I Can Draw Animals book. We then moved on to Draw Really Cool Stuff which has helped him learn how to draw bugs, birds, and animals. I think this year was a really good year to start a nature journal because Jacob is now able to draw things quite well without getting frustrated. I give him simple drawing technique suggestions every once in a while but I mostly just provide him with drawing books, paper, and drawing pencils and let him do his own thing. I have included a couple examples from Jacob's nature journal and some other helpful websites below.













I highly recommend visiting The Handbook of Nature Study Blog for inspiration and ideas. If you want to learn more about starting a nature journal then head over to Home-Made School.

The Usborne Art Treasury

This cool art book features 22 works of art from around the world. Each work of art includes a brief description of the art work and the artist who created it. The artists included in this book include Van Gogh, Hokusai, Kandinsky, Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Degas, O'Keeffe, and others. Each work of art is followed by a related art project for kids. The art projects were the best part. Most of them are relatively simple and use common art supplies. The finished art projects are quite impressive. Jacob really enjoyed doing the pastel and water color fish painting below which was inspired by a painting called "The Golden Fish" by Paul Klee. The Usborne Art Treasury was recommended by a friend and fellow blogger. You can check out her daughter's very cool swirly landscape painting here which is inspired by Van Gogh's "Starry Night".

Jacob's fish painting was very easy to complete. I showed Jacob how to draw some simple fish, waves, and underwater plants. He practiced on scrap paper and then drew them lightly in pencil on a sheet of watercolor paper. Next he traced over his drawing with oil pastels. The book said you could use wax crayons as well. Then he simply painted water on his picture and added blue and green water colors (the cheap kind) to cover the entire piece of paper. We were both so pleased with the results!

The Usborne Art Treasury is a very inviting book with beautiful bright pictures throughout. We are excited to try some more projects out of this book in the near future.

Thumbprint Art with Ed Emberley

We did a fun art project today using Ed Emberley's Great Thumbprint Drawing Book. I remember these books from when I was a child and they are still just as fun today. One of these books, along with a washable stamp pad and a fine tipped black marker pen, would make a fun low priced Christmas present for a child on your list. You will see more books written by Ed Emberley below.

Glue and Pastel Art Project

I have been spending some time checking out other blogs lately and I came across a really great art blog called Art Projects for Kids. This blog is written by an art teacher, Kathy Barbro, and her blog has lots of fun art projects divided by grade level. Jacob and I decided to try out the Glue and Pastel Landscape and we think it turned out great. I gave Jacob a few simple pointers on how to draw clouds, ocean waves, and hills and he added a few of his own ideas. Jacob did need some help tracing his drawing in glue but other than that, he was able to do the project on his own. Definitely go and check out some of the other art project ideas at the Art Projects for Kids blog.

Fun Ways to Study Famous Artists

Last year when Jacob was in Kindergarten, we began studying a few famous artists. We chose to start with Monet and I found some fun resources to use. Dover Publications has books of really nice postcards and stickers featuring the artwork of famous artists. There are also many engaging picture books which introduce children to great works of art. In this post, I will share the resources we found for Monet and how we used them.

One of my favorite resources was the book of Monet postcards. They are reasonably priced and they reminded me of the reproductions I had seen displayed when I had visited a Montessori preschool. We used a clear plastic magnetic frame to display a different Monet postcard each week. I allowed my son to pick which postcard he would like to display. Then I would ask him why he picked a particular painting and what he liked about it. We would look for clues about the artist's life in the painting. For example, in one of the postcard reproductions we saw a flag and we looked it up to see if it was the flag of France. We knew that Monet lived in France from reading the book, Linnea in Monet's Garden.

Linnea in Monet's Garden is a delightful story that is entertaining while also sharing much information about the artist. A good story geared toward younger children is Katie Meets the Impressionists. There is a whole series of Katie art books that both my children have enjoyed.

My son can now easily spot paintings by Monet when we go places that have reproductions on the wall or when we read other art related books. I enjoy being able to share my favorite artists with my children in ways they think are fun.

A Blossoming Artist

We recently discovered two great drawing books that have inspired a new interest in my son Jacob. I am sad to say that I had pretty much decided Jacob was a child who would probably never have a talent or interest in drawing. When he did draw something it was usually quickly scribbled stick figures. Well I was wrong and I'm happy to admit it!

A couple of months ago, Grandma came to visit. Grandma sells used books for a living and she usually brings each of my children a book when she comes to take care of them and give her very appreciative daughter and son-in-law a monthly date night. On this particular visit, she brought Jacob an Usborne book called I Can Draw Animals. The next day Jacob sat at his desk half the morning drawing pictures of animals. This was such a great surprise to me considering I had thought my son would never develop an interest in drawing. Jacob spent days drawing pictures of different animals and then asked me to get him some more drawing books. I found the Usborne book I Can Draw People and that was a big hit as well.

Now Jacob may not be the next Picasso but he sure is having fun drawing all these pictures and I think they are quite good for a six year old. You can check out the drawings below. I highly recommend these books if you have a child who already likes to draw or if you have a child who shows little interest in it. Both books are available through the Kids Love Learning Store.