Nature Walk...it's so much more than bugs and stuff...

Warning: Photo heavy - but very fun - post.  =)

Psalms 8:3-4 “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”

I try to take my little guy on a nature walk at least 3 times a week.  It is going to be a lot better as the weather gets cooler.  He almost always takes his little net and critter container just in case we find something super cool!

We look for different insects, cool textures, colors, shapes, etc.  

We talk about flowers, leaves, roots, stems, etc.  He always asks a lot of questions about the bees and humming birds that we see.

Snails are one of his favorite things to find.

He is very observant and very patient.  He really thinks about what he is looking at and asks a lot of questions.

We found this larvae and then looked it up on google to figure out what it was going to turn into... that led to watching a video on metamorphosis, learning about the different stages, watching a caterpillar turn into a pupae...

This praying mantis was a recent find.  It's a good thing that I'm not too skittish about these kinds of things. haha!  We usually let the critters go before night fall.  I had to explain that their mommies would be looking for them and would be very sad if they didn't come home.  He was cool with that.

Can you see Mr. Grasshopper?

We caught this lizard (on the wall) and he's been keeping it  in his little tank. We take him outside to let him get heat and sunshine and I catch crickets for him at night.  We'll observe him for a while longer before he needs to go home to his mommy too.

Look at these. We love them...what are they called??  So soft and pretty.

There are some blue birds that hang out in the trees here by my house.  I don't know what kind they are, but they sure are pretty.

Now, this is a man-made wall of course, but it is made with real rock/stone.  We talk about textures a lot!

How about these tree trunks for texture??

 More of the snails...we practice counting...

There is a great park near by with a man-made pond and we like to visit the ducks, go fishing, look for turtles,  run from the aggressive geese...

He fed crackers to this one for a while.  Then he felt confident and stuck out his hand (like you would to a puppy) and it snapped at his finger.  Didn't hurt him, but scared the bejeezus outta both of 'em. haha.

Revelation 4:11
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

We talk a lot about how amazing GOD is and how He is so creative.  He is the best artist there ever was!!  We talk about how God made things with a purpose...even if we don't always know what it is - God does.  We talk about what purpose means.

There is a teeny tiny waterfall and we love listening to it bubble and roll into the pond from the other part that we call the "lake"...

We talk about colors...this was the sky one day.  See the airplane?  The grass so green...

I love the time I have to spend with my boy.  I call him "Curious George" 'cause he wants to know so much.  I am thankful that I can teach him things he needs to know academically, but also spiritually.  I want him to ask questions.  I want to see miraculous and amazing things.  I want him to know that God created all of this for his pleasure and enjoyment and wonder.

I am often humbled by all that he appreciates.  Everything is "so cool" and every creature is his "besss besss friend".  As I teach him, it is a wonderful feeling to realize that he teaches me.


Psalm 104: 24-25 “How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number-living things both large and small.”