Coping with the Cold

Keep Nature Study Going When the Temperature Drops

Animals are getting ready for winter. Give your kids the chance to notice what’s happening and understand why!

A squirrel gathering food. Birds on the move. A thicker coat of fur. The changing seasons offer plenty to study, but knowing what to look for and how to explain it takes some help.

Coping with the Cold is a nature-based science curriculum that brings those lessons together for you. With creative nature walks, helpful background information, and more than 50 indoor activities, you can turn seasonal observations into science lessons your family will remember.

Start with winter preparations in late summer or fall, then keep learning throughout winter as your family investigates how animals survive the cold.

Know What to Look For and What to Do Next

You don’t need to be an animal expert to lead a worthwhile nature study. This guide helps you understand the topic, choose an activity, and head outside with a purpose.

Your family can investigate:

• Food storage: How do animals prepare for times when food is scarce?
• Winter shelters: Where do animals find protection from cold weather?
• Physical adaptations: How do changes in their bodies help animals survive?
• Migration: Which animals leave, and what clues can you notice?
• Winter activity: How do animals that stay active keep warm and find food?

Nature walks give your kids something real to observe. Follow-up activities help them make sense of what they’ve seen.

The Ideas Are Gathered. You Choose What Fits.

Spend less time searching for activities and more time learning together. Inside Coping with the Cold, you’ll find:

• Parent-friendly background information to help you teach with confidence.
• Creative nature walks to use from late summer through winter.
• More than 50 indoor activities for hands-on learning when you’re staying inside.
• Literature suggestions and book lists to enrich your study.
• Writing and research ideas that connect science with other subjects.
• Bible, art, music, and poetry connections for a broader unit study.
• Colorful notebooking pages to record observations and learning.
• Tips for adapting activities for different ages and groups.

One Study for Your Whole Family

Written for grades 1–8, this flexible guide helps you teach siblings together while choosing activities that suit their abilities and interests. Adaptation ideas also make it useful for co-ops and classroom groups.

Use a few activities alongside your regular science lessons, or build a longer unit study. You decide how much to include and how long to spend.

Cold Weather Doesn’t Have to End Nature Study

Head outside when the weather allows. On bitterly cold or wet days, choose an indoor activity, read together, or use the notebooking pages to develop what your family has already learned.

You’ll have useful lessons for both kinds of days, all in one resource.

Put the Changing Seasons to Work in Your Homeschool

With Coping with the Cold, an animal sighting can become the start of a science lesson instead of a question you mean to look up later.

Get Coping with the Cold and have your next seasonal nature study ready to go.