These free nature study lessons will keep your children joyfully busy and allow you to get a glimpse into the wonderful learning that you can find in the NaturExplorers curriculum series!
Nature study is a wonderful way to learn science! It’s hands-on, experience-based learning which makes it the perfect science lab for homeschool students!
What exactly is NaturExplorers?
NaturExplorers studies are your go-to resource for both creative nature walks and science-based unit studies. More than 20 nature topics are available that help you get outdoors for some serious (and seriously fun) learning in all seasons.
Written with the 1st-8th grader in mind, it’s easy to include older and younger students with just a little tweaking of your expectations. There are even a few specific lesson ideas just for preschool and high school students.
In each study, you find:
- Background information about the particular nature topic
- 25-40 creative nature walk ideas
- Hands-on activities such as experiments, demonstrations, model making, art & cooking
- Research suggestions that require your children to search out information
- Writing assignments
- Project-based learning ideas which require children to assimilate information into a variety of creative projects
- An extensive list of fiction and non-fiction living literature
- Bible lessons
- Suggestions for including artist and composer study
- Poetry to enjoy or recite
- Activity suggestions for larger groups like co-ops, for instance
- Several printable notebooking pages to take in the field with you
Who Uses NaturExplorers Studies?
Charlotte Mason homeschoolers tend to purchase NaturExplorers to grab the nature walk ideas. They often spend a month or a semester immersed in one nature topic and find plenty of nature walk ideas to pull them through. They are quick to grab hold of the living literature lists and ideas for complimentary artist, composer and poetry studies.
Unit study families are more likely to use the creative nature walks as a jump-off point for the hands-on activities, writing lessons and project-based learning ideas. They add a little math and phonics instruction to the homeschool day and all subjects can be covered. There is enough material within each NaturExplorers study to do at least a full four-six week unit study.
Plenty of classical homeschooling families are incorporating weekly nature study into their schedule and rely on NaturExplorers to keep their idea banks full. Those involved with Classical Conversations are even supplementing their yearly learning plans with appropriate NaturExplorers topics.
Of course, unschoolers and traditional homeschoolers use NaturExplorers, too. Unschoolers tend to hand the books over to their children for self-guided learning inspiration – and their children love choosing their own study topics! Traditional homeschoolers are stepping away from the textbook once a week or once a month for “fun” days. NaturExplorers books help them turn the typical schedule upside down!
Co-ops and nature clubs love NaturExplorers. Whether meeting weekly or monthly, the ideas in the books help the teachers plan thorough group lessons. On occasion, I even talk to teachers who can’t necessarily get outdoors during class time. They either bring nature to class with them or use literature and the hands-on activities instead.
Free Nature Study Lessons
You can easily view sample pages of each book on the individual product pages, but I wanted to give you a slightly different view today. I want you to see exactly how I might pull together a nature study afternoon (as a Charlotte Mason homeschooler) using a variety of the NaturExplorers studies.
Enjoy the lessons. Use them with your children. Have fun outside. See the serious science you can study in nature. I bet your family will make tons of memories and build tons of brain power!
On to the Free Nature Study Lessons!
Click any of the images below to find the free lessons.
Animal SignsBeautiful Birds
Captivating Clouds
Incredible Creeks
Ever-changing Erosion
A Fungus Among Us
Peaceful Ponds
Remarkable Rain
Delightful Deciduous Trees
Wonderful Wildflowers
Looking for Grab-n-Go Nature Study Curriculum Instead?
Sometimes you just want to grab a creative nature walk idea and head out the door without any extra thought, right? Or, maybe it would be even easier to print a truly meaningful nature journal page that gives all the directions for an actual nature-based science lesson?
You might be looking for these instead!
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40 Nature Walks: Volume 2$16.00 -
40 Nature Walks: Volume 1$16.00 -
Creative Nature Walks$16.00
Would you like the easiest of easy buttons?
I can actually teach nature study to your children for you. Really!
Twice a month, I teach No Sweat Nature Study LIVE classes to 1st-8th graders online. It may sound counterintuitive to learn nature study during an online class, but we learn so much together!
We dig deep into science and scientific vocabulary as we study nature and create nature journal pages together. We even complete experiments together sometimes, too!
Not surprisingly, No Sweat Nature Study LIVE tends to spark a curiosity to get outdoors to find and observe actual specimens of the things we learn about.
Membership in No Sweat Nature Study LIVE includes way more than two new classes per month! You get access to a large library of previously taught lessons that you can add to your homeschool schedule whenever you like. Each and every lesson comes with a downloadable packet that includes an overview of the topic, specimen images, scientific vocabulary, and some additional learning ideas for those who want to dig even deeper!
Plus, members get free and discounted curriculum from the Our Journey Westward Shop as a thank you for joining along in the fun.
Go check out a free sample No Sweat Nature Study LIVE lesson to see what it’s all about!
What age/grade are these good for?
Lynda, the NaturExplorers series was written with 1st-8th graders in mind. Let me know if you have other questions.
Thank you Cindy, I have a soon to be 4th grade homeschooler who adores “outside”
Lynda, I would love to hear what he thinks about learning science through nature!