11 Ideas To Do Nature Study During Morning Time

Morning Time. Morning Basket Time. Circle Time. In our home, we called it Brain Training Time. Whatever you call the time when your family gathers for learning before jumping into the rest of the homeschool day, it can be a great place to fit in a little nature study.

And no, I’m not going to tell you that morning time needs to begin with a nature walk! While heading outside is always worthwhile, these ideas are specifically for bringing nature study indoors. Even better, most of them can be done in about five minutes, making them easy to add to a morning that already includes several other subjects.

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Of course, these quick activities aren’t meant to replace nature walks or more in-depth nature study. Think of them as simple ways to build observation skills, reinforce science concepts, and keep children noticing nature regularly.

Nature Study During Morning Time

Here are 10 easy ways to make it happen.

1.  Table Observation

This was one of the nature activities we used most frequently during morning time because it’s so easy and versatile. Place a simple object from nature in the middle of your table for everyone to see. Then try one or more of these ideas:

• Sketch the item in a nature journal. Label its parts or add a sentence or two about it.
• Observe it closely with the naked eye or a magnifying glass and discuss what everyone notices.
• Read about the item from a field guide or another reliable source while everyone observes.
• Use field guides or the internet to identify an unknown specimen.

Leaves, flowers, seeds, pinecones, feathers, rocks, shells, fruits, vegetables, and even interesting sticks can become the focus of a quick science lesson.

2.  A Fraction of a Field Guide

Take just a few minutes to learn about one new thing from a field guide or the Handbook of Nature Study. You can read aloud, or older children can read ahead and teach a few interesting facts to the rest of the family.

This works especially well before a nature walk when you know you’ll be looking for something specific. It’s also useful after a walk when someone has found something they want to learn more about.

3.  A Quick Nature Read

Living literature is never a waste of time, and sharing a good book together fits beautifully into morning time.

Read a nature-themed picture book, a few pages from a Christian Liberty Nature Reader, a chapter from a Thornton Burgess book, or another chapter book. Nature poetry works well, too.

You don’t have to finish an entire book in one sitting. Five minutes of reading each morning adds up quickly!

4.  Nature Identification Practice

There are so many things children can learn to identify by sight: birds, trees, leaves, flowers, insects, animal tracks, rocks, clouds, constellations, and more.

Use field guides, nature cards, or images to practice identification for just a few minutes at a time. Besides simple flashcard-style practice, try:

• matching games
• memory games
• Go Fish-style games
• sorting items into groups
• graphing the groups you create

A few minutes of regular identification practice can make a big difference when children head outside and suddenly recognize something they’ve learned.

 

***Fandex Field Guides could be used as flashcards or taken apart to use in sorting activities, too.

5.  Nature Vocabulary Practice

Introduce one or two science vocabulary words during morning time. Write each word on an index card and occasionally review the growing stack.

Vocabulary can include the common or scientific names of plants and animals, geography terms, or science words such as erosion, pollination, migration, metamorphosis, or camouflage.

When possible, choose words that connect with something you’re currently studying or observing outside. Vocabulary sticks much better when children have something meaningful to connect it to.

6.  Keep a Daily Nature Calendar

If calendar time is already part of your morning routine, add a quick nature observation.

Give each child a monthly calendar and have them record something they notice from a window, the porch, or the yard. There are several ways to do this:

• Let children record whatever catches their attention that day: weather, a bird at the feeder, an insect, blooming flowers, or something else.
• Choose one topic to follow for a week or longer, such as daily changes in a tree, bird activity, or temperature.
• Rotate through several observations. You might record weather on Monday, observe a tree on Tuesday, watch birds on Wednesday, measure a shadow on Thursday, and check flowers on Friday.

Over time, those tiny observations can reveal seasonal patterns that children might otherwise miss.

7.  Nature Themed Memory Work

Morning time can be a wonderful opportunity for memory and recitation work, and nature poetry fits right in.

Choose poems that match the season or connect with something you’re currently studying. Read and recite them together throughout the week.

Favorite lines can also become copywork later in the day if you’d like to extend the learning.

8.  Art Skills Practice with Nature Objects

This activity is similar to table observation, but the main goal is to practice an art skill while using a nature object as the model.

Choose one skill to practice, such as shading, cross-hatching, movement, color, shape, proportion, or texture. Demonstrate the skill briefly, then place a nature object on the table and let everyone practice while drawing it.

Even when art is the main focus, careful nature observation is happening at the same time.

9.  Play Nature Games

We called our morning time “Brain Training” for a reason. I loved using games to wake up tired brains while building memory, attention, speed, logic, and critical-thinking skills.

Nature-themed games can do the same thing while reinforcing science knowledge. Identification games, matching games, classification challenges, nature trivia, and card games are all easy possibilities.

You can even turn materials you already own, such as nature identification cards, into simple games without buying anything new.

 

10. Nature Study Made Easy

For a little more structure, the Nature Study Made Easy curriculum guides can help you bring meaningful, nature-based science into your morning time without much preparation.

Each study focuses on a specific science topic and includes interesting reading, videos, nature journaling, research, and simple activities that work across the 1st–8th grade range. You can choose one small portion to work through during morning time and continue the study over several weeks.

Topics include habitats, flower families, symbiosis, space observations, math in nature, plant defense mechanisms, animal life cycles, and more.

11. No Sweat Nature Study

No Sweat Nature Study isn’t a five-minute morning time activity, but it can absolutely become part of your family’s morning time routine when you have room for a longer science lesson.

In each class, I teach 1st–8th graders a complete nature-based science lesson while they create a nature journal page right along with me. We cover real science, learn important vocabulary, make connections across science topics, and use nature journaling to help children process and remember what they’re learning.

Members can join me for live classes twice a month and access a library of more than 200 recorded lessons, making it easy to choose a topic that fits what your family is studying or interested in right now.

Hear what Christine has to say about No Sweat Nature Study…

“I want to thank you for your nature study classes! They have been such a blessing to our homeschool (especially this year with a new baby in our household.) My children, ages 11, 9, 7, and 4 all love your classes and come away from them having learned so much and having produced a beautiful note booking page (usually a lovely piece of art). Thank you for enriching our homeschool!”

Christine S.

And there you have it!  Fast and easy activities for multiple ages to include nature study in your family’s morning time.  Have fun and learn a lot!

Listen to the Podcast

If you’ve enjoyed this post, I know you’ll want to hear the Your Morning Basket podcast I did with my friend, Pam Barnhill.  We had such a good time talking about many of these ideas!

More Morning Time Ideas

Learn how to incorporate morning time into your homeschool with these great tips! Join me for a video training with Q&A afterward. We discuss topics like what to do in morning time, how to make it a routine, how long it should take, and many more!