Ultimate Guide to Christmas Nature Study
The holly bears a berry as red as any blood,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ to do poor sinners good.
The holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ on Christmas Day in the morn.
~The Holly and the Ivy | Harrison S. Morris
I bet you thought I covered everything related to nature study a few months ago in my Ultimate Guide to Nature Study post, didn’t you? No way! In this post, I’ve pulled together everything related to CHRISTMAS nature study for you. Christmas nature study?? Yep. Who is Christmas about? Who made creation? Well then, studying nature at Christmastime is a perfect way to talk more about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! 🙂
Nature Study Through the Holidays: Advent
I’ve taken some time to pull together all you need for an Advent-themed Bible and science study in Nature Study Through the Holidays: Advent. Advent is a weekly focus on various parts of the Christmas story during the month leading up to Christmas. For each of these weeks, I have provided you with Scripture references, nature study activities and full-color notebooking pages. My hope is that your family will grow closer to the Lord and His perfect gift of Jesus this Christmas season.
If you use Advent candles as part of your Christmas celebration, you might be interested in Theresa’s Advent wreath made from natural materials.
Christmas Tree Study
If you’d rather focus on Christmas trees as nature study, NaturExplorer’s Constant Conifers offers many ideas!
Homeschool Share has a free study using the book Chita’s Christmas Tree, too.
Other Fun Christmas Nature Study Ideas
There are many, many nature topics you might focus on during the month of December. I’ve listed just handful of fun ideas below.
- Learn more about the mistletoe you find on your nature walks from the U.S. Geological Survey.
- December (or anytime during winter) is a wonderful time for a study of Snow and Ice.
- Winter Solstice occurs on Dec. 21st. It’s the shortest day of the year for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Donna Young has provided a fun science activity to measure shadows and The Crafty Crow has linked all sorts of fun craft ideas to celebrate.
- You might enjoy a study of spices as you prepare all those yummy Christmas cookies.
- Enjoy a red, green and white nature walk.
- If you have the opportunity, take a unique nature “walk” – go ice skating!
Christmas & Nature Literature
There are books galore that tie together nature and Christmas. Really good books, too. Enjoy one or two of these a week to spark nature walks.
Christmas Gifts & Crafting from Nature
Decorate your house with natural elements found on nature walks – everything from door and table decor to Christmas tree ornaments. Many nature projects turn out so beautifully they make perfect gifts, too! Below, I’ve linked you to some of my favorite Christmas nature crafting ideas. I’ve also been busy pinning fun ideas on my Christmas Pinterest Board.
- Milestone Academy encourages her children to make herb gardens as gifts by rooting supermarket herbs in small glass jars.
- If you have a collection of walnuts from a nature walk, Easy Fun School uses them to make Black Walnut Wintermints.
- Steph shares directions for 13 nature-filled Christmas craft projects for kids (and adults.)
- Not necessarily Christmas related, these nature crafts for kids could make great gifts.
- How about making some fun ornaments using nature finds?
Christmas Gift Ideas to Promote Nature Study
Just in case you’re still shopping, there are tons of fun ideas for gifts that go along with nature study. I’ve compiled a huge list of some goodies here.
And, don’t forget things like zoo memberships, science museum tickets, or even a subscription to Nature’s Friend magazine!
Have fun this Christmas season. Make memories in learning that will last a lifetime!
Thank you for creating and sharing this Christmas inspired Nature Study. I have always loved adding Unit Studies to our Time4Learning. I just think Unit Studies are a great way to add Fun/interest led topics to any learning routine. O’ and Thanks for the last minute gift ideas. Lately our home has been taken over by lady bugs, they are EVERYWHERE! My son loves them, trys to keep them as pets, but they die in the bowls, cups he puts them in. I am thinking Ladybug Land would make him very happy.
We do change our focus during Advent: lots of Scripture study, crafts, baking, visits with friends.
It makes the coming of January and a return to the routine fill with expectation!
I am excited to add in more nature study this time around.
I love this wonderful and informative post, thank you! We are new to home schooling so this is our first Christmas season doing it and this post has so many great options for us that I can’t wait to go through each one and quickly plan to incorporate them this month! Thanks again for all you share! I follow your facebook page diligently and so everything you post on there is front and center on my wall and it is refreshing to see it at least once every day! <3
You’re so sweet, Elizabeth! You have one whole semester under your belt. I hope it’s been a wonderful adventure and you have many more years of homeschooling ahead of you!