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General Instructions for Using this Ebook

This ebook will provide three months full of nature study, art appreciation, and music appreciation for families wishing to

find some joy and wonder in the winter season. There are three components to each month’s work. 

Nature Study using the Handbook of Nature Study  

The ten challenges included in this ebook are written in the format of the popular Outdoor Hour Challenges that I write for

my blog. Gathering them all together into an easy to use format will make it even simpler and more convenient to include

nature study each week following a suggested topic.

Each challenge has three parts: inside preparation work, outdoor time, and then a follow up activity. You can complete all or

part of each challenge as you go along. Each challenge is written so you can adapt it to your own backyard or local area. Use

the ideas as a way to get started with simple weekly nature study using the Handbook of Nature Study . Some of the

challenges include pages to read from the Discover Nature in Winter book. You will find additional plans for this book on my

blog sidebar and they are available at any time.

Art Appreciation

Each month I suggest a piece of artwork to study with your family. You can view the print on your computer, print out the

page from the ebook, or you can follow the provided link to see the artwork in a larger format. Plans for viewing, studying,

and then completing a follow up piece of artwork are included with each painting.

Music Appreciation

To enhance your winter nature study, this ebook includes a suggested piece of music for your family to listen to each month.

The plans for each composer include links to biographies, links to listen to the music online, suggestions for CDs to purchase,

and plans for completing your music appreciation studies. Each month has a suggested art activity to go along with the

musical selection as well.

Monthly Goals and Calendar

Sometimes we need to plan a little ahead in order to make the most of our study. Each month has a page with goals and a

calendar for you to use in scheduling all your planned activities. Each Friday there will be one of the monthly challenges up

on my blog and you can plan on following along with those plans if that helps you stay motivated. You will need to plan for an

hour or so each week for art and music appreciation in addition to the Friday nature study. Please feel free to adjust the

schedule to meet your weekly needs and interests.

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January Goals: 

1. Winter Cattail Study (See Autumn Series Challenge #1) 

2. Winter Tree Study (See Autumn Series Challenge #2) 

3. Winter Sky and Stars (See Winter Wednesday Challenge #3) 

4. Winter Weather Study (See Autumn Series Challenge #6) 

5. Listen to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons-Winter

6. Study Trees and Bushes in the Snow by Caspar David Friedrich

January 2010

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 

31

Go ahead and use the calendar above to plan out your January activities. I schedule one afternoon a week for nature study, and one

session per week for artist study and music appreciation.

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Winter Series #2

Winter Tree Study

Inside Preparation Work:

Now that winter is upon us, let’s take this week and observe the tree we chose last autumn to study during each of the four seasons. This week youwill use the suggestions on pages 624-625 of the Handbook of Nature Study to make general winter observations of your tree. You may wish to

read through the suggested ideas for studying your tree before heading outdoors so you will have those in mind. If you started a year-long tree

study a few months ago during the Autumn Series of challenges, you may want to pull out your nature journal and refresh your memory about your

particular tree. Hopefully when you go outdoors you will observe some big changes.

 Also, if you have the Discover Nature in Winter book, turn to pages 76-81 for valuable information on branch patterns, tree silhouettes, twigs, and

seed containers.

Outdoor Hour Time:

Take your 10-15 minute outdoor time to study your tree. If you are just starting out with a tree study, pick a tree from your yard that you can

watch through all four seasons. Have your children make as many observations as possible, perhaps comparing the appearance to how it was

during autumn. Another way to record your tree changes is to take photographs in every season. This makes for a very easy nature journal entry

once you get back indoors.

Simple Suggestions for Winter Tree Study:

1. Pick a tree in your yard or on your street and view its branch patterns and silhouette.

2. Find a tree that has lost its leaves and sketch its shape in your nature journal. This activity can be done from a window if your weather is too cold

or snowy.

3. Collect some seeds from trees that may still be left over from last season. Look for sweet gum, locust, yellow poplar, ash, mimosa, or sycamore.

4. Collect twigs from different trees and compare them.

Follow-Up Activity:

 After your outdoor time, complete a nature journal entry using the notebook page I created for the Winter Series, a general notebook page from

the sidebar of my blog, the original notebook page, or your own blank journal. You can take photos of your tree to put in your nature journal as

well. The Handbook of Nature Study suggests sketching your tree to show its shape as it stands bare. File your nature journal page as a record of the season.

 Additional Project:

 Anna Botsford Comstock in the Handbook of Nature Study suggests on page 624 to take a twig from your tree in February and look at it carefully.

She suggests placing the twig in a vase of water and then leaving it in a warm, light place and see what happens to the buds. We completed this

activity last year and it was a huge success. In addition to the tree twig, we also brought in a branch from our forsythia bush and watched it

blossom indoors long before the bush outside bloomed. This is such an easy activity but one that will delight your children.

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   ? Seasonal Tree Study—Winter

  Winter Series Challenges ©Barbara McCoy http://handbookofnaturestud

   D  a

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Sketch your tree showing its shape or silhouette in the winter.