Nature Walks: What a Great Way to Learn & Play!

This weekend, we went out and about and had a lovely time on a nature walk!
We had a wonderful time!
Nature walks are a great way to explore your surroundings.
They are fun, easy to do, and free!
Plus, they help children to make connections to the world around them.
We were up at The Villages, Florida at my parents' home there so we went on our nature walk on the nature trails there. Such a perfect time of year for a walk! It was actually cool enough for us to wear long sleeves!
Since it was cool and clear, it was a great weather day to take in all that we passed.
Here are some photos from our nature walk:

Checking out what is in the water under the bridge

Hugs and smiles as we stop for a photo by the water

Lovely! Even more so in real life and up close

So pretty

Little Bro's very happy to find some pine cones!

Big Bro and Little Bro on a pine cone hunt. If only this photo could really capture the sun shining through the pine trees and the cool. clear air that was blowing...what a glorious fall day!!!

Pine cone stash! Yay!

Having fun on the trail!

Lovely...

Boys wishing that we would have thought to have brought a bag to place their stash of pine cones in...trying to figure how to carry them all without dropping them

Such a vibrant shade of green

Boys being silly!

A little pause for some meditating and relaxation!

The heron looked like a statue but was real! So neat to watch!

View of all of the Spanish Moss draped on the tree.

The boys were fascinated by this...had to stop and check it out

Fun times! Nature walks rock!!!

Do you like to take nature walks with children?
If you do and have any photos to share, please leave a link in the comments section of this post!
Here are some resources in case you want to do more with outdoor learning in your home or school:

Thanks to Sara Hart for pinning this book to Pinterest! Think it looks awesome!

Source: simplekids.net via Colleen on Pinterest

This book looks amazing! On my wish list!

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Colleen on Pinterest

Another great resource for outdoor learning!!!

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Colleen on Pinterest

Plus, if you have not checked out our family's Crash Me Please entry for Yard Crashers, please click to see it now! We have the second highest number of page views for all of the South and the seventh highest for all of North America! We are hoping to win so that our back yard and lanai will be made over from a snake pit to a sanctuary. We want to have our own outdoor classroom and play area.

Hope that you will check out our entry!

Please leave a comment for us!

Hopefully, Ahmed and his crew will be coming soon to do our yard!

Making Memories & Montessori Monday - Our Version of Summer Camp

Peanut butter cup time...this time, our version of summer camp (including some Montessori inspired works), plus some memories in the making...

We are having such an awesome summer! 

Memories in the making, to be sure...

Such fun times with some wonderful friends who came to visit us for a week, as we packed in Disney, the Florida Aquarium, Clearwater Beach...

We also had fun shopping, playing at the pools, parks, and water parks in our area, and going out to eat, plus some fun hanging out, playing at our home, and just kicking back and relaxing a bit, too....

This past week, we had to take it down a notch and get back into our more regular summer groove...namely,  doing our version of "summer camp."

Our summer camp is basically a looser version of our school year.

(Pictured above: bead stair hanger work, counting 0-20 work.)

Both boys still select their work the night before, and they still get started as they normally would during our school year.

(Pictured: sorting shapes work, patterning work, rhyming work with language objects,  counting bead stair extension with frog counters, Draw Write Now Frog art and copywork, dart frogs sorting work and dart frog book, block tower work, sound cylinders work, CVC words with language objects and movable alphabet work)

The main difference is that in addition to our Montessori inspired works, there are more non-Montessori materials such as board games, card games, extra art projects, etc. than we normally have during the school year.

Plus, there is some additional free play time added into the mix, to play outside and to catch and / or observe all of the little critters in our neighborhood, along with some down time to watch a family movie, to do some cooking projects, and to just hang out and relax...

 For us, our summer camp schedule is a much more loose, go with the flow sort of schedule...

We get out and enjoy the sunshine when we can and then, we hang out and relax when either the weather is too hot or humid, or it is a downpour.

Sinus and ear infections have kept creeping back into our summer, so that has necessitated some time to just chill out, as there have been days when we have not felt up to par.

When you feel dizzy, your face, ears, and head feel like they are going to burst, and your sinuses and ears are so full that your teeth hurt, putting in a nice family friendly movie is not all bad...

It actually can be quite calming and relaxing, although we do not do that during the school year. 

(Pictured: Little Bro's art project, cool bilingual English - Spanish card game called Green Alligators, having fun in the sun at the beach, Big Bro and Little Bro eating Popsicle treats, Boys trying to pull out King Arthur's Sword at Disney's Magic Kingdom, having fun splashing at the park in the water fountains, checking out the hot air balloons that fly over our home almost daily each morning, Big Bro and Little Bro catching lizards and frogs, as well as watching a grasshopper and an alligator swimming by at a nearby pond.)

We are enjoying our summer, so much so that the happy times will shine through more than remembering the sinus and ear troubles we have had lately. Ear tubes may make their way back in to the scene, but we know that those aren't all bad, as they worked like charms for both boys the last time around, so if it comes to that again, well, BRING IT ON...

But really, when we think back to this summer, we will remember the times spent doing things we love, not times we had to spend laying on the sofa and watching movies.

Well, happy Monday and happy summer to everyone!

Please be sure to check out:

Jennifer's Making Memories Monday link-ups,
Jody's Montessori Monday at Mommy Moment link-ups,
and Nicole's Montessori Monday link-ups.












 Please also be sure to check out my last post about a light table items swap! 

Even if you don't have a light table, if you have a decent light source such as a large window that gets plenty of sun during the day, you could use the items for displaying in your window.