Nature Study - March
updated April 7, 2023
Recorded here is my own personal collection of articles, resources, favorite links, teaching ideas, and lesson plans. It encompasses many years, from the very beginning of my experience studying and learning about Waldorf to the present time. People from all around the world visit my site and recommend it to others. Welcome!
This site records my journey. I hope my honesty is encouraging and helps break down some barriers that may prevent people from trying Waldorf methods. Because this is an ongoing site documenting my curriculum planning and ideas, some materials are more Waldorf-y than others. Please feel free to take what you like and leave the rest.
Mission Statement - Consulting Services - Lending Library
Nature Study
for Bridge and Class 1/2
This is a continuation of my Nature Study page, with specific notes for
March.
As a Bridge curriculum or for Nature study in grades 1 & 2, I recommend the Charlotte Mason-inspired
Exploring Nature with Children curriculum.
It is a downloadable PDF which you can choose to print or not, and the cost is just $18.00.
An optional companion book is Anna Botsford Comstock's
Handbook of Nature Study, which is also useful
for multiple years.
Handbook of Nature Study
by Anna Botsford Comstock
March - Week 1
Nesting Birds, p.121
fill suet baskets with yarn scraps and hang them for the birds to use as nesting material
brush rabbit and collect loose fur
make Hanging
Yarn Ball Art aka "Sturdier-Than-It-Looks String Birdhouse" project from
Project Garden: A Month-by-Month Guide to Planting, Growing, and Enjoying ALL Your Backyard Has to Offer
by Stacy Tornio, page 30, but fill with rabbit fur & sheep wool
 
an old kitchen whisk works well for this purpose too!
put up window nest box
look at a bird nest from our collection, try to identify it
(Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird
Nests), sketch it
 
bird nest dissection (goes well with Bird Egg Feather Nest by Maryjo Koch)
 
compare eggs - ostrich egg,
emu egg, duck egg, chicken egg, quail egg
Bird Bingo
Match a Pair of Birds: A Memory Game
 
 
make giant bird nest sculpture in the yard for imaginative play (We have done this multiple times and it always had grass
grow up through it and had to be taken apart. Finally, I learned that it works best to lay down a clear shower curtain
liner, folded in half, as the base of the sculpture. Build a frame with very large sticks and then fill in
blank spaces with smaller sticks. This is also a nice time to do yarn-wrapped sticks, as they add a pop of
color to your sculpture. Line the nest with dried grass, straw, dead leaves, or bark mulch.)
learning about the ovenbird is also a nice chance to do some clay modeling work
she suggests three artist possibilities: John James Audubon, Henri Matisse, Vincent van Gogh
note: the Newbery award winning biography Audubon by Constance
Rourke is a wonderful book but will be a bit dry for younger children
if you also have a 5th grader who is studying U.S. Geography,
this could be a good time to learn different state birds as part of State Reports
The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon 
by Jacqueline Davies
The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse
by Patricia MacLachlan
Song of the Swallows
by Leo Politi (the swallows return on St. Joseph's Day, Mar 19)
Oscar and Olive Osprey
by Janie Suss
(on the Chesapeake Bay, the ospreys arrive on St. Patrick's Day, Mar 17)
Urban Roosts: Where Birds Nest in the City
by Barbara Bash
A Nest is Noisy
by Dianna Hutts Aston
An Egg is Quiet
by Dianna Hutts Aston
Egg: Nature's Perfect Package
by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Actual Size
by Steve Jenkins (full-size collage illustration of an ostrich egg)
We Build Our Homes: Small Stories of Incredible Animal Architects
by Laura Knowles
Everything You Never Learned About Birds
by Rebecca Rupp
Bird Log Kids
by DeAnna Brandt
The Burgess Bird Book for Children 
by Thornton W. Burgess
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Birds
by Christopher Perrins
past blog posts:
Mar 19, 2017 - Song of the Swallows - Leo Politi
Feb 10, 2018 - Photos from the Classroom
Aug 29, 2018 - Picnic & Play: The Tale of the Squawky Young Birds
Sep 2, 2018 - Final Day of Picnic & Play
Sep 15, 2018 - Science Club: Bird Beaks and Bird Songs
Sep 29, 2018 - Science Club: Charles Darwin
Oct 13, 2018 - Science Club: John James Audubon
Nov 2, 2018 - Science Club: Henri Matisse
Dec 17, 2018 - The Bird Art Show
May 6, 2020 - Bird Nest Sculpture Photos (from all 3 versions)
Oct 1, 2020 - Bird Study & Fine Motor Skills
Oct 11, 2020 - The Tale of the Squawky Young Birds, Reprised
March - Week 2
Spring Pond Study, p.125
March - Week 3
Vernal Equinox, p.131
Easter is a unique holiday because it is celebrated on the morning of the first Sunday after the first Full Moon occurring on or after the Vernal Equinox.
It not only, in the Christian faith, honors the rhythms of birth and death but -- by being held when it is -- it honors the rhythms of the cycle of the Sun (Vernal Equinox), the cycle of the Moon (Full Moon), the cycle of the Week (Sunday), and the cycle of Day and Night (morning).
two of our favorite ways to plant seeds are making
clay/mud balls with wildflower seeds
(just mix them up and then throw them all over the yard)
and seed-infused plantable paper
(nice for valentines; these can also be Easter gifts, depending on the cookie cutter you use)
this is a good week to plan your vegetable garden, if you haven't already!
This is the Way We Wash-a-Day
by Mary Theines-Schunemann
"Oh, When I Go a-Ploughing" song, page 27, track 23
"The Farmer in the Dell" song, page 30, track 28
if you're working in the garden, do a little Soil Science:
"The Four Components of Productive Soil" and "The Apple Lesson"
Apple as the Earth's Soil (PDF)
love the Parts of the Biome Jars from the Backyard Biome
Mat Bundle by Waseca Biomes
you can download a lot of PDF lessons from the Waseca Biomes website for free; go to A-Z
PDF library and click on "An Introduction to the Biomes with Curriculum"
there are also some soil books listed in the "Earthworms" notes from February
go outside and dance barefoot in the mud!
it is fun to divide a ball of yarn in half by picking up the loose end of the yarn
and winding it into a ball of yarn of its own; judge the weight
of each with your hands and keep unrolling and rewinding a portion of the bigger ball
into the smaller one until you
think the two are the same, then place the two balls (still
connected) onto a kitchen scale one at a time to see their weight; continue to adjust the amount of yarn in each ball until they
are perfectly equal
if you want to really focus on the idea of equal in a math sense,
I like to do Ghostie Numbers
with children
as early as first grade; it is important to immediately present the
equals sign with its true meaning of "is the same as" as opposed to "put the answer here"
if you also have a 6th grader who is studying Astronomy,
of course
the Equinox is a great tie-in (Kovacs chapters 16 & 17 or Keepers of the Night pp.76-78)
Geology and Astronomy
by Charles Kovacs
Keepers of the Night: Native American Stories and Nocturnal Activities for Children
by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac
if you also have a 7th grader who is studying Chemistry, talking about soil
and your garden is the perfect time to introduce The Nitrogen Cycle
Gardener to Gardener Almanac & Pest-Control Primer: A Month-By-Month Guide and Journal for Planning, Planting, and Tending Your Organic Garden
edited by Vicki Mattern and Fern Marshall Bradley
Whose Garden Is It?
by Mary Ann Hoberman
The Year at Maple Hill Farm
by Alice and Martin Provensen
Mud
by Mary Lyn Ray
My Mama Had a Dancing Heart
by Libba Moore Grey
Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors
by Joyce Sidman
past blog posts:
Mar 22, 2008 - Easter Egg Hunt
Aug 19, 2010 - Easter Egg Sidewalk Chalk Recipe
Sep 23, 2011 -
The Four Components of Productive Soil
Mar 7, 2015 - Gardening Books
Mar 28, 2015 - More Easter Crafts
Nov 4, 2016 - Parts of the Biome Jars
Apr 9, 2017 - The Bunny Who Found Easter by Charlotte Zolotow
Feb 10, 2018 - Photos from the Classroom
Apr 19, 2019 - The Rhythms of Easter
Apr 3, 2020 - Montessori and the Nitrogen Cycle
Jul 12, 2020 - Introducing the Equals Sign ("Is the Same As") and Infinity
Feb 14, 2021 - Handmade Seed Paper Valentines
March - Week 4
Garden Snails, p.135
it is wonderful to go to the aquariums at the pet store, watch the snails crawling up the glass, and see their feet from the underside
"Snail's House" spiral game from Let's Talk, Let's Play: Helping
Children Learn How to Learn from Life by Jane Winslow Eliot, pp.68-69
 
this book is also available for free as a PDF download from the Online Waldorf Library here
I like to draw a large spiral on the driveway with chalk (or you can make it with masking tape) and have us walk into the center and back out
snail spiral monoprinting with a gelatin plate is also super fun!
 
snail poetry in The Waldorf Book of Animal Poetry edited by David Mitchell:
"The Snail House," p.129
"The Poor Snail" by J.M. Westrup, p.137
"Old Shellover" by Walter de la Mare, p.137
"The Snail" by William Cowper, p.138
 
"Gastropod / Snail" information and drawing lesson is on pages 40-42 of Drawing from the Book of Nature by Dennis Klocek
 
"The Snail"
is chapter 4, pages 39-43, of The Human Being and the Animal World by Charles Kovacs
 
"The Snail" by Henri Matisse (Tate Modern collection in London)
Matisse's Garden
by Samantha Friedman
Henri's Scissors
by Jeanette Winter
Are You a Snail?
by Judy Allen
Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature
by Joyce Sidman
Egg: Nature's Perfect Package
by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
(apple snail, moon snail, volutid snail)
Moonsnail Song
by Sheryl McFarlane
Houses from the Sea
by Alice E. Goudey
The Snail with the Right Heart: A True Story
by Maria Popova
The Snail's Spell
by Joanne Ryder
Snail in the Woods (Nature I CAN READ)
by Joanne Ryder
all of the vintage Science I CAN READ and Nature I CAN READ books are excellent!
past blog posts:
Jun 8, 2018 - Picnic & Play: The Little
Wooden Mixing Bowl
Dec 31, 2018 - Improv Games & Writing a Class Play
Jan 11, 2019 - Zoology I, Week 1: Cuttlefish, Nautilus, Snail
Jan 11, 2019 - Photos from Zoology I, Week 1
Sep 20, 2019 - How Waldorf Teaches Zoology
Feb 14, 2020 - Science I CAN READ Books / Nature I CAN READ Books
March - extra week idea
Natural Dyes
if you also have a 7th grader who is studying Ratios and Chemistry, this topic is
a great way to explore those Math and Science concepts... here is my Dyeing
with Natural Dyes page
you can also do dyeing in a simpler way with much younger children, very safely,
using Sun Jar and Crockpot methods
the best fiber to work with in this way is wool as its mordant is white vinegar!
of course, if you are knitting you can do lots of lovely knitting projects with your hand-dyed yarn;
if you are not knitting I recommend a Shoebox Weaving project (we are doing some currently in
my classroom, inspired by the layers of the Grand Canyon)
Grand Canyon
by Jason Chin
or do a bunch of finger knitting and weave a rug on a Hula Hoop loom...
or Paper Plate Tree Weavings...
or try a simple Branch Weaving on a forked stick
we have also done much larger collaborative tapestries in my classroom based on a whole number of subjects
(the current one is the Nine Norse Worlds of Norse Mythology)
Farmer Boy
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Red Berry Wool
by Robyn Eversole
The Lion and the Little Red Bird
by Elisa Kleven
Pele's New Suit
by Elsa Beskow
The Goat in the Rug
by Charles Blood and Martin Link
Thérèse Makes a Tapestry
by Alexandra Hinrichs
Weaving Without a Loom
by Veronica Burningham
Kids Weaving: Weaving Projects for Kids of All AGes
by Sarah Swett
past blog posts:
Oct 2, 2017 - Nature Love & Natural Dyes
Apr 7, 2018 - Philosophy Club: Alan Watts
Apr 15, 2019 - Pelle's New Suit Circle, Week 2
Apr 15, 2019 -
Crockpot Dyed Wool Instructions & Photos
Sep 7, 2019 - Weaving Tapestries in Geology
Oct 7, 2019 - Photos from the Classroom
Mar 8, 2020 - Photos from the Classroom
Jul 25, 2020 - 30 Days of Dyeing: Days 1-15
Jul 25, 2020 - Natural Dye Recipes and Photos: Days 1-15
Oct 24, 2020 - Some Kindergarten Ideas for Color Explorations
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