Monday, December 29, 2014

A Nature Journal For You


In January of this year I shared with you the family nature journal I created for our family. There was a lot of interest in that journal, and a few weeks after I posted about it, I made a copy available free to you, my wonderful readers and friends. I know many of you printed it off, I do hope you enjoyed using it, and keeping track of the nature around you.

Our family nature journal has been filled with our nature adventures from throughout the year, and looking back through it for this post made me smile, a deep satisfying smile. Tucked inside the pages of our journal is a recap of our year in nature, together. Our bird list is long, filled with the birds we have seen and heard. We have recorded our harvesting spots for wild edibles, ensuring we find those spots again next year. When we find or see interesting things we make sure to jot it down when we get home. Sometimes we simply make a short note about a hike we took and the simple things we enjoyed on that hike. It feels pretty magical to read through it, remembering the hikes, and adventures we have had this year.



We don't often take this journal with us into the woods. Truth be told, we don't do a lot of journaling when we are out there. I have tried with Reece, but honestly, he just wants to explore, touch things, climb trees, follow tracks, and when we are by the water, toss rocks. I am okay with this, it is what he should be doing at this age, there will be plenty of time for us to sit under trees, drawing and making notes about the beauty around us. For now, it is enough to have a little record of our adventures, notes about the animals we have seen, and the tracks we have found, places we want to go back to, and the little things we enjoy about each spot.


Since we are approaching the end of this year, I thought it a perfect time to update the journal, print off a copy for my family, and again make it available to you. You can find the journal here, or just click the button in the sidebar and you will be taken right to it. A little gift from my nature loving family to yours. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

***A note about printing the journal:
The journal is created to be printed on both the front and back of the paper, so it does take a little bit of time to print it, but it is totally worth it. I printed ours on a heavy card stock so it is sturdy and durable if we decide to bring it along on a hike or camping. Once it was printed, I punched holes in the pages and then added it to a basic binder.

Have fun and enjoy! 

30 comments:

  1. How blessed to be able to enjoy nature in all its many facets :0) I live in the country, surrounding by mountains, but my little cottage is in the small town... I guess you may call us '' towners " so our nature comes from our small cottage garden :0) ... mari

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    1. I feel very blessed Mari, and I make sure to offer my gratitude every time I step into the woods. It is a magical place, and working to deepen our connection to nature is a huge priority for us.

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  2. Oh yay- thank you!!!! What a fun treat- I can't wait to give it a go as a family, we got the kiddos a book on local birds and flowers so we could all learn more together, this will be a perfect addition.

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    1. You are most welcome, hope you enjoy it. Have fun identifying birds and flowers...two of my most favourite things to do in nature :)

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  3. Lovely! I keep a nature journal (fairly) regularly, but haven't found a good way to get my kids involved (or inspire them to get involved!). I printed yours out and we'll give it a try in the new year.

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  4. Thank you dear Kim! I never got to really start one last year. Always meant to, but the winter had been less than ideal for us and outings with a newborn. I'm so planning on making this year count. xoxo

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    1. You are most welcome! Have fun with it :)
      xo

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  5. How kind of you Kim! I'm going to get some card and print us off a copy, I can't wait to get started on it.

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  6. What fun! I think I will try it this year. We managed to made wilderness days a priority and it would be nice to keep track of things we see. I think a plant journal would be next too. Or maybe a wild edibles journal for me.

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    1. It is really nice to keep track, and even nicer to look back at the end of the year at all your nature adventures. I have included both some garden notes and wild flowers (I include our edible plants in this section) in our journal, makes for easy access to have it all in one place. Have fun!

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  7. Thinking of you today Kim and wanted to wish you much love as we end the year and begin a new one.
    PS- love the journal :)

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    1. Thank you Tracey, you are much too kind. Much love to you, as well. Wishing only the best for you in 2015. xo

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  8. I've been thinking a lot about beginning a nature journal and this seems like a lovely place to start. Thank you for sharing!

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  9. Thank you for the journal. I remember you posting about this. This year we might just give it a go. Take care.

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    1. You are welcome. Have fun!

      PS Got your lovely card and bookmark in the mail....big thanks! xo

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  10. Oh how lovely Kim! This will be a great addition to our field notes and bird watching logs! Thank you!

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  11. what a lovely idea! you are so wonderful to share :)

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  12. What a lovely idea, we record the birds we see each time we go out in a small notebook but nothing else. We did visit a wood evey month for a year and recorded our observations but I love this idea. Thank you so much for sharing I might just have to do the same.

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    1. Thank you, glad you like it. Great idea to visit the same place to observe on a monthly basis.

      You are very welcome, hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

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  13. How lovely to be looking back on it now for the whole year. We definitely could get better at recording, especially the birds, we love watching them and get all excited when we see a rarer variety (we saw our first woodpecker for ages at the weekend!), so thank you for sharing.

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    1. It was really great to look back and remember all the adventures we had this year and the things we saw. Yay for woodpeckers...we love them here.

      You are most welcome. xo

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