Keeping the Kiddos Busy

Explorers of long ago made bestiaries, or books with drawings and descriptions of the strange new creatures they encountered in their voyages.  You and your children can pretend you are explorers and make bestiaries of your own. For your bestiary, you can use an old notebook or diary that still has blank pages, or you can make and bind your  own  book .   You can make your bestiary about real animals.  Perhaps you have done the other nature observing activities featured in this blog, like bird watching or observing indoor wildlife , and you would like to make a bestiary as a way to record your observations.  You can fill your bestiary with your observations -- in words and in drawings  of how various animals look like and behave.  Or you might want to fill your bestiary with animals of your own imagination, like what Matthew Mehan did in his book entitled Mr. Mehan's Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals .  Ask yourself what your imagin...

(Image source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/BLACK_NAPED_ORIOLE_%288553658674%29.jpg) Just because you and your kids are cooped up inside the house does not mean you cannot enjoy nature. You can do backyard birdwatching. What do you do when you do backyard birdwatching? You literally just watch the birds that you can see from your window, balcony, or porch. Birds are fascinating creatures, and watching them provides hours of entertainment. No need to tune in to National Geographic or Discovery Channel when you can watch a live nature show outside the window. To make it more interesting, you and your kids can learn to identify the birds you see. When you see or hear a bird, make notes and sketches about them. The sketches do not have to be masterpieces - just enough details for you to be able to look up the bird in a book, website, or bird identification app. If you cannot see the bird but can hear it, you can record its call and submit  the r...