Athena Rayne Anderson

This activity is freely available to the public for educational/outreach purposes, as long as the following attribution is included: Copyright 2022, Athena Rayne Anderson, http://www.AthenaRayneAnderson.com.

Strategies for a pollinator focus are located in the “Pollinator Focus” section.

Download this activity as a PDF: Activity – Nature Journaling.

Overview

This activity is designed to show participants the enjoyment and relaxation potential of attending to nature. With a field guide and knowledgeable staff, the activity can be a rich learning experience as well. A sense of connection to nature increases a person’s interest in, and activities toward, conservation and sustainability.

Participants are given a sketch pad, pencils, pens, and colored pencils, and told to find a natural subject to observe for ~20 minutes. This could be a mushroom, a flower, a spider, a bird, a tree, etc. There are multiple options for participants to create a product from their observations, which are described in the “Product Ideas” section below. Participants record their product in their sketch pad (nature journal). After the observation period, participants regroup and share their product, thoughts, and feelings from the experience.

Logistics

Duration

This activity can take as little as 1 hour, or as long as two hours, depending on your availability and group size. One hour is the minimum recommended time allotment for groups of up to 5 people, because the discussion session can be very engaging and take a significant amount of time.

Group Size

1-10 people (Note: this should be determined by the time allotment for the activity. A larger group will require more time for the discussion component)

Supplies Needed

• Nature journal (small, unlined sketch pad): one per person
• Depending on the product chosen:
  • pencils/pens: one per person
  • colored pencils: one pack of multiple colors per person
• Optional: field guides for local insects, flowers, birds, plants, etc.

Condensed Outline

1. Introduction
2. Observation & journaling
3. Discussion
4. Wrap-up

Expanded Outline

Introduction (10 minutes)

• Welcome participants, ask everyone to share their name and something they hope to learn from the activity.
• Briefly explain the purpose of the activity and its potential benefits:
  • time spent quietly in nature is relaxing, lowers blood pressure, and eases stress
  • can also be incredibly entertaining and fun, family-friendly
  • fosters a sense of connection with the natural world, which encourages everyone to be better stewards of their environment
• Explain the structure of the activity: choose a nature subject, observe the subject and create nature journaling product, discussion, sharing). Be sure to notify them that they will be sharing their product with the group.
• Explain the options for the nature journaling product (See “Product Ideas” below)
• Explain where they can find you during the activity if they have questions
• Ask them to keep track of the time and to start heading back to the group about a minute before time is up.
• Ask for questions
• Pass out supplies, depending on the products you’ve chosen

Observation (20 minutes)

Suggest that participants choose a subject quickly and nearby, get comfortable, and start on their product in less than 5 minutes. Ask that they be as quiet as possible during the observation period, so as not to disturb other participants.

Discussion (20 minutes)

Sharing their nature journal product, and hearing from others doing the same, creates a rich learning experience for participants. Start the discussion by explaining what is expected:

• Any behaviors you want to emphasize (be kind, open-minded, etc.)
• Time limit per participant (set a timer so everyone gets the same amount of time)
• Questions you’d like each person to answer, such as:
  • What were you most surprised to discover during this activity?
  • What did you learn from this activity?
  • How did you feel during this activity?
  • What thoughts did you have about your subject during the activity?

Ask for a volunteer to go first, then allow them to share and answer your questions.

Wrap-Up

Reiterate the points you made in the Introduction and summarize what you hope participants gained from this experience. If time permits, ask volunteers to share how they think they might use what they learned after they leave. Regular nature journaling? Sitting quietly and watching nature? Sharing the activity with children? Thank everyone for participating.

Product Ideas

There are many options for nature journaling products. It’s best to give participants no more than two options to choose from, because it creates a sense of shared experience when multiple participants discuss creating the same product. For instance, let them choose to either write a poem or a short story. Or, give them the option of doing the musings or drawing.

Here are four ideas for nature journaling products:

• Musings (pencils/pens needed): Participants use their nature journal to write their thoughts, questions, and ideas that arise while observing their nature subject. If participants are unsure how to do this, suggest that they record behaviors or characteristics about their subject and try to answer questions like, “Why did it do that?” or “What could be the function of that characteristic?”
• Short Story (pencils/pens needed): Participants use their nature journal to write a story describing a “day in the life of” their nature subject, or an explanation of the subject’s activities during observation.
• Poem (pencils/pens needed): Participants write a poem inspired by their observations in their nature journal.
• Drawing (colored pencils needed): Participants draw their subject in their nature journal. Include observations about, or labels that point out, characteristics that make it unique from other nature subjects. For instance, is it a different color, texture, size, or consistency, compared to other nature subjects around it?

Pollinator Focus

Make the following adjustments to focus this activity on pollinators:

• Add information about pollinators to the Introduction, in addition to talking about the benefits of nature journaling. For instance, talk about the importance of pollinators to the human food supply and healthy ecosystems.

• Specify pollinator-related subjects for the nature journaling product; either a pollinator, or something with which pollinators might interact. Ask participants to relate their subject to pollinators if it isn’t one. For instance, write a poem about how a bee might interact with a hollow stem; draw a butterfly drinking from a flower; write a story about a bee-fly being stalked by a spider, etc.

• Add questions about pollinators to the discussion. If participants have trouble with this, ask pollinator-focused, open-ended questions, such as, “How might a bee interact with your subject?” or “What might a butterfly do with your subject?”

• Point out the importance of pollinators again in the Wrap-Up section. Reiterate your message from the Introduction, mention that pollinators are declining, tell how participants can learn how to help pollinators and direct them to resources about pollinator gardening, such as the Pollinator Partnership or Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.