Sun Fun ~ A Summer Nature Camp Recap

We had a blast following along with "Sun Fun" week of the At-Home Summer Nature Camp eCurriculum. Led by camp counselor Amy of Mama Scout, we made mint lemonade, crafted peg dolls and learned about the Greek myth of Icarus, cooked s'mores in a pizza box oven, and created a shadow sundial. Our field trip day was my daughter's 9th birthday and we all enjoyed escaping to take a dip in a swimming hole.

For every weekly theme of the summer nature camp, Valarie of Jump Into a Book has provided book and media suggestions. PLUS, over the course of the summer, she's "jumping into" several of these books on her website, offering even more inspiration and ideas for nature-based fun this summer. Follow along with Valarie's book jumps for the summer nature camp here.

 

**We saved two of Valarie's "Sun Fun" book suggestions for this week, to enjoy as part of our Summer Solstice celebration:

The Longest Day and Sun Bread, featured here.

 

We're also pulling inspiration for our solstice celebration from here and here!

Slow Summer Mornings...

One of my very favorite things about summertime is slow mornings. I awake without the alarm, savor my coffee, and lounge around in PJs with my girls for as long as acceptable... Sometimes we get into a project together. Sometimes I make a big meal. And sometimes I escape to my home office and squeeze in some computer time. I LOVE writing/working in my jammies.

This summer, because I'm especially tuned in to "sense of place" (today kicks off my third session of leading this seasonal nature journaling eCourse), I've noticed more about these slow mornings. It's really too hot to sit outside anymore, but nature still infuses our space. From an oversize chair in the corner of my living room, I glimpse the birds in my backyard, and hear them cheerfully singing their way into a new day. I look the other direction, and I see the way the morning light streams in my dining room windows, illuminating our family table. I breathe in the scents of lakeview jasmine, lavender, and rosemary, all clipped from the garden and tucked into a mason jar. Our nature table fills with collected sea shells, driftwood, feathers, bug specimens, and pressed flowers.

This morning, the girls and I worked in our summer journals and made collages, inspired by activities and prompts from week one of my own eCourse, and another I'm participating in: Homespun Seasonal Living. The birds sang, the natural light streamed in, I sipped my coffee, and set some intentions for the season ahead. Bliss!

I must let go of the morning now... get dressed and jump into our day. We're playing and leaning with An Edible Garden week of the At-Home Summer Nature Camp. So there's a "pizza garden" to plant, some "fruit & veggie stamping" to do, market trips, kitchen fun, and a whole lot more on the agenda! What about you?

**It's not too late to join in A Sense of Place ~ Summer. If you'd like to join me in discovering nature and self this season, register here and I'll send out the first week's email to you right away!

Creating a Curio Cabinet

One of my favorite projects for the At-Home Summer Nature Camp eCurriculum was creating a curio cabinet. Cabinets of curiosities have long been kept by collectors. During the Renaissance era, cabinets, and even entire rooms, were filled with natural objects, art, and antiques. In Victorian times, curiosity cabinets reflected a passion for science, natural history, and travel. Did you know some of the largest curiosity cabinets were the beginnings of the world's greatest public museums?

My cabinet was picked up at a yard sale some time ago. I wanted to photograph it completely full for the eCurriculum (where I offer tips for creating a curio cabinet with kids over the course of the summer), so luckily, I already had baskets, boxes, and shelves full of collected nature items, ready for display. This project was so much fun I had to share it! I could only fit a few of my images in the pages of the summer camp, so here's a closer look...

A nest, collected from my bougainvillea bush, found feathers and egg shells corralled in small containers, and rocks.

Seashells, a sand dollar, coral, a seed pod from the sweet gum tree, bark, lichen, a wasp nest, a dried & pressed sunflower leaf, and beetle & dragonfly specimens.

Acorn lids, more sea treasures, an air plant, and a homemade pin board featuring wasp and butterfly specimens, a fern leaf, and a lizard skeleton.

Fresh lavender, dried dill head, wild iris seed pods, a feather painting by my daughter, pine cones, painted coral, dried calendula petals, leaves, and a homemade seashell frog!

 Collected cocoons from our butterfly house, nut shells, and a log book for tracking displayed items.

 

* If you like this idea, or love collecting, you must check out The Life of a Bowerbird: Creating Beautiful Interiors with the Things You Collect. Author Sibella Court takes displaying found & gathered items to a whole new level! My mother turned me on to this alluring book recently and neither of us can quite get enough!

 

bowerbird: an Australian avian known for decorating her

nest with all manner of eclectic treasures

At-Home Summer Nature Camp ~ Rain, Rain Week

I hadn't planned to start our At-Home Summer Nature Camp with "Rain, Rain" week... but Tropical Storm Andrea had her own plans for us. As the clouds and rain rolled in to our Gulf Coast beach town last week, we enjoyed a slower pace and a few of the rainy day activities in the eCurriculum. (We saved a few too, for the inevitable rainy days ahead this summer).

To start, we did the "Make Your Own Rain Gauge" project, by camp counselor Kara of Simple Kids. I had five campers that day, ages 5 to almost 11, and they all participated on some level. They also started new nature journals for the summer; all the kids worked on decorating their covers, and the older ones added pages in their books to track rainfall too.

The winds were a bit too strong to go on the "Puddle Walk" field trip, as we had planned ... but my girls and nephew had "the most fun EVER" playing on our flooded pool deck. While they splashed about in the heavy rain, we watched our rain gauges overflow, and collected rain water for some "Raindrop-Inspired Water Color Paintings," another Simple Kids project.

Using only fresh-collected rainwater,we spent the good part of an an afternoon experimenting and creating with watercolors. The rainwater was used for dunking, spraying, dripping, rinsing, and more! Finally, with the lingering afternoon storms, we're enjoying a great selection of rain-themed books from the library, all recommended by Valarie of Jump Into a Book.

With summer just getting cranking, it's not too late to
join in the At-Home Summer Nature Camp Fun.
Get your eCurriculum today!

*** 

Follow along on Facebook for more camp updates

from my nest... and share yours too!

4 Day Sale ~ Summer Fun Nature Bundle!

 

Are the summer days already looking really long? How about a summer nature fun bundle to help you get through! Today through Sunday, June 9th, you can purchase The At-Home Summer Nature Camp eCurriculum and the A Sense of Place: Summer Nature Journal eCourse for 20% off when purchased together as a Summer Fun Nature Bundle. That's a $60 value for only $47.99!

Something for the Kids.
Get 8 weeks of kid-friendly lessons, outdoor activities, indoor projects, arts & crafts, recipes, field trip ideas, book & media suggestions, and more in a full-color PDF you can read on your computer screen or tablet, or print out. Click here for more details.

What people are saying...

Thank you so much! I am so blown away by this... it is absolutely the best idea. I am excited to get started with it as soon as school's out! 

Stumbled upon your site last night, and ordered your book, At Home Summer Nature Camp. I was a little hesitant about the price, but once I read through it I was hooked! Very excited to try all the wonderful projects and field trips. Bonus is the book suggestions!!! Thank you!!

I found your website yesterday after searching DIY summer camp ideas. My daughter and I are so excited to get started and we are especially looking forward to stargazing and making those yummy popcorn treats! Thank you for putting this together...what a great idea!

Something for You.
Take a 6-week creative journey into nature and self as I guide you through the basics of keeping a seasonal nature journal. You'll learn to record your observations, perceptions, and feelings about the natural world around you during the summer months, while fostering a deeper sense of place. Click here for more details.

What past participants are saying...

I am already in tune with the natural world, but this class has helped me move my impressions out of my mind and onto the page (where I inevitably discover and learn more).

I attribute this course for my deeper appreciation for nature. I’ve always been an outside girl but this course changed my entire world.

I see things differently now, whenever I see a tree, or hear a bird, I think more... I know for sure that you helped me plant some nice seeds that will develop into nice walks in nature and good observation - for both me and my son.

What are you waiting for?
Summer is here... kick it off with a
Summer Fun Nature Bundle.

That's 8 weeks of nature-inspired activities for the whole family for only $6 a week!

Order Here
Use discount code "bundle" at checkout to save 20%!

 

Summer Kick-Off: Beach, Rain & Rhythm of the Home

It's the first week of summer vacation here... and it's drizzly and grey, with some serious tropical activity happening off our Gulf coast. With 5-8 inches of rain forecasted to roll in over the next few days, we snuck in a trip to our special little beach yesterday before the downpour begins. Despite cloudy skies, it was an official kickoff to summer spent paddleboarding, watermelon eating, sand castle building, and hanging with our beloved village of friends!

Back in my nest, we're following along with the "Rain, Rain" week of the At-Home Summer Nature Camp. Our DIY Rain Gauges (from camp counselor Kara at Simple Kids) are complete and ready for the storm. We've checked out a stack of recommended rain-themed books (by Valarie at Jump Into a Book) from the library, we're collecting rainwater for some special watercolor painting, and we've gathered supplies for an after-the-rain Color Quest Collage project (from Gina at Connecting Family & Seoul). Watch for a recap of our first week of nature camp soon!

Speaking of kicking off summer... the Summer Edition of Rhythm of the Home is live, and it's packed with inspiration and ideas for a creative, fun summer! I'm honored to be a part of it with an excerpt from A Sense of Place on Nature Journaling with Kids (including a kid-friendly journaling prompt, "Summer Nights") and an interview with me about the At-Home Summer Nature Camp eCurriculum (including a sample activity, "Pond Dipping"). Be sure to check it out!

Breakfast for Dinner ~ Apple-Maple-Herb Turkey Sausage

Wednesday is "breakfast for dinner night" in my nest. It's much anticipated, as there is often bacon and syrup involved... a nice mid-week treat. With fresh herbs flourishing in the garden, I recently made a big batch of turkey sausage patties, seasoned with homegrown sage and thyme, to accompany a pancake dinner. These little bites were delish, filled with diced apples and onions, and kissed with maple syrup. And, the leftovers froze beautifully for quick reheating on busy mornings. {Recipe Below}

I also made a big batch of homemade butter using a half gallon of heavy cream from a local dairy farm. The extra butter went into the freezer, and I then had fresh buttermilk for the pancakes (simply Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix). To top it all off, I made blueberry-lavender syrup, based on this recipe (I used lavender-infused sugar procured at a recent food swap). It was an ambitious meal for breakfast-for-dinner night, typically a much simpler ordeal, but oh, so worth it!

Here's the sausage recipe... and I'd love to know, do you do breakfast for dinner at your house? Share your family's faves in the comments below!

Apple-Maple-Herb Turkey Sausage

1 lb. ground turkey breast
1/4 cup finely diced Gala apple
2 T minced red onion
2 T minced fresh sage
1/2 t minced fresh thyme
1/4 t Chinese 5-spice (or allspice)
1 T pure maple syrup
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 t fresh ground black pepper

In a large bowl, mix together the ground turkey, apple, onion, herbs, spices, syrup, 1 tablespoon of  oil, salt, and pepper. Using a cookie dough scoop (or spoon), scoop mixture into approx. 2" balls.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add meat balls, flattening to about 1/2" thick. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Yield  approx. 24 patties.