Nature Scavenger Hunts!
These scavenger hunts, or nature based activity prompts, provide a wide range of opportunity to delve into observing the natural world and engaging with the earth in many different ways including nature journaling, found object sculpture, water body investigation, nose-to-the ground forest floor investigations, phenology studies, color collecting, using all the senses, and more. The prompts encourage place-based explorations, appreciation of seasonal changes, and even stewardship practices in your backyard or out on the trails. They are presented here as PDF documents to be easily printed and attached to a clip board or pasted in a journal. There are also video links included that Landere created for a 2nd grade class but that can be viewed by anyone! Enjoy!
Click on photo or title to access documents.
Scientific Illustration with Miriam Talalay
The Open Air Arts Initiative (OAAI), a collaboration of Blue Hill Heritage Trust (BHHT), Cynthia Winings Gallery, and The SEED Barn collaborated with with artist Miriam Talalay is to produce a Scientific Illustration series of video classes. There are four video recordings to view and learn from! Her first video is filmed on the BHHT “Talalay Nature Sanctuary” trail in Surry, a property that Miriam’s Grandparents Paul and Pamela Talalay donated to the Trust in 2007. BHHT is grateful to the Talalay family for all they do to help protect and inspire love for the natural world on the Blue Hill Peninsula.
Open Air Arts Initiative: Furth Wildlife Sanctuary Creative Prompts on Google Maps
Example: Chipmunk midden! Regular feasting occurs around this mossy stump. Do you see the network of holes tucked between the roots along this section of the trail? What do you think this family of chipmunks chatter about during their shared meals?
This interactive map focuses on the way non-human species MOVE through the landscape. At the various stops, we explore ways to recognize then translate movement through creative acts. Bring along art supplies for visual art interpretation. Feel free to dance along the trail as you explore and SING OUT to mimic bird song along the way. Posted signs along the trail offer guidance for analog engagement. Click HERE to view map
Bluffhead Trail Interactive Map: “Reading the Forested Landscape”
The Wonders of Woodcock : A Lesson Plan by Jo Barrett
Each March, when the snow in the small, grassy openings in the woods has thawed, we can hear two strange sounds around dusk. They are the sounds of the male woodcock trying to prove to the female that he’d be a good choice as the father of her chicks. He struts around on the ground making a funny meep, meep sound then rockets into the air, flying in big circles while his wing feathers make a high pitched chip, chip, chip sound. He comes back to the ground and begins strutting and meeping again. It is wondrous to watch and to hear as a sign that spring if coming and our woods are about to burst with life again after a quiet winter.
Phenology Trail and Citizen Science Opportunity
Hundred Acre Woods is a part of the Downeast Phenology Trail, a research project with the Schoodic Institute. Participate in this fun Citizen Science project through the Nature’s Notebook App, which can be downloaded onto your smart phone or device. Click here for instructions: Nature’s Notebook Instructions.
A fun way to connect with the Land and with the changing seasons is to observe phenology: the study of seasonal plant and animal life cycles.
Buds, at this time of year offer a great starting point to watch a plant’s rhythms unfold. There are so many complex and beautiful differences among plant species. Long and sticky, stout and furry, scarlet red, small and bumpy. Go for a scavenger hunt for buds this season and along the way learn how to identify plants without their leaves or flowers, connect with plant life cycles, and revel in the mystery of every delicate beginning of life.
To listen to a wonderful Maine phenology podcast check out the Nature of Phenology with Hazel Stark and Joe Horn supported by WERU!
- Nanny Berry Viburnum lentago
- Balsam Poplar Populus balsamifera
- American Beech Fagus grandifolia
- Lilac Syringa vulgar
- Northern Bayberry Myrica pensylvanica
Nature Journaling and Sit-Spots Ideas
Ocean Plastics Presentation & Activity
