Nature Study with a 4 year old

I’ve been posting alot about what Superboy and I do for nature study, so I thought it was time to write a little about JBug. I don’t post about her as much since she is 4 and not “technically” doing “school,” but I thought it might be nice to share what she is doing. Especially since JBug is not the kind of girl to get left out or left behind. When Superboy and I delve into a topic you can bet your britches she is right there in the thick of it.
My philosophy of nature study with littles is pretty simple. Get them out there and share in their natural curiosity. In other words-just try to keep up! JBug is a bundle of a million questions and has a mind that alternates between a steel trap and a steel seive!
So, what does her nature journal look like? Well, first of all it is a combination of a journal and a notebook, some bound and some looseleaf pages.
We spent some time on Owls. Here she colored a pre-printed sheet using colors she had seen Superboy use in his drawings ( She watches him with utter admiration).

Then she asked for help drawing one herself, and Superboy helped her. Again, she chose the colors that she had seen Superboy use.

Here are some pages from her nature journal. The first has her tracing, rubbing, and drawing of the same leaf she found.

This is a wasp she was watching (she ran out of room for the wings and was a little upset about that, but just made them short.)

Here are some pansies I drew for her after we read a story about them. She colored them based on a picture from a seed catalog. I think they turned out lovely!

JBug is fascinated by birds, especially the cardinals in our back yard. We did a fun coloring/gluing activity here:

And then she drew and colored this all by herself, looking at her bird matching cards game! (can you tell I’m proud!)

I also try to write the name of what she draws or colors for her to trace, to get her in the habit of labeling her sketches.
That is about it for formal nature study. The rest is just playing outside, helping in the garden, reading stories about animals, and lots and lots of questions and answers!