Winter Outdoor Hour:Nature Close To Home-Cattails

A Hunt for Cattail

(Pic From Wikipedia)

On the morning of Jan. 13, 2010 I read the pages on cattail from the Handbook of Nature Study Book and shared with the boys some of what I learned. I also looked up information on the web about cattail and found a very interesting article that I also shared with the boys. I then went to the Wikipedia article on cattail to see if the information matched up with what I found in the other article and I was happy to see that it did.

Even in the winter creeks are so much fun

Later that morning we headed out on a Hunt for cattail. We (including our little dog) went on one of the longest walks we have ever been on around our property. The hunt took us off our place to my grandparents land and beyond. While on the Hunt for cattail there were many other treasures uncovered. The boys (wearing their rubber boots) got to cross creeks, slide on a huge patch of ice they found, follow animals tracks, climb around a Beaver Dam, discover evidence of the Beavers work, notice what we think and hoped to be cattail, scale slippery hills with fearful excitement that they might fall into the creek below and get hyperthermia (truly it wasn’t that dangerous or I wouldn’t have let them do it but my boys imaginations were working over time), explore new trails, see horses (neighborhood farm), catch site of a huge flock of Starlings and the flight of a Great Blue Heron, listening to the joyful sound of God’s Birds busily going about their lives, locating animal bones and as we were almost home we heard the cry of a Red Tail Hawk which happens to be one of our favorite sounds in the world. We arrived home and I heard my boys exclaim ” Mom this was the best adventure we’ve ever been on”.

This is the closest thing we found to cattail

Later that day in front of the fire the boys sketched in their Creation Journals a couple of things they experienced today. My oldest sketched himself on the big patch of ice they had discovered, my youngest sketched a (very,very small) waterfall he saw.

The Hunt for cattail

This adventure just reinforces my belief that one of the best things you can do for your children and yourself is to spend time exploring God’s Amazing Creation!!

If you would like to check out the rest of our pictures from this adventure please go HERE

Thank you again to Barb at the Handbook of Nature Study Blog for another wonderful Out door Hour!!

**I encourage you to check out Barb’s latest Nature Study e-book **