Welcome to the Nature Buddy Club!

Hi! Welcome to the Nature Buddy Club! This site documents the phase of my Girl Scout Gold Award project from the point of recruiting families to participate in the club through the final session and conclusion of the project. 

Throughout the project, the kids had measurable increases in their knowledge of and preferences for spending time outdoors. By the last session, the kids used their new knowledge to teach the parents during a family hike event and expressed they didn't want our planned sessions to end. Fortunately, Nature Buddy Club will continue to exist beyond the scope of my project. With the help and commitment of additional volunteers from the community, more members will be able to connect with nature during future club events.

I really enjoyed helping the kids in the club learn more about and how to connect with nature. This project was a rewarding experience that helped improve my skills in project management, public speaking, communication, decision making, time management, teaching, research, and leadership. I hope you enjoy reading about my work with Nature Buddy Club and hope it's helpful for you to consider ways to help kids connect with nature so they learn how to appreciate and take care of our planet, with an added benefit of reduced dependency on screen time for entertainment.

Thank you,

M.

Join the Nature Buddy Club!

 

This is the flier was distributed to neighborhood families to recruit kids to participate in the club. This version has personal information removed for privacy purposes.

 

 

Meeting #1 Make Nature Journal

 

 

 

For the first session of the Nature Buddy Club, we got to know each other and decorated nature journals we used to document what they did and learned during our sessions and activities of the Nature Buddy Club. 

 

 

 

We then took a hike on the nature trail, looking for colorful items to tape into our journal. Some kids found flowers, seeds, leaves, etc. We tried to find at least one item in nature of each color in the rainbow. The kids loved this activity and were running around trying to find more colors.

Meeting #2 Nature Scavenger Hunt

 

 

 

 

We went on a hike on the nature trail and did a nature scavenger hunt. I helped the kids document what we found in their nature journals and we drew pictures of what we saw. We looked for acorns, pine cones, birds, nests, mushrooms, moss, and many other items found in nature like these.

 

 

 

Although this was fun for the kids to do, one obstacle I faced was that most of the kids were too young to read the full list of items they were looking for so we worked together as a team. Having pictures would have helped them better recognize what they were trying to find, and they wouldn't have had to ask me what it said. It ended up being a good lesson for both nature and reading!

 

 

Meeting #3 Nature Friendship Bracelets

 

 

 

We collected items around the nature trail, like flowers and plants, to make nature friendship bracelets. We talked about how it was important that we not pick plants or flowers so others could also enjoy them so we collected plants already on the ground. After the hike we organized our items and picked out our favorites. Then, we glued the flowers and plants to a strip of fabric. This created a little nature bracelet! The kids absolutely loved this idea and had a great time finding the plants they wanted to add to their bracelets. We found some flowers that we didn’t use for the bracelets or plants that fell off the fabric so we glued all of those into our nature journals to keep them forever and not lose them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, we had some time left over, so we decided to go to a clover patch and look for four-leaf clovers.

Meeting #4 Look for Microhabitats

 

 

 

 

Before we took a hike on the nature trail, I talked to the kids about micro-habitats. I told them it was a place for tiny animals, like ants and worms, to live. Once on the nature trail, I showed them to look under leaves, move rocks and logs, and watch the ground closely for ant hills. We looked for clues everywhere and documented everything we saw in our nature journals.

 

 

 

 

 

The kids enjoyed this at first and were able to find examples, but since they were young and had little patience, they began to find it tedious. I decided we would go back to the front of the trail to paint animal window hangings I had as a backup activity for a day when I may need it. The kids loved this, and one little girl even asked to take home the paint so she could paint more animals later!

Meeting #5 Search for Pollinators

 

 

 

 

We took a walk around the neighborhood instead of the nature trail for this session so I could show the kids that nature can be found all over, not just in forests. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We looked for flowers and any other sort of plant that could attract pollinators. I explained the importance of pollinators, talking about how many plants and animals on Earth are dependent on pollinators to be able to create new flowers and plants. We wrote everything down in our nature journals and drew pictures of pollinators like bees, butterflies, and other insects like beetles that we found on our walk.

Meeting #6 The Lorax

 

Due to extreme rain, we had to change plans for the session and not go birding as originally planned. I set up snacks and drinks indoors and read The Lorax to the kids. They got very into the book and loved all the fun creatures. Their favorites were the BarBaloots (bears), and after every page, the kids would point to the one they thought resembled them the most. 

 

 

 After reading it, we discussed everything we can do to prevent the results in the Lorax, like picking up trash and leaving no trace in nature. After that, we drew our own fantasy Lorax world in our nature journals.

Meeting #7 Search for Wildlife

 

Since our original plan for the prior session for birding was switched because of the rain, we did a combined birding session with searching for wildlife. 

 

 

We took another walk around the nature trail, and I taught them to look up in trees for small birds and other critters like squirrels and chipmunks and to look up at the sky for birds of prey. I taught them to look for signs of wildlife like tracks or droppings, that they have to be very quiet, and that they must keep their ears open for any sounds of wildlife. This was slightly challenging due to the kids' age. However, they did a great job not making too much noise. 

 

 

 

 

By this session, the kids had become friends and enjoyed pointing things out to each other. Two of the girls had become close friends by this point. It turns out they were in the same class at school and lived on the same street but they didn't know each other before joining the Nature Buddy Club!

 

 

 

 

Along with many other small critters, we spotted a hawk at the end of our hike!

Meeting #8 Biodiversity

 

 

 

We talked about biodiversity and why it is so important. I explained that if every plant were the same, animals would not be able to survive because they wouldn't have food, and those plants wouldn't survive because they were all competing for the same limited resources. 

 

 

 

Then, we gathered leaves of different types for rubbings in our nature journals. We talked about the different shapes of the leaves and how to tell them apart by the way they look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We even found wild berries and discussed we should never eat them when we find them in the woods!

Meeting #9 Wild Nature Bingo

 

 

We cut out and glued a Wild Nature Bingo card into our nature journals. I decided to print one out with pictures this time so the kids could better determine the items we were looking for. It was a small board and the kids were more experienced at finding items in nature, so we got bingo fairly quickly. 

 

 

 

 

Not wanting to end our walk early, we set out to find every object on our bingo card. Mushrooms were one of the first items we found. We found several types but this one was the most interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were successful and after finding more interesting things like some colorful beetles, we still had some time left over, so the kids asked if we could look for four-leaf clovers again. I found one this time and gave it to one of the girls.  Later, one of the boys found a clover and asked his mom to send a picture of it to show me!

Meeting #10 Nature Crafts & Recap

 

 

For our final session targeted for just kids, we reviewed everything we had done and what they learned during our prior sessions of Nature Buddy Club. We discussed what they liked the most about Nature Buddy Club. Their favorite parts of the sessions were going on the walks, spotting things and learning about nature. One of the boys brought some geodes to show the group.

 

 

 

 

After our talk, we made crafts with pine cones, leaves, flowers, and many other items that are found in nature that can be found on the forest floor. We also glued items into our notebooks and drew fun, colorful shapes around them. One of the girls looked for roly polies and created a micro-habitat for them! 

 

 

It was exciting to see the kids excited to enjoy nature their own way. The examples of the kids with their interest in geodes and roly polies micro-habitat without me planning something around those items was evidence they had connected with nature and had learned how to apply what we had discussed throughout our sessions!

Meeting #11 Family Hike

 

For the last session of my project, I hosted a special event family hike with the kids and their families to give the kids an opportunity to show their parents and siblings what they learned during their time participating in the Nature Buddy Club! 

 

 

 

 

It was fantastic, for the kids were excited and pointing things out to me and their families the entire time. They were so happy to show us what they found, like pine cones with colorful seeds inside,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 and large seed pods,

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 and mushrooms,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and ant hills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this session, I gave each of them a special certificate acknowledging their participation in the club and had them take an oath to protect nature, the Junior Park Ranger pledge. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so proud of all they have accomplished and learned, and I can't wait to see what they do with the skills they have gained during my club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the end of the last session, the kids had gained new friends, learned how to better enjoy and protect nature, and were excited to explore our world!

 

 

Just as we were wrapping up our last session, the kids asked to hunt for four leaf clovers one more time...

 

 

 

... and I found another! This was a perfect way to end my project!

Nature Buddy Club... tell the world!

 

 

One of the requirements to earn my Gold Award is to tell the world what I've done for my project. I made this flier to distribute which includes a link to this website.

Nature Buddy Club... Thank you!

 

This flier was sent to all the parents of the kids who participated in the phase of the Nature Buddy Club for Gold Award project. I couldn't have done this without the parents allowing their kids to be part of the club and helping get them to the sessions. Thank you so much!

Separate individual thank you notes were prepared for other critical people involved with the project! They also were critical in the success of this project and I'm thankful for their time and support!