April Nature Noteables
Where man sees but withered leaves, God sees sweet flowers growing.
~Albert Laighton
Yet another month has past! And we have officially welcomed in springtime here in my area. April, to me, speaks of everything new! There are so many things springing up new in nature in April, at least where I live, and that is reason to celebrate AND get outside! Our family has been taking almost daily nature walks to observe some of the wonderful happenings in nature. Several early wildflowers have begun to bloom, the magnolia trees are in bloom and even the frogs and toads have began to sing. Lest I forget that I should remember an Easter not too many years ago when it snowed! But, we’ll enjoy those gorgeous days in between anyway.
Magnolia Tree in Bloom at Park
Here are some April nature noteables:
- April is a time of new growth of new beginnings. And also since Easter is in April, this is a great time to talk about Jesus’ resurrection and how God uses the springtime to parallel and show this new beginning.
- Early spring wildflowers are well into bloom! This is an excellent time to start a wildflower notebook or just start taking walks to observe all the amazing varieties. During the spring there will be different types popping up almost every day! So be on the lookout!
- Creeks and rivers are on the move. The spring rains almost always assure that! Now may be a great time to take a walk along the creekside to observe signs of life. Look for frogs jumping off the sides, crayfish beginning to emerge and water striders all over the creek’s surface. Also notice the erosion from the winter time and the rains. Creeks are an excellent place to observe erosion.
- Take time for peace. The springtime, with it’s warm and gentle breezes and beautiful birds singing, is a great time to teach your children the art of listening and appreciation in nature. Depending on their age have them sit for a few moments or more and just listen quietly. Talk about the five senses and what they are experiencing through each of those at that moment. Talk about how grateful we are to such an awesome God to give us such beautiful moments.
- Not only are wildflowers blooming but trees are blooming too! If you are fortunate enough to live near an Arboretum be sure to take weekly visits to see all the trees budding and blooming. Or just visit a park with a wooded area, you a re bound to see a variety there too.
- April 8th is International Bird Day. Use this day to focus in on birds!
- April 22nd is Earth Day. Learn about the importance of nature in our world and best of all plant a tree!
- April 28th is National Poetry Reading Day. Pick some of your favorite nature poems to read aloud and try your hand at writing some too!
- April is National Gardening Month. Put on your gardening gloves and don’t be afraid to get muddy, your kids will love you for it! Whether you have small container gardens or several acres of gardens there is much to learn from the planting of a seed.
- Frogs and toads are starting to come out of hibernation and are singing for a mate. Keep on the lookout for eggs beginning to appear. Frogs lay eggs in jelly like masses, toads lay eggs in long strings that look like black pearls. I have lots of experience with raising tadpoles. Visit THIS link and THIS one. Raising tadpole is a bit of work, BUT oh so worth it!
- Frogs and toads aren’t the only ones looking for a mate right now, in fact most animals in nature are! Keep on the lookout for baby animals, especially noticeable are baby birds, baby squirrels and baby deer.
- It’s still thunderstorm season in April! Be sure to take this opportunity to study all about thunderstorms and lightning. Visit the book of Job in the Bible to find out what God thinks of thunder and lightning!
- April is full of colors! It might be fun to keep a nature color journal, making note of all the different colors you find in nature in springtime.
- April is usually wet and temperatures are warming which usually brings on lots of fungus! Look on trees, fallen logs, around creeks and even in your yard to find all sorts of fungi!
- April is often muddy which means it’s an excellent time for finding animal tracks. Especially look around areas where there is water.
- Here are some applicable NaturExplorers units for spring: Wonderful Wildflowers, Frogs and Toads, Everchanging Erosion, Beautiful Birds, Animal Signs, Delightful Deciduous Trees, A Fungus Among Us. Visit the Shining Dawn Books website to find out more information about these units and see samples of each!
I’ll be back very soon to share some of the wonderful photos I’ve been taking of our adventures outside!
Great ideas and a beautiful picture too. That is what May looks like around Colorado. Also have to say that we love “On Meadowview Street.” My daughter’s name is Caroline just like the little girl in the book.
Thanks for sharing your ideas. We have been having great weather here too so we have been spending lots of time outside. I am looking forward to adding some of your ideas to our day.
You’re welcome Lecia! Enjoy the beautiful spring nature! Blessings, Melissa
Hi Virginia! I fell in love with the book On Meadowview Street the first time I read it. And how sweet that your daughter’s name is Caroline!
I always try to figure out what part of the country you are in. Your magnolia blossoms look different than the ones I see here in tx. The purple is really beautiful. Ours are big and white. I wonder if we have other kinds, too? (I don’t know a lot about trees.) One really odd bit of nature we have been seeing that I don’t recall ever seeing before is dead beaver and nutria on the side of the road. I saw my 3rd one the other morning close to an area with a drainage easement. I am not sure what to make of it. It is so weird to see beaver road kill!
Hi Leslie,
I live in Kentucky! I love it here, I think Kentucky has beautiful nature! We also have white magnolias, I have pictures of those too that I’ll post soon. As far as your road kill oddities, my best guess is that it’s mating season and all animals seem to just get crazy this time of year, causing a lot of them to be on and near roads. Our usual sight on the side of the road this time of year are deer (for the reason I mentioned before). They can do quite a bit of damage to cars!
Oh, what a great post! You have given me some great ideas for the lesson plan book!
Hi Kim, so glad to know that you’ll be able to use some of my ideas for nature in April!
We’re missing you here in Kentucky!
Great thoughts on Spring! We have enjoyed it this year, I think, more than ever!
Love your wildflower books – something we want to know more about, so we’re going to see if we can find some of the ones you’ve recommended! Thanks!
Hi Melissa, thank you for your comment. We too have REALLY enjoyed spring this year!