Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Late-spring nature table


A visit to the river yesterday resulted in a pair of temporary visitors to our nature table:

See the muddy water there on the right? When the mud settles, you can see two teeny little fish swimming around in there. We're observing them, and drawing them in our nature journals, and trying to identify them with the help of a favorite book.

Here's our late-spring table as it stands right now:

--A blooming milkweed.
--A birds' nest we found on the ground a few years ago, holding a painted egg that was a gift to Lucy.
--A beaver-chewed stick and a stick etched with bug trails, found on walks with the kids (one boy said, on finding the bug stick: "give this to Lise; she likes bug tracks.")
--Friday's Flowers.
--A shadow box containing a dead baby snapping turtle and a snapping-turtle egg. We found these--with the clues that told the story--on our vacation. The turtle was by the side of the road, baked in the sun. I looked around for a nest, and found one--full of ripped-open eggs with cooked yolks! All around were dog footprints. We imagine the dog dug up the eggs, which baked in the sun, and one turtle escaped, but couldn't make it on its own. So for now, it's part of Lucy's book and our nature table. Though the children weren't with us when we found it, they love the story and delight in telling their parents about it.
--A beautiful piece of birch bark from a hike.
--Our temporary visitors.

Nearby, on the coffee table, is a tray of our beach treasures, sort of an extension of this little display.

What treasures have been added to your nature table recently?

2 comments:

Julie said...

Love the way you bring the outdoors inside. Beautiful display!

Heather said...

What a gorgeous table you have created. I love the treasures of late spring and early summer, and you have captured it beautifully