If you’ve ever wondered how to slow down and connect while still “doing school,” this episode is for you. Today, I’m sharing how a simple walk with my granddaughter — and her obsession with roly-polies — reminded me why nature walks are a powerful tool in your homeschool.

You’ll discover how even 15 minutes outside can spark curiosity, lead to deeper relationships, and provide rich educational experiences — without the need for worksheets or screens.

We’ll cover:

✅How to make nature walks meaningful (without being a science expert)

✅Simple tools you can bring along for learning on the go

✅Academic subjects that connect with nature walks

✅How walking together builds family connection

✅A simple way to turn every walk into a moment of gratitude

Resources Mentioned

Free Nature Journal

Handbook of Nature Study

Christian Liberty Nature Readers

Usborne First Book of Nature

Show Notes:

Hey, everyone, Kerry Beck here with homeschool coffee break where we help you stop the overwhelm so you can take a coffee break. I think I'll take one right now. Today we are talking about why nature walks belong in your homeschool, even if you're not an outdoorsy person. Before we dive into this, I would love for you to subscribe to this channel if you haven't already done so, or if you can leave a comment or a 5 Star Review. That would be awesome. And you may have a home school friend, just one home school friend that you could share this with, because we're recording this. It's summertime. It's a great time to be outdoors and do this.

The Roly-Poly Story

In fact, I'll just start. This episode was inspired by something that I did with my 8 year old granddaughter last week. She wanted to go on walks now. I'd get up early and go on my own sort of prayer, walk and fast walk, get some exercise in. But she wanted to go on walk, and on Friday, the last day we got out there, and she found a roly-poly on the sidewalk, and it was the first one. And it you know, those little ones say they roll up into a little ball. I mean she was talking to it somehow it fell off, and then she found another one, and we were walking down the sidewalk to get to the path, and there's a big stone wall, and there were roly-polies everywhere.

I'm telling you we went on a 15 or 20 minute walk, and I think she talked to these roly polys the entire way, and they would be crawling, and she's like, "Oh, you don't like this hand. You like this hand. They don't ever want to go into this hand," and just went on and on they fall off, and then she'd have to get another one. The last one she actually carried pretty far all the way back to that stone wall, because she wanted to leave this roly-poly near his friends, so he would have some friends.

Why This Story Matters

Now, why do I share that story? I was like it reminded me so much of some of the things that we did with our kids out in nature, whether it's a nature walk, or just going out and looking, maybe even at the stars at nighttime. But she loved going on a walk. This was not a fast walk. This was a slow walk we talked, we visited, and I saw wonder, curiosity, and learning. And that does not come from a book or a worksheet.

So nature walks are just such a simple, beautiful, powerful tool for your homeschool. And you can use it with all different ages, all at the same time as well.

Why Nature Walks Are So Valuable

Why are they so valuable? Well, with your kids, they're going to help your kids slow down and observe. You know, you might go to a park, you know we've got a park over here, and you can wander through this trail, and there's brush everywhere, and you'll see all different kinds of leaves and plants. And actually, a few years ago, the girl, my 8 year old, her sister. They were both with me, and we're going down there, and the next day I find out she got a tick, and I was like, well, she's the only one that climbed a tree while we were out there, and so, but they slow down and they start to notice things.

You can they can ask questions and maybe spark curiosity. I really had every intention of going back here and doing a little research with her about roly-polies and then rolling up, and then, when we got home, we had to get ready to take her to the doctor, and things sort of got busy. With your kids also, this can build a lifelong love of God's creation. God is the great Creator. So let them be out in that.

Benefits for Mom

With moms, you, mom, it'll help you get out of the house. It can refresh you mentally and emotionally. I think fresh air does wonders. I mean, sometimes I go on walks every day pretty much, but sometimes I just want to pray, and I go out. I've got a little circle drive, and I just walk back and forth 2 or 3 times, just going outside can refresh you. I remember when I did have Covid several years ago. I didn't feel good for about a couple days, but the one thing I did do is I went outside and walked up and down the driveway because fresh air and sunshine does something for you.

This also gives you a chance to bond with your kids in ways that curriculum cannot. You don't have that curriculum pressure. Even 15 to 30 minutes a week can shift the tone of your home school. Romans 1:20 says God reveals his invisible qualities through what he has made. And think about it. It's not even that. It's not just what we see. But a lot of times as I'm coming home from my prayer walk, I hear this morning I hear the birds singing to each other and to me. That's just I'm like, wow! Thank you, God. And so it's not just our sight but what we hear, maybe what we touch. She could feel that little roly poly and its little legs, or whatever walking around on her hand.

How to Do a Nature Walk

So lots of different ways that we can use nature walks to learn. So how do we do a nature walk? First simple, maybe just walk around the block or your backyard, or if there's a close by park. My other daughter used to live well, they both they still she still lives close to a park, but one of them you would walk down this sidewalk with trees and bushes and ponds and everything, and and that was just actually really cool.

I remember one time my 6 year old granddaughter Landry. She was probably 2 or 3 at the time, and I was pushing her in the stroller, and I was like Landry, look, there's a rabbit! And we watched that rabbit run away, and the next time I was driving, driving, pushing her to the park. The next day I was like you could hear going, "Bunny, come here, Bunny, come here" yelling at the top of her voice, but she remembered there were bunnies. Actually, when I went on, I don't know which walk it was with Elizabeth last week we saw 2 bunnies right there. It was so cool, you know, and so you can take those experiences and go home and learn more.

What to Bring on Nature Walks

You could take a nature journal. I was looking for my nature journal. One of the kids and I couldn't find it beforehand. Might take a magnifying glass or a Ziploc bag. Crayons might even take a phone to take pictures. I will say we went we had a natural scavenger hunt. And a couple years ago, when I did take the kids to the park, and we walked there. They each had a crayon and the scavenger hunt. So they were looking for things, and I do have a resource for you. It is nature it's a nature journal, and I think that's where I got this particular page. And it's just a fun way to keep track of what you're seeing, and there's lots of different things in that nature journal. You can look in the show notes to be able to get the link to that.

Following Your Kids' Lead

So you can take some supplies if you want, or just go for a walk, let them lead, look for what they are interested in. It might be roly polys. I was interested in the bunny. She's like, "Oh, we have bunnies in our backyard." So I was like, okay, and it's not like they live in the country, but there are bunnies around there, you know. But what are they interested in? Bugs, leaves, clouds, tracks? Do they see some tracks in on the path? And let them lead and then create a rhythm. Maybe just once a week you go, and this is something the whole family can do. Even your high schoolers could go with you on a nature walk. You could have nature walk Fridays, maybe.

Integrating Nature Walks into Homeschool

Now, how do we take this nature walk and integrate it into homeschool. I think, personally, just going on the walk is homeschooling. But let's talk about some academics in science. You can have observation. You can look at ecosystems or habitats, insects, weather, plant life, lots of different ways. You can tie it together.

You could have them write. You could have them come back and keep a journal and write down, maybe draw what they saw, and label the parts of a bug, or whatever she did say. This is an insect. We could have had her draw a roly-poly label the part. They could write a poem, they could have a descriptive paragraph. There's several ways you could do that.

Art. This is one thing we would do, and they could sketch what they see in nature. You could take your watercolors with you to a park and let them watercolor whatever they're looking at. Leaf rubbings are super easy way, especially for young kids as well.

Bible and Other Subject Connections

You could tie it to Bible. I've already mentioned the great Creator of God. You could study creation in Genesis One talk about the seasons, or read passages such as Psalm 19.

The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech. Night after night they reveal knowledge, they have no speech, they use no words, no sound is heard from them, yet their voice goes out into all the earth the words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent, for the sun is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber like a champion rejoicing to run the race. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit together. Nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Talk about that. Use some of this for copy work as well.

Geography. You could learn what the native plants and animals are in your region.

PE let's face it. Just going on a walk is physical movement, exercise. They may dance, they may run, they may do whatever, but they're moving, and that's PE so many ways you could tie it into your academics.

Building Relationships Through Nature

One of my favorite things is, nature walks, build relationships through nature, just walking side by side opens up conversation. Sometimes when you're face to face. They're a little afraid to say something, but if you're both walking in the same direction, or all of us. You may come up with topics that you may not normally talk about, because it's not that face to face tension.

Time in nature can help regulate some emotions. There's usually less fussing, although sometimes they I want this. I want that. But there's just more connection. Usually when we're walking, you can use it to connect, not just with your kids, but also with God, and talk about the things that God has made. Let your kids know you see what they see. Well, tell me more about that bug. Tell me more about that. What do you see here? What colors are they?

So one of the things my kids are like. "Yes, mom, you tell us every year we have oak trees." So in the winter all the leaves fall looks dead. But I love watching in spring. It just has these little dots that eventually turn into oak leaves, and I'm like "Y'all let's go look!" And each day let's draw what we see, and I think, after saying that for several years they got tired of me. But anyway.

Cultivating Thankfulness

But one of the most important things I think you can do is use your nature walks to cultivate thankfulness, to cultivate gratitude. They are a built in way to practice gratitude, and maybe, as you're walking, ask each child. I want you to tell me 3 things that you're thankful for on this walk. And just, and you know not a lot of pressure. But they can say whatever it is, model your own thankfulness aloud. I'm so thankful for the blue sky.

I mean on my way home from my walk. I'm like. Thank you for the purpose. Sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. Ignore that but thank you for the sunshine. Thank you for the rain. Thank you today that I got to walk in before it started raining 5 minutes after I got home. So look for things, you know. And going back to the roly-poly story that even a tiny bug leads to a sense of wonder and gratitude, and we can slow down, and that can help them be thankful.

The Challenge

Just something to consider. You don't need an elaborate plan. You don't need an elaborate science unit. Just take a walk. Let your kids explore, ask a few questions and thank God for what you see together. So I'm going to challenge you. Plan one nature walk this week and just see what your kids discover.

I do have a free nature journal. It's normally $10. But you can get it free through this podcast and there'll be a special link in the show notes that you can use, and I do have another blog post that'll be in the show notes about rest and renewal for mom, because I really think getting outside helps a lot.

Resource Recommendations

If you're watching on the video, I'm going to show you a few things. This was sort of overall our go-to book. It is big. Look at that Handbook of Nature Study, but that's the microscope wheel. Or you couldn't use a microscope. You can see it has all sorts of stuff in here. We've got insects. We've got plants how to begin a plant study, weeds, garden flowers, trees, climate weather. This is just a go to that you can do. There'll be a link there in the show notes.

Now, these are for younger kids. Usborne puts out the First Book of Nature, and I'll let you just see it's very simple. And it is going. This is actually, I think, a combination of 3 or 4 books, and it has birds, trees, flowers, butterflies, and moths, wild animals, fishes, and creepy crawlies, so that's a great one. I don't even know if this is still in print, but we'll look for a link and put it there and then.

Christian liberty has some nature readers. This is book one you can see, very simple. So this is a coyote. The coyote trick. Let's see what we have the bear's coat, and it's just simple reading for a young reader. Then we can move to. This is Book 4. And you can see this is more like stories. Well, what is that? I don't know what that is. So let's see if we find something. Oh, it's a moth, anyway, you can, if there's reading on that level. And this covers a lot of different areas as well, it's got. Looks like 10 or 15 different animals in this one. So we'll put links to all of those in the show notes.

Closing

Most of all have fun, build relationships and enjoy yourself. Get out of being in front of your phone. Don't even take your don't even take your camera. Don't take your phone. Be away from your phone for just a little while, enjoy your kids, build relationships both with each other and with God. And just see what your kids discover. Hey, I am Kerry Beck, with homeschool coffee break. We'll talk to you next time.