Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



Active Topics || Favorites || Member List || Search || About Us || Help || Register || Login
Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
 4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Subject Topic: I'm Dreaming... Post ReplyPost New Topic
Author
Message << Prev Topic | Next Topic >>
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Avatar

Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
Posted: Oct 22 2008 at 10:42am | IP Logged Quote JennGM
of a Nature Study Christmas?

We're starting from scratch, and my 5 yo is little, can't carry large or heavy back packs.

And Mommy is need of a backpack to hold the field guides and her water bottle, etc.

What are your recommendations for a basic nature study backpack? How about what's in it?

Binocular recommendations? Small ones? I saw some at Wild Birds Unlimited that looked good, especially for kids (and not too expensive) but then I don't know much....

What are your water bottle recommendations?

I'd love to see lists of what you carry and recommended resources!

I bought a simple spiral bound sketchpad for our nature journal, but it's big. I don't like it much. Then other moms have work they put into their nature journal. How do you do that? What kind of notebooks are you using?

Inquiring (and clueless) minds want to know. I so need visuals!


__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
Back to Top View JennGM's Profile Search for other posts by JennGM Visit JennGM's Homepage
 
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Avatar

Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
Posted: Oct 22 2008 at 10:46am | IP Logged Quote JennGM
Aren't these MacBeth's recommendations?

__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
Back to Top View JennGM's Profile Search for other posts by JennGM Visit JennGM's Homepage
 
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Board Moderator
Avatar
Non Nobis

Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
Posted: Oct 23 2008 at 10:18pm | IP Logged Quote Mackfam
We like to take an empty (cleaned out) former peanut butter jar or old mayo jar for specimen collecting, a digital camera, hand lens or binoculars, water, cell phone and small package of baby wipes (someone always finds some kind of animal poopy). The more you carry in, the more you have to keep up with and we just get overwhelmed with too much. So, we keep it fairly simple and find that the digital camera is great for taking pictures and then nature sketching is done at home. Some children really prefer to sketch in the field, but so far I don't have one that does.

I really enjoy buying a nice junior size LL Bean backpack for the kids when they're about 4ish. They make a very sturdy smaller backpack for littler kids. The little kids carry their own water in their backpack and perhaps their own hand lens and an empty specimen jar. They enjoy collecting leaves and nuts and berries in their backpack. I carry most of the other stuff.

I think these Terra Kids Adventure Tools are really neat, though we don't have them. If I were building a kit from scratch I'd consider them though. Other items to consider -- a nice hat that offers spf protection, a good set of tweezers, an emergency whistle.

We carry stainless steel Kleen Kanteens for water bottles. The good thing about them...they're a nice size for plenty of water, and they have a neoprene outer cover which keeps the water cool for a long time. The bad...they're heavy to carry. You could find a nice water bottle for each of you to reuse - I've seen some really nice ones at Costco lately. That would be neat in the nature walk backpack as well.

This would be a really fun gift for Christmas, Jenn. You could have lots of fun putting it together.

__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
Back to Top View Mackfam's Profile Search for other posts by Mackfam Visit Mackfam's Homepage
 
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Avatar

Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
Posted: Oct 24 2008 at 12:02am | IP Logged Quote JodieLyn
more expensive but a "camelback" (brand name but there are other brands) will distribute the weight of the water easier plus you can drink anytime not just when you stop and get into the pack. and I'm fairly sure they make smaller ones.

__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4

All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
Back to Top View JodieLyn's Profile Search for other posts by JodieLyn
 

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login
If you are not already registered you must first register

  [Add this topic to My Favorites] Post ReplyPost New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

Hosting and Support provided by theNetSmith.com