What to do with Little Ones ~ Nature Study

Well, what a long time it has been between posts!  I am determined, however to continue my series on What to do with the Little Ones.  I've been reminded lately to be more intentional with my time with my little ones.  My youngest daughter is 6, and my son is fast approaching 4, and is eager to learn and "do school." 
One of the first things we did when the big girls were about 4 and 5 was to go on nature walks.  We would go for a walk around the block, or to the local park, and pick up different leaves or cones to bring home for identification.  We would also try to identify trees by their leaves, or the birds and insects at the park and in our backyard.  If you have access to a good beach, go and look at shells and try to identify them. Sometimes we would draw our finds in our nature books, but almost always we would look them up in our nature books. 
Here are some helpful New Zealand nature books for identification of New Zealand flora and fauna:

This is just one of a series of pocket guides to New Zealand wildlife. We own this one, as well as one on native trees and shrubs, and one on New Zealand birds.  They are great for identifying common species, not just natives.

This book is from another GREAT series by Andrew Crowe.  They include life-size photos of common species in New Zealand, and you can get books on insects, native trees, birds, sea-life, wild-flowers, or for ease of use, some of them come in a plastic-covered fold-up pocket guide, for while you are at the park or the beach.  These books are readily available from your local bookstore or you can buy online at Fishpond.

Dave Gunson also has a great series of books on NZ nature.  I recently picked up the above book on sale at our local bookstore for $10.00.  This book not only has lovely illustrations of shore life, but also includes information about each species, and its location within the different tidal zones. 

We have many more books on NZ nature, many of which I have picked up at library book sales for just a few dollars.

So get out there and enjoy the beautiful natural world that God has given us here in New Zealand!  Your children will love it, and I believe, they will have a life-long love and interest in God's creation.

A White Kiwi!

Check out this beautiful little WHITE kiwi chick. It hatched just this month at Pukaha Mt. Bruce. It is officially a brown kiwi!

A New Zealand Poem for your Pocket!

In the US of A, it is Poetry Month right now. And today, is Poem in your Pocket Day. Click on the link to find out more, but int he meantime, here is the little poem that inspires "Poem in your Pocket Day."

Keep a Poem in your Pocket

by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Keep a poem in your pocket

And a picture in your head

And you'll never feel lonely

At night when you're in bed.

The little poem poem will sing to you

The little picture bring to you

A dozen dreams to dance to you

At night when you're in bed

So--

Keep a picture in your pocket

And a poem in your head

And you'll never feel lonely

At night when you're in bed

Here's a couple of little poems from a newly discovered(by me) New Zealand writer, Susan Dassler:

History Lessons

Of Great King Alfred this I learnt,

How carelessly some cakes he burnt,

Then William One arrived at Dover,

He brought us all ancestors over.

Charles the First, so I have read,

Became so vain he lost his head.

Elizabeth had golden tresses

And sported quite a thousand dresses.

Raleigh, traveller of note,

Spread in the mud his velvet coat.

Henry of the ample waist

In wives had quite a varied taste.

Bruce of Scotland saw a spider

(Had he been drinking ale or cider?)

Victoria was "Not amused"

To smile she steadfastly refused.

Of historical facts these are all I remember

Except we burn Guy Fawkes on the fifth of November.*

And here's another with a New Zealand flavour, that I just must share:

Love in a Shanty

Ere they were wed, he boldly said, he'd very little money.

Love in a cot would be their lot, with roses, cream and honey.

She didn't know the cottage would be just a lean-to shanty.

She didn't know the rations would at times be rather scanty.

She didn't know the cottage would hav eneither bath nor tub.

She didn't know the roses would be just manuka scrub.

She didn't know the cottage had a rough and splintry floor

She didn't know the chickens would be roosting round the door.

She didn't know the fences were all tumbledown and broken.

She didn't know the mortgagee had half the cheques bespoken.

She didn't know the bees would yield her nothing but a sting.

Of cows and mudand morgages she didn't know a thing,

But if she had known all these thing, 'twould just have been the same.

She didn't pine for comfort, nor for riches, nor for fame.

They're just a simple, loving pair, they're neither rich nor clever.

And though the shanty's crumbling fast, their love's as strong as ever.

~ from "From a Pioneer's Pen..." by Susan Dassler.

Susan Dassler married her love, Oscar, in 1806. The moved to a block of land deep in the bush of the King Country at Te Raumoa. The little book put together by her daughter, Grace Shaw contains many of her poems and anecdotes about life growing up in the bush hut, and subsequent years with her eight children, 44 grandchildren, and 99 great-grandchildren! At the time of publication, in 1988, Susan was still going strong at 95 years old. I am trying to find out more, but information is hard to come by.

~~~~~

For more "Poem in your Pocket Day" fun, see Barb's post here and Nadene's post here.

* This poem reminds me of one my daughter, Emily, wrote here.

Earthquake

You have probably heard on the news by now, about the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Christchurch on Tuesday. Christchurch is in the South Island of New Zealand, we live in the North Island. Although there are a lot of people we know in Christchurch, thankfully none of them have perished, although doubtless some have suffered damage to homes. However, it is still a terrible event and we are praying for the victim's families, the rescuers and all the people in Christchurch as they must deal with the aftermath.
Here is a good NZ news site if you are interested in learning more:

"Stuff" New Zealand News

Pohutukawa, the New Zealand Christmas Tree

This is a Pohutukawa tree, native to New Zealand. Because of its beautiful red flowers it has come to be known as the "New Zealand Christmas tree." This is also partly because it flowers in summer, mainly in the northern parts of the North Island, which is around our Christmas time! The image of the flowering Pohutukawa on a beach is a typical scene at this time of the year.

See The Bushman's Friend for more information on the Pohutukawa tree.

Pukaha Mt. Bruce

A few weeks ago we visited Pukaha Mt. Bruce with my sister, her husband and their two little boys. Pukaha Mt. Bruce is a Department of Conservation reserve, specifically set up for the purpose of captive breeding in order to preserve the kiwi, our most popular native bird. The reserve also looks after other native birds and houses the elusive tuatara.

It was difficult to take pictures of the birds as they were amongst bush and too far away, but I will show you some pictures we did get.

These are not birds (obviously!) but the children all found the eel feeding interesting. These NZ native long fin eels swim all the way to Pacific waters near Tonga to spawn. The larvae return to NZ in the ocean currents. They only breed once in their lifetime and are considered to be a threatened species.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of our day was the Kaka feeding. The kaka are a cheeky native bird and are lots of fun to watch at feeding time.
They were fed a spread of jam-water, fruit, nuts, veges and seeds. The kaka know to come to the feeding area at 3 pm each day. We arrived there just before that, and not long after between 30 and 40 kaka came swooping into the feeding green from the trees around us. They would swoop right across our heads into the feeding stations.
The kaka are known as the "clowns of the forest" as they bicker over their food and tumble through the trees, hanging from their feet or bills. They were lots of fun!

A kaka nesting box.

The Takahe are a funny looking bird. They have beautiful bright coloured feathers and came out for viewing this day!

There are less than 200 of these flightless birds left in New Zealand.

These little New Zealand natives are also quite cheeky, and love to spend their lunchtimes rolling down hills ;-)

I must give credit to Bethany for most of these photos.

Nature Talks to New Zealanders

I just received an email through the CMandFriends-ANZ@yahoogroups.com list to say that Nature Talks to New Zealanders by Philip Crosbie Morrison is now available as an e-book. You can find it at Down Under Literature. Thanks Michelle for making this great book available again!

Favourite NZ Nature Study Books

Here are some of our favourite New Zealand nature study books:

The Life-Size Guide to Insects and Other Land Invertebrates of New Zealand and others in the series by Andrew Crowe have life size photos of many common species. This makes it easy for you and your children to identify the nature you find in your own backyard!

Philip Crosbie Morrison's books are lovely too. He was a naturalist and hosted a radio programme back in the 1950s or 60s. The titles we have are called The Junior Naturalist - Nature Talks to Australian & New Zealand Children, published 1966 and Nature Talks to New Zealanders, published 1962. The books have chapters on different nature topics, from "The 'humble' bumble-bee" to "The Immaculate seagull." The books also have lovely illustrations.

We also have some little books by Murdoch Riley, Shrubs & Small Trees, New Zealand Wildlife, and Know your New Zealand Birds. These have lovely illustrations by artist Peter Scaife, who was a customer of ours when we had a picture framing business in the Wairarapa. Great little books for learning and identifying common NZ species.

We have also enjoyed The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. Although it is English, it still has beautiful illustrations of many of our common plants & birds. We also refer to our copy of Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock often.

New Zealand Nature Alphabet

I have been inspired by Geninne's watercolour alphabet here so I tried my own New Zealand version. Here it is: