While we’ve been aware that the seasons were changing, now that the leaves have mostly fallen, the brown and barren landscape has come as a bit of a shock. And what exactly happened to all of the green, anyway? This month, before the dead and brown is covered with snow, explore your landscape to find out what’s really, truly dead and what is hardy and still kicking. Then, experiment with still-live plants to see the effects of cold temperatures on plant cells for yourself.

Nature Table for August August is heavy in the air. Slightly shortened days, daytime humidity, and a slight evening chill are the hallmark (and ominous) signs of a summer that has begun to give way to fall. As always, we’re attuned to the changes happening in the natural world around us, yet somehow our emotional response to the change in seasons can cloud our ability to notice the natural phenomena nearby. Rather… Read More

In the sea of green that our surroundings have become, plants are nearly indistinguishable from one another. Leaves blend with needles blend with grass, and so our war on weeds begins. To young naturalists, however, weeds are a world unexplored. Use the diversity of common weeds to spark learning about plant life this month!

When spring rain makes the earth soggy but puts rivers and streams off-limits, sink your boots into the muck of a pond’s edge! This month’s nature table tadpole habitat lends itself to explorations of the multi-faceted pond habitats that serve as incubators for local amphibian species.

Feeling impatient for leaves and blossoms? Bring some branches inside and force buds to hasten your local leaf out. A nature table of forced buds is not only beautiful, but provides a fascinating look at the process of leaf and blossom growth.

As we near the end of winter (did it ever begin?), our creature neighbors start to emerge more and more frequently. Exploring the meaning of “hibernation” and the habits of local mammals can support a deeper understanding of these creatures’ winter habits!

Since we’re experiencing such a mild winter this year, birds are having a field day with the multitude of food sources that remain available. From feeders to berry bushes, feather friends are everywhere – and by learning what each creature’s favorite foods are, families can use a combination of feeding and close observation to learn about bird life in winter.

Fall is a time for seeds! As the landscape becomes more and more bare, seeds of all kinds begin to turn up all around us. Waiting for a wind to blow them away or known them to the ground, these seeds make perfect subjects to study.

This month, exploration of the landscape turns up some items not subject to seasonal change. In considering the impact that humans have on a landscape, we can use the changing seasons to spark environmentally responsible behaviors.

With the start of school comes the making of a new community and the end of immersive nature-based learning. However, with the sharing of treasures and the sharing of stories, the glory of the natural world lives on and inspires new curiosity.

This month’s nature table focuses not on a tangible collection of objects, but on the end result of the process of creating a collection of sensory experiences. Rather than searching for treasures, experience the landscape with all you’ve got!

Terrifying though they may be for some people, bugs are fascinating, and make a fantastic topic of study during the summer months. This month’s nature table conquers all fear of insects and sheds light on the critters’ interesting qualities!

A product of our own habit of observing our surroundings, our ability to identify the contrast between things allows us to deepen our understanding of specific plants, creatures, and other aspects of the natural world. This month’s nature table highlights the search for dichotomy – a quest to identify the space between.

Spring has finally hatched here in western Massachusetts, and along with the new season comes some more hatching – this time bringing new creatures to our landscape. This month’s nature table explores a collection of egg-laying and egg-hatching local creatures!

April is a funny month. Our thumbs turn blue from pressing on the fast foward button to bring us kicking into Spring sunshine. It’s a time that really requires we wring out that last drop of patience. Looking at Nature Table for April, you see rocks. While not alive, they bear the markings of a long existence and a storied past. All accumulated through patience. Or being as strong as a rock. Read on and learn why “everybody needs a rock.”

Every month, Hilltown Families features a new nature table whose contents inspire learning along a common theme easily spotted in our surroundings that month. A tradition carried out by teachers, environmental educators, and nature-curious families, nature tables bring a little bit of the outdoors inside for inspection, dissection, identification, creative play, art projects, and lots of other educational activities. The idea behind a nature table is to help open up children’s eyes to the unique attributes of each season, and to help them learn how to see these things in nature for themselves. A nature table can include a variety of items, and is often accompanied by a set of books and/or field guides so that children can take part in further learning at their own will.

After twelve months’ worth of Nature Tables and a new year of growing and changing about to begin, it’s time to reflect upon the knowledge, treasures, and discoveries of exploring our surroundings. What new things will the spring bring to us? Only time will tell!

This month’s nature table brings new meaning to murder mystery dinner! Made up of the bits and pieces collected from various mealtime crime scenes, the current collection shines light on the connections between creatures and encourages young naturalists to consider what a variety of animal signs can tell an observer about their habits.

This month’s nature table features some out-of-season gems discovered thanks to the Thanksgiving snowstorm. Knocked from trees laden with snow, two kinds of nests are ready to be learned about, while evergreen needles serve as reminders of winter’s certain coming. Explore the overlap of summer, fall, and winter with this month’s collection!

From sheep shearing to American chestnut trees, this month our nature table is filled with fascinating place-based science themes. Winter birdwatching has begun, and fall mushroom season is just beginning to end – it’s a perfect time of year to practice using field guides to identify these fungi and feathery beasts!