What is on your nature table right now?

[mamasinstinct]

Hi all,

I would love to know what is on your nature table for this month?  How often do you change up your table?  I have a 22 month old and we are starting to create nature tables together.  At his age it has to be something that he can pick up and play with as well as pretty to look at.  I was thinking about doing a table about Monarch Butterflies because this is the time of season they migrate to the coast where we live.

I would love to hear your ideas!

love*breathe*create

lindy

http://luckyloulou.etsy.com

[lyrebird]

We have sea shells, a wooden fish and I'm about to finish a felt dolphin, all over blue silk. We also have a sail boat I'm so glad I found:http://www.etsy.com/listing/62267014/sail-with-me-rainbow-boat-rainbow

It also has some leaves and flowers found on bush walks.

We're in the southern hemisphere by the way. 

[revolting]

Well, it's definitely winter here. We have some cotton laid around to look like snow. Pine cones. Some evergreen branches in a vase. That's it, for right now.

[mamasinstinct]

Sounds good!  Sometimes I so wish we had distinct season where we live.  It would be much easier to link the table with the outside weather.  We are headed to the beach this am so we may do a beach theme.

Thanks for the replies.

[honeybunmom]

We have a lovely little wet felted playscape that I received in a seasons swap.  It is an ice cap with a little cave where 3 round penguins live!  And we also have have some pinecones, a small 3 piece puzzle of a snowcapped cottage and pine tree and a needle felted Santa.  He's still missing his cap.  I'll get that done eventually.  We also have a reindeer my husband made out of twigs a la Pottery Barn, and a tree limb candle holder he made.  Votive size.  This is all on a platter that I covered first with an icy blue silk.

[monkeyma]

We haven't started doing nature tables yet, but I love the idea.

How old were your LOs when you started? I can just imagine 15 month old DS pulling it apart every two seconds if it was within reach. That'd get old quickly. 

[childsplay]

It's winter here so we have (white-ishy) stuffing from an on-the-way-to-the-garbage throw pillow as snow. The little fleks of brownish cotton strewn throughout the white are designated as dog poop according to my boys. We have large pine cone 'trees', small dome shaped shelters made from vines for our tiny pinecone fairies and fisherfolks. Our ocean is a large flat piece of blueish shale with a little wooden dory (compliments of a tacky x-mas wreath found at the dollar store) we also have cranberries from our bog and lots of birch twigs for more trees. DS made tiny fishing poles out of twigs and added tiny red beads to our ocean as lobster buoys. And of course there's a pinecone dog (a.k.a. the pooper). So far we havn't had an issue with the little ones (daycare kids) getting into it, they're two though and helped a bit with it, so mainly it's just repetative questions about it moreso than actual messing or pulling it apart.

[bean]

for a child this young, I would set up a nature box or basket, with a few pine cones and a couple of sticks, maybe some rocks or shells from a walk etc... I don't think the nature table/area should ever be off limits to the children - tearing it apart, feeling and touching everything, and putting it back together is part of the fun :)

Originally Posted by monkeyma 

We haven't started doing nature tables yet, but I love the idea.

How old were your LOs when you started? I can just imagine 15 month old DS pulling it apart every two seconds if it was within reach. That'd get old quickly. 

[laneysprout]

We have lots of snow here, and bare trees, and our nature table right now reflects that: a white playsilk, some bare tree branches, a small piece of driftwood (we live by the water), a few pine cones, and a few gnomes and small crystals (DD calls them "wishing stones"). 

We started when DD was about one and as bean mentioned, so much of the fun is her being able to play with the materials.

[luxiii]

I have 5 year old and 2 year old sons so we keep our hands-on as well.  Here is a post on my blog about our winter nature table:

http://howthesunrose-lalagirl.blogspot.com/2011/01/winter-nature-table.html