Keeping a nature journal is a practice that can be as diverse as the journaler! If you do an internet search on nature journaling, you’re going to find, almost exclusively, articles and how-to’s devoted to homeschoolers using nature journals for science. While that is a very worthwhile endeavor, there is much more to keeping a nature journal than as a ‘science class’! And it’s certainly not just for the kids.

Nobody sees a flower, really — it is so small — we haven’t time, and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.

Gerogia O’Keeffe

Reasons To Keep A Nature Journal

Many of the reasons for keeping a journal of your nature adventures overlap with reasons to just be out in nature, such as:

• Mental health
  • According to recent studies, time in nature can decrease depression by up to 70%.
  • Boosts serotonin and decreases cortisol levels
  • Allows you to process thoughts
  • Can be a form of meditation
• Deeper connection to nature
  • Forces you to focus on details
  • Slows you down
  • Teaches you to ‘see’ your surroundings
  • Causes you to be in the here and now

In addition to the mental health benefits, keeping a nature journal can help deepen your connection to nature! Taking the time to sketch, photograph, or interact with nature (through things like leaf rubbings and collecting) forces your mind to focus on the here and now, and on the details that give you that deeper connection. You notice details that otherwise you might miss. Journaling gives you the opportunity to discover the ‘awe’ of natural things and phenomena. Personally, I’m always up for more awe and amazement in my life!

How to Keep A Nature Journal

Good news! There is no one right way to keep a nature journal. If you’re like most people, when we think of a journal, we picture beautiful, accurate drawings accompanied by scientific journaling. Those journals do exist, but the simple fact is most people don’t share their journals — they’re personal. They are filled with one person’s private thoughts and experiences. There is no need to worry about your drawing skills or writing expertise.

Here are just a few ideas for you to use in your own journal:

• Pencil sketches
• Watercolor drawings
• Words only — maybe you just want to capture with words what you are feeling as you observe a bird, sit by a babbling brook, or wonder why that cloud formation looks like an ice cream cone (For writing inspiration, find a list of nature writers in this article from the Sierra Club on nature journaling.)
• Objects
  • Rubbings of leaves or bark
  • Taping flat items to pages
  • Pocket pages to hold not so flat items
• Photos — If photography is more your style, your journal can certainly be more like a scrapbook.

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Tools & Supplies

The last thing you want when you’re out on a hike enjoying the nature around you, is a huge heavy backpack full of art supplies! Luckily, that’s not necessary. All you really need are a few basic supplies. I tend to carry just a smallish notebook and a mechanical pencil. Always having my phone handy for a quick snapshot so that I can remember colors for later is a big help.

Here are a few simple supplies you may want depending upon how you keep your nature journal:

• Notebook of some type — for me — smallish and easy to transport
• Sketching tools
  • Pencil (mechanical — no need for sharpener)
  • Watercolors – a very small, dry set
  • Waterbrush – no need to carry water — this is a brush with a hollow handle filled with water — you can refill from a stream or your water bottle if you need to
  • Graphite stick or charcoal for rubbings
• Baggies for collecting items — flat(ish) things like leaves can be taped right into your journal. A flower can be pressed and added in. You may want to include small pockets in your journal for collecting these items.
• Camera (phone camera)

Skills

More great news! You do not need any specific skills to get started.

• To begin, you need only to develop your skills of observation!
• Add in over time:
  • Ability to sit quietly so you may observe/sketch skittish wildlife you may encounter
  • A few basic drawing or photography skills are nice to have
  • Walking with ‘soft eyes’ vs. ‘hard eyes’. Soft eyes means that you are just walking without any particular purpose or intent in mind. If you are focused and actively hunting for something, you will miss other subtle things along the way. In other words, soft eyes is relaxing and you’ll often stumble upon something amazing and awe-inspiring for your nature journal!