How to Set Up Your Nature Table

EP 175: Spring has sprung, and with it comes the opportunity to invite the outdoors into your home with the charming tradition of a nature table. In this latest episode, we show you how to set up a nature table, a seasonal tableau that not only beautifies your living space but also serves as an educational tool for children. Learn how to select the perfect spot in your home, choose items that embody the spirit of whatever season you're in, and engage your whole family in this refreshing practice. We'll share tips to keep it clutter-free and meaningful, with ideas for seasonal crafts that make your nature table a centerpiece of natural wonder.

Find the Show Notes Here (www.artofhomeschooling.com/episode175)

Inspired at Home Membership (www.artofhomeschooling.com/inspiredathome)

Chapters

• 0:00 Creating a Nature Table at Home
• 12:21 Awakening Awe Through Homeschooling Practices

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

springtime has arrived here in the northern hemisphere. I just love the changing seasons and from the time my kids were little, I think of the change of seasons as a wonderful moment to refresh your nature table or seasonal tableau. So in this episode we're talking all about how to set up a nature table at home. Even if you've never heard of a nature table don't worry, I've got you covered with this episode or if you have one already, I bet you're going to learn a few new things. You'll hear everything you need to know about how to set up a nature table, where to put it and some tips for including your children so you can bring this creative activity into your homeschooling. Nature tables can be so much fun. I still have one, even though my kiddos are all grown and off on their own. You can watch a short video of me setting up my spring nature table, complete with Mrs Thaw who sweeps away the snow, in the show notes for this episode, which are at orderofhomeschoolingcom, slash episode 175.

Speaker 1: 1:12

What is a nature table? A nature table is a great way to bring the outdoors inside and to celebrate the seasons with our children and family. I first learned about nature tables in the world of Waldorf education, but I've learned that they are used in many different settings. They can be found in Waldorf, montessori and Regiomelia classrooms, as well as in homes, nature education centers, and they're even used by occupational therapists to help children, help them develop fine motor skills and observational skills. So let's start with what exactly is a nature table? Here's a simple definition A table on which items collected from nature, such as seeds, rocks, bird's nest, etc. Are displayed in order to teach children about the natural world. A nature table is really quite a simple idea. It's just a little display that you create to represent the season, and they're a lovely addition to any home. I want to add that your nature table can be whatever you want it to be. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you choose. I find it fascinating that in the world of occupational therapy, a nature table is something in the OT's toolbox to help children play and explore nature with their senses of sight and touch. I love this quote from the website, the OT Toolbox. A nature table can be as simple as a picnic table loaded with pine cones, acorns, leaves, twigs and pebbles. A nature table can be an invitation to play and, in addition, there are so many skills that can be developed with a nature table, from fine motor skills to executive functioning skills, to empathy and more. Setting up a nature table is rewarding in and of itself, as a beautiful tableau, a little scene from nature, but also watching it change throughout the year is a wonderful way to mark the passing of the seasons and call our children's attention to these changes and find greater connection to the natural world. Children love to collect beautiful nature things while outdoors, so why not create a place in your home for all of these things to be displayed?

Speaker 1: 3:45

Here are some suggestions for how to set up your nature table. First, choose a location. You might set it up on a shelf, a small table, the top of a piano, the corner of a bigger table. For years we had hours on top of the mantle so that our cats wouldn't steal anything from it. And if you have toddlers, you might set your nature table up on a small tray so that you can move it, so you can get it out when you're there to keep your eye on little ones and then put it away out of their reach when not. So lots of options for choosing a location.

Speaker 1: 4:32

Next is choose a table covering. I like to find a small piece of fabric like silk or cotton to lay down as the foundation. Choose a fabric that represents the season where you are like, where you live, such as green for spring, yellow or pink for summer, orange for fall, blue for winter. Then gather and collect items to put on your table. You might go on a nature walk and collect the natural items that you would like to use for the display, for example, pine, cones, sticks, leaves, feathers, bark, stones, flowers, choosing items that are safe for children to touch and play with. Children love bringing home little treasures and putting them on the nature table. Children add homemade touches. Seasonal crafts are fun. They're a fun addition to the table, like you could make little acorn peg dolls or so little figures out of felt for your table, perhaps a mouse in the fall, a bunny in the spring. There are a few wonderful books that can help with this that I suggest you check out. One is called the Nature Warner and the other is called Feltcraft. I'll be sure to link to those in the show notes so you can have a look.

Speaker 1: 6:01

Then set up your seasonal tableau. So start with that colored cloth and then set out your nature items and handmade items on the cloth. I like to have a seasonal postcard or a little painting of a scene from the season as well. You can use little pieces of wood or stones to set things on top of. For that postcard, you could use a simple wooden postcard holder. It's just a piece of wood with a slit cut in it to hold the card or the paper or picture. I'll be sure to link to one in the show notes so you can see what it looks like.

Speaker 1: 6:41

Then add your own special touches. You might include a read aloud or picture book of the season on your display. You could also add a candle to your nature table. This is where we kept our candle that we lit at the beginning of lessons every day. Here are a few other tips to keep in mind when setting up your nature table, things I've learned from experience.

Speaker 1: 7:09

Beware of nature table clutter. It's really easy to just keep adding and adding to the display, but when you do, you lose the beauty right, because you stop noticing each individual item. So keep this in mind. There's value in simplicity. When you add an item, think of this as a great opportunity to take something away or put something away. Seize and up your seasonal table regularly as seasonal changes happen outdoors. Think of the colors that remind you of each season and bring the feeling of the season indoors through colorful fabrics or images For handmade items. Pictures and fabrics. Find a good way to store these things from year to year. I have four photo boxes that I got from our local craft store and I've labeled them with each season. I'll link to the boxes I use in the show notes so you can see them. This is a better way than my original system, which was to just chuck everything in a drawer and then it was a big mess, hard to find anything and things got broken easily. When you're finished with any of the natural items you collected from nature, you can return those to where you found them and then finally keep a magnifying glass nearby. It's really fun for the exploration of patterns and even sometimes little surprises.

Speaker 1: 8:54

Now for weaving your nature table into homeschooling. Here are some ideas. During time, outdoors can inspire creativity and bring a sense of peace and tranquility right to daily life, and exploring, searching for things for our nature table can get us outside more, so going on nature walks, gardening or outdoor art projects are all wonderful additions to your daily homeschool rhythm. And think about how you might bring an artifact from any of those activities indoors for your table. In my family we tried to get outside every day, even if it was just a short walk around the block or perhaps just to the end of the block and back, to notice the light, the trees, the birds, any changes that are happening around us and collect little things to bring inside. You can add collecting little treasures to any of those outdoor activities. It's all about connecting with nature often.

Speaker 1: 9:59

If you want to hear more about this, please go have a listen to episode 91 here on the podcast called how Can we Restore Connections Through Nature, which I'll link in the show notes. Nature tables can also be great invitations to play. You could read a seasonal story and then use the things on the nature table to retell the story, to act it out. From an educational perspective, nature tables are great for sensory play, nature study, imaginative dramatic play and storytelling. Keep in mind that in the early grades, nature study teaches the skill of keen observation. This is a skill that's critical to the study of the hard sciences in the later years, such as physics and chemistry. I talked about this in a recent episode, number 172, nature Study, the Foundation of Science, and I'll link that one in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 11:04

As well as homeschooling parents, one of our main jobs is to give our children opportunities to experience awe and wonder. These emotions help children develop curiosity and build a knowledge of the world. In the recently published book Awe the New Science of Everyday Wonder and how it Can Transform your Life, author Dacher Keltner reveals new science into how awe transforms our brains and bodies, how a sense of awe transforms who we are. There's a great quote from the book about the importance of cultivating these feelings. Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world. Awe is the emotion we experience when we encounter vast mysteries that we don't understand. Awe really does play a central role in us caring about and learning about the world.

Speaker 1: 12:21

As homeschoolers, we carefully choose poems, stories, activities, songs all the things that we bring to our children, coupled with our own interests and enthusiasm about the world, to awaken a sense of awe and wonder in our children. Nature tables are yet another way to bring awe and wonder, and even a sense of reverence, into our lives. I hope you've enjoyed this episode on how to set up a nature table at home as much as I have. Check out the show notes for links to everything I've mentioned and you can find show notes at artofhomeschoolingcom, slash episode 175. Thanks for tuning in today. I'm off to cut some freshly blooming daffodils to put on my nature table.