My JournalAdventuresPip's Corner

Writing activity

Listen first, then look

You often hear a bird before you see it. How about a minute of standing still, with a grown-up, to listen first? What did you hear?

This is Pip's tip from a Big find page in My Nature Adventures, our printable nature journal for ages 6 to 10. You can do it in a garden, a park, on the way to school or at an open window.

A few ways in

  1. Outside, or by an open window, with a grown-up, you could stand or sit quietly for a minute and listen.
  2. Perhaps count the different sounds, and guess which one is a bird.
  3. Then look for it, and draw or write what you heard and found. Looking with your eyes is the best way, and a grown-up can say whether something is safe to touch.

Example: 'I heard three sounds: a bus, a tap-tap-tap and a high chirp. The chirp was a small brown bird on the fence.'

A thought: Some berries, mushrooms and plants are not for hands or mouths, so looking first and asking a grown-up is always a good plan.

A journal is a writing hobby, not a treatment. A plain notebook is every bit as welcome.

Pale lilac background with Pip the bookworm, a green caterpillar character in round lilac glasses, holding a magnifying glass on a large green leaf with a water droplet. Heading: "Listen first, then look." Text: "You often hear a bird before you see it. How about a minute of standing still, with a grown-up, to listen first?" Footer: From My Nature Adventures, Pip's tip.