So you’ve decided to have your kids start an herbal journal.
Now what?
What exactly should they “journal” about?
If they need help to get started, these ideas should help!
– Leaf rubbings. They can write the common and botanical name next to the leaves if they know them.
– Poems about plants. They can write their own or look up famous poems about their favorite herbs. Or both.
– Famous paintings of plants. Or their own painting of plants. Or both.
– Monthly drawings of the same plant. This is especially useful for showing growth and changes over the season.
– Photographs of plants. A snapshot of the same plant when it is drawn each month is a nice compliment to the monthly drawings.
– Plant life cycle cards or drawings.
– Venn diagrams comparing two different plants that are seemingly alike. Just how alike are they? Venn diagrams can help with that.
– Favorite recipes using herbs. Make up some recipes and write down the results. They can be recipes for foods, tea blends, or remedies.
– How a particular plant makes them feel when they sit with it.
– A song about the plants. Maybe a Herbal Roots zine song about their favorite one? Or one they’ve made up themselves.
– A chart showing the growth of plants. This works well with the monthly plant drawings and photographs.
– Pressed flowers or leaves. Seeds from the plant.
– Drawings of the various plant parts. The leaves, stems, roots, seeds, flowers, etc.
– Seed catalog collages.
– A list of favorite herbals or herb related story books. (Need a list to get you started? Check out our book list at our website).
– A labeled drawing of a plant flower. Drawings of several plants to compare. Can they see similarities?
– A list of all the plants that grow in the back yard.
– A list of all the plant families that those plants are in. Can they place all their plants under each plant family?These are just a few suggestions of what to put in their herbal journals. What are some other ideas you might have come up with?