Nature Journaling with Groups and in Classrooms

Welcome! We’re so excited to have more people across Hawaii interested in teaching nature journaling. Nature journaling is an activity for all ages and abilities. You don’t have to be a traditional teacher, artist, writer, or scientist to help other people get started with nature journaling!

Request a visit from HNJC

Would you like a nature journal teacher to come to your school for a presentation or workshop? Are you interested in including nature journaling in your class curriculum? Email me (info@katerighter.com) or fill out the form below to schedule a visit. An honorarium is welcomed to help pay for travel and other expenses, but not required.

School Request Form

To request classroom visits from other Hawaii nature organizations — not nature journaling specific, but a great way to educate your students and inspire them to learn more about nature!

How to Begin Teaching Nature Journaling

Easy introductory activities

Check out this post on how to nature journal in five easy steps.
Start with the first episode from the wonderful video series The Nature Journal Connection. You can have students watch it at home before they come, or watch it together as a group, then go out and start nature journaling! Then watch Episode 2 the next week, etc.
The Beginner Nature Journaling Template is great for field trips, as it walks participants through all the steps of nature journaling.
Wild Wonder has amazing printable zines (mini booklets) you can download for free and share with others:
- Your Quick Start Guide to Nature Journaling from Wild Wonder
Also check out this zine on HNJC: Planting and Nature Journaling Guide (the post also includes resources for learning what plants to choose and how to care for them)
Learn about the different ways you can approach nature journaling at different ages from the wonderful Bethan Burton.
Get inspired by action images of adults and kids nature journaling in action, compiled by Wild Wonder Foundation.

Supplies

Wondering what kind of books, pens, and colors are easiest for leading a group? Check out this post breaking down your options on supplies for teaching
John Muir Laws also has a post on low-cost supplies he recommends for teaching

Classroom Resources

How to teach nature journaling video presentation

How to Teach Nature Journaling/Kilo Journaling — creating in January 2026 for the Wai Huihia Kumu Network

See the presentation and Q&A here (begins around the 18 minute mark):

Curriculum

The book “Arting and Writing to Transform Education” is a great Hawaii focused resource for aligning nature journaling with content standards and cultural understanding, bringing students through the process of observation, investigation, practice, drafts, and through a final, finished “art” piece.

A popular lesson to use nature journaling in the classroom is have students make their own field guides. This can be a year long project, with connections to math, science, art, and ELA standards.

A Year of Nature Journaling from Wild Wonder is a great guide to slowly building nature journaling skills throughout the year. You can do one per week instead of every day, and skip ones that don’t work for your classroom.

One School One Farm has a wonderful nature journaling unit plan that can help you build student skills throughout the school year, and pace introduction of topics like mapping, sit spots, engaging your senses, and learning about plant development.

California’s Native Plant Society created a free pdf with detailed explanation of the process of teaching nature journaling: Opening the world through nature journaling; Integrating art, science & Language arts

Websites and Resources

Nature Journaling Lesson plans

The Teaching Resources on the Hawaii Nature Journal “Learn” page were created to support you! The categories, tags, and search function can help you find specific resources.

Wild Wonder Foundation offers lots of detailed lesson plans for activities you can do with all ages. There are even videos introducing and explaining the lessons!

Another option is to join their online weekly zoom educator forums to talk about nature journaling education (recordings available on Jack’s website, search for “NJEF” to find the educator videos). Wild Wonder also runs a Nature Journal Educator Program, which is a great way to build confidence (and earn CEUs).

Hawai’i specific nature learning:

Wai Huihia Kumu Network provides online and in person workshops, videos, resources, and other support to aina educators. They are also developing an ʻĀina-Based Education Certification program, very exciting!

Kupu has an amazing selection of nature curriculum for high school.

Waihona.net is a rich, wonderful resource full of curriculum, lesson plans, worksheets, unit plans, and images for learning and teaching in Hawaii. You have to register and get an account (itʻs free!) to view the database, and itʻs well worth it the effort. There arenʻt any nature journaling specific resources (yet), but a lot of great place based curriculum, plus other nature activities specific to Hawaii, some of which are linked elsewhere on this site.

Malama Aina shares their yearly curriculum they’ve developed for different grade levels.

Hawaii’s Forestry & Wildlife division has collected links to curricula guides based on different topics and grade levels.

Check out the curriculum from Hoike o Haleakala about Hawaii’s ecosystems.

Hua ‘Ike is a hub for native plant education, with a diverse array of resources, from scientific papers to crafts and games to permitting information.

Nature, Art, Conservation Curricula from elsewhere

https://lawrencehallofscience.org/educators/instructional-materials/learning-activities/

K-First Grade
https://livingclassroomlearninglab.org/first-grade-nature-curriculum/
https://www.greenschoolyards.org/elementary-forest-lessons
https://www.plt.org/curriculum-offerings/

Assessment and Connection to Standards

Assessment

Discover tools and tips to assess and evaluate nature journal pages in the classroom.

Alignment to Standards

“How to Teach Nature Journaling” provides step-by-step lesson plans with connections to national standards and NGSS curriculum. It is free to download from John Muir Law’s store (go to page 120 to see the alignment section), or view individual activities on the Wild Wonder website.

Check out this resource on Sit Spots From Merry Lee at Goshen College. It aligns with Indiana Academic Standards for early childhood education, but Hawaii has similar standards, and it can be helpful to see how a sit spot activity can connect with curriculum.

Cross-curriculum Connections

Discover how nature journaling can be used as cross-curricular tool, with explanations by the dynamic Billie Joe Reid.

From Billie Jo’s blog post:

“Nature Journaling is not an extra activity or a bonus add-on. It’s a flexible learning tool that helps students and teachers think deeply, question respectfully, explore creatively, and connect meaningfully with whatever they are learning.Encourage your students to let their journals become outdoor science notebooks, math data logs, language arts idea books, geography field guides, and personal reflection spaces.

There is no wrong way to Nature Journal.

Let the journals help your students dive deeper into anything you’re teaching inside or outside the classroom.”