Birds of the Mojave Coloring Book

One of my goals for the New Year this year was to spend more time out in nature with the family.

If there's one thing living in Southern California is good for, it's getting back to nature.  Within a few hours drive we have access to Angeles National Park, Sequoia Natural Forest, San Bernadino National Forest, Los Padres National Forest, Mojave National Preserve, Death Valley National Park and Joshua Tree National Park.  Those are just the National Parks and do not even begin to cover the various state parks and beaches just waiting for a day trip of family fun. 

Part of our switching over to a Charlotte Mason style curriculum has also meant that we would also be incorporating more Nature studies into our weekly lessons.  This gives us the perfect excuse to get out of the house and go look at clouds, find bugs, explore tide pools and hike though the desert.  We're a family who can take a three day trip up into the mountains, out of the reach of the nearest cell phone town and NOT miss our phones or internet for a single moment as we're too busy swimming in a stream or watching a chipmunk. We've had the wonderful opportunity to watch everything from chipmunks to bears in their natural habitat.  

Taken with a nice zoom lens at a safe distance 

One thing we really enjoy doing is observing the various birds that fly into our view while we're out and about.   Sometimes, we don't even need to go beyond our yard as we've observed hummingbirds, ravens, woodpeckers, hawks and vultures without venturing far from our front door.   Even when we're not outside watching birds, we're inside watching birds thanks to technology and 24/7 cameras on a pair of Bald Eagles and a Great Horned Owl.    Bird watching has turned into an important part of our education.  Because of this, it only makes sense to combine the bird watching along with our hiking/camping trips.

One of the activities I wanted to do was to give the kids both a printout that they could keep in their Nature Journal that gave them a checklist for marking what birds they are able to observe.
There are many of these types of resources available for Charlotte Mason families in regards to bird watching during nature studies.  Unfortunately, many of these resources are close to impossible for us to use as birds that are common in other areas of the country, such as cardinals, blue jays, ruby throated hummingbirds and Waxwings are not found in the Mojave desert where we are located.  Searching websites geared for homeschoolers produced very little results on bird watching in our area.

What is a resourceful homeschool mom to do?  Make her own, of course.

And here is the end result..

This freebie contains 30 coloring pages of various birds that are both permanent residents as well as migratory visitors to the Mojave Desert. Each page has a detailed picture of the bird as well as some quick facts such as Scientific Name, Size, and lifespan as well as other quick facts about the species.

Even if you live as far away from the Mojave as Austrailia, this coloring book would be a great addition for any child who loves birds and wants to learn more about them.   And for a period of time, I am going to make this coloring book completely free to my readers..  I hope you enjoy it.   Just click the link below .

Birds of the Mojave Desert Coloring Book

This Post is part of the Free Printable Round Up from the Schoolhouse Review Crew. Click the Banner below and you'll find all the wonderful free printables  being offered.