One of the things our family enjoys doing this time of year is hiking along nature trails. There is such a riot of color to take in as wild flowers bloom, butterflies flit through the air, and birds build their nests.

It’s also a great time of year for taking photos. If you have some camera bugs in your family, like we do, why not try combining the two pastimes by going on a photo safari nature hike.

Grab your smart phones and digital cameras and collect snapshots of as many of the following items you can find, being careful to leave everything exactly as you found it.

Track how many shots off our Photo Safari list you can capture:

• a squirrel

  

  For a fun squirrel-themed coloring page and some adorable video footage of the squirrels we rehabilitated a few years ago, click here: raising baby squirrels

• a bird nest

• a spider web

  Spiders are marvelous creatures. For some great lessons from a not-so-ordinary arachnid, follow this link: What Spiders Know that Moms Forget

• a flying insect

  

  Some of our favorite flying insects are butterflies. My daughter received a butterfly kit for her birthday last year, and we successfully raised several Monarch Butterflies from caterpillars. To order the kit we used for this project, follow this (affiliate) link: Butterfly Growing Garden

  For a beautiful butterfly coloring page and some video footage of our visit to The Butterfly Palace in Branson, MO, click here: Breathtakingly Beautiful Butterflies

• a caterpillar

• a cocoon

• a bird feather

• a wild flower

  

  Both vegetable and flower gardening are great ways to get your kids interested in nature. For some wonderful picture books to inspire your youngest in this direction, check out this post: Six Fun Books about Flower Gardening

• a hollow tree

• a wild berry

  

• a partially eaten leaf

• an ant hill

  Be careful not to step on it. Ant bites are no fun!

• something fuzzy

  

• a tree stump

  

• some green moss

• lichen from a tree or rock

  

• a centipede

• a frog or tadpole

• a fish

• a lizard

• a fern frond

  

• a crawling insect

• running water

  

• animal tracks

• a flock of birds

  

  Did you know we have a complete collection of state bird coloring pages on our website? You can download your free copy here: State Bird Coloring Book

• a large boulder

To make it easier to play, print out a copy of our Nature Photo Safari list for everyone in your party:

Have fun. And if you get any share-worthy shots, I’d love for you to post them in the comment section below!

Also, if you are looking for more ways to connect with nature, check out my devotional journal, All Things Bright and Beautiful.

It’s full of nature-themed Bible verses and coloring pages, tutorials for identifying leaves and animal tracks, instructions for sketching wildlife, and lots of space for recording all the marvelous sights and sounds you encounter in the wonderful world around you.