A reader recent emailed me to ask:
I’m a little confused at to what I really need to do some nature study this summer with the kids. Is there anything in particular I need?
Short answer: no, just nature itself. A pair of comfortable walking shoes may also be a necessity (flip flops are a bad idea on a trail).
Now, there are some things that I’ve found to be helpful, but not really necessary.
You may find it generally helpful to have some kind of a back pack in which you can carry different things. We use a back pack as a picnic basket of sorts too, as we often have a picnic outside at the park or nature center when we go. In your knapsack, some things you may want to consider having on hand include:
- a small first aid kit (maybe just a few bandaids and neosporin)
- bottled water
- bug spray
- sun screen (especially if you are fair skinned like me and my crew are!)
- snacks
- and any of the other items I’m mentioning below.
A camera is a great thing to bring along. As I’ve said before, you can’t always make nature sit still long enough to draw it (or draw it well) but a photograph can be used to sketch from later. In this day and age of many affordable digi cameras (with many good ones under $40– including one my daughter just saved up and bought by Vivitar), you may want to consider a digi camera to be a birthday or Christmas present coming up. With a digital camera, you no longer have the two expenses that made my parents not allow me to have a camera for years: film and picture development! If you are looking for a digital camera of good general use with your older children, make sure it has an SD card slot. The ones that don’t often result in lost photos.
A Magnifying Glass is pretty good to have around for looking more closely at bugs, flower parts, and so forth. These are usually not a lot of money at all (Under $10). Glass ones may break more easily but don’t scratch up as easily as plastic lenses. I keep ours wrapped in a towel in our bag.
Binoculars can also be helpful for seeing something a long distance away. A camera’s zoom also works pretty good if you don’t have binoculars, and you can actually take a photo of it while you’re looking. 
One thing I really don’t recommend: A telescope is more trouble than it’s worth. Unless you are a serious astronomer with lots of patience, you may be disappointed.
A set of field guides is also nice to have, so that you can look up those things you are seeing, to figure out what it is you are looking at. I’ve written more about field guides here.
Some basic sketching supplies are obviously important for keeping some kind of a nature sketchbook. I’ve written about basic sketching supplies here, and about choosing a sketchbook.
