Harvest Moon Journaling

The Harvest Moon, the last supermoon of the year, is glowing bright in the sky tonight! Fall is by far my favorite time of the year and there is little better, in my mind at least, than an early fall moonlit walk outside with my family. Our nature play classes this week also gave a nod to the Harvest Moon and celebrated spending fall nights together outdoors. We made nature lanterns (I’ll post more about this in November for our Lantern Walk), told stories, made music, roasted cloud dough “marshmallows” around a pretend fire, and for our nature journals, we painted the Harvest Moon.

Similar to nature walks, nature journaling with kids is an excellent activity for nurturing their observation skills and cultivating a deep connection with the natural world. It encourages kids to slow down, pay attention to details, and sparks creativity and a sense of wonder as they document their adventures outdoors. The technique of watercolor resist painting is an especially magical way to document nature and the changing seasons. 

Watercolor resist painting is really very simple and fun. Draw your design in crayon or oil pastel, in this case the moon, and then brush on a wash of watercolor over top. The wax of the crayon repels the watercolor in the most satisfying way! The greater the crayon coverage, the more the design pops. A wider brush is also recommended. Pro tip: when using a white crayon, you can write secret messages or designs which magically appear when painting on the watercolor. Happy nature journaling!