The School of the Greenwood Natural Events Calendar

Thank you for purchasing School of the Greenwood’s interactive natural events calendar! All profits from your purchase will go towards scholarships for children in their educational re-wilding camps. Learn more about School of the Greenwood at www.schoolofthegreenwood.org and follow them on Instagram @schoolofthegreenwood.

This calendar was designed and painted with handmade watercolors and pigments from the local area by artist and educator Jay Reddish (foresttroll.com, foresttrollart@gmail.com) and measures 16 x 16 inches.

• How to Use this Calendar
• Image Key

• This is your nature adventure guide, reminding you to go outside and take notice of the seasonal patterns unfolding in the natural world around your home! The School of the Greenwood encourages you to fill this calendar as a family or individually. You can punch holes in the four poster corners, and hang it up with a string or ribbon, with the current season on top. Each season is divided in two, so that there are eight total boxes for you to write in. Determine which half-season you are in, based on what is happening in the natural world where you live or using our approximate dates if you live in the Northern Hemisphere:

  Early Winter: Nov 2 - Dec 21 (Winter Solstice)
  Late Winter: Dec 22 - Feb 1
  Early Spring: Feb 2 - March 21 (Spring Equinox)
  Late Spring: March 22 - May 1
  Early Summer: May 2 - June 21 (Summer Solstice)
  Late Summer: June 22 - August 1
  Early Fall: August 2 - Sept 21 (Fall Equinox)
  Late Fall: Sept 22 - Nov 1
  
  Write changes and special creatures you notice in the natural world down on the calendar! If you don’t know the names of what you’ve found, you can always research them, or make up your own name. Pay close attention to the weather - is it getting dryer or wetter, colder or warmer, windy or still? Notice the behavior and calls of animals - are birds building nests, are they singing more or less? Can you find any mammal tracks or signs that they have been nibbling on certain plants? Can you spot any frogs, tadpoles or salamanders? Notice plants and trees - are they growing, flowering, putting out seeds, or drying up? What flowers can you find in spring and in summer? Are leaves budding, unfolding, changing colors, or falling? Can you find any mushrooms? What are the spiders up to?
  

  In the calendar image, includes visual prompts for you to go out and find. See if you can identify all of the furred, feathered, and leafy creatures in our picture and go out and find them near your home! The key of names is on the back of this sheet. Parents, please speak with your children about how to safely explore, and ask them not to pick up any animals or ingest wild plants or mushrooms without careful identification, preparation, safety protocol, and permission from a knowledgable adult. 

  There are so many wild friends and exciting natural events waiting to be discovered! The School of the Greenwood hopes that this calendar is the beginning of a wonder-filled exploration that leaves you feeling more in awe of and at home with your wild neighbors. They would love to see photos of your adventures and snapshots of your calendar being filled in! Tag #schoolofthegreenwood on social media so that they can follow along!

• Spring:
  Morel Mushrooms
  Carolina Wren
  Piliated Woodpeck
  Violets
  Bloodroot
  Cleavers

  Summer:
  Chanterelle mushrooms
  Fawn
  Tufted Titmouse
  Summer Tanager
  Lady Ferns
  Muscadine

  Fall:
  Squirrel (and their home)
  Coyote (can you hear one calling at night?)
  Sassafras
  Blue Jay
  Falling Oak Leaf

  Winter:
  Oyster Mushroom
  Field Mouse
  Raccoon
  Bluebird
  Chickadee
  Cardinal