A Year of Nature Journaling Prompts

Daily Nature Journaling Prompts

Let's celebrate nature and put in some “pencil miles”!* Each day this year, create a page in your nature journal based on that day’s prompt. Scroll down for links to more resources for this month’s prompts.

BONUS: Join this month’s host, longtime nature journaler and nature journal educator, Marley Peifer, for a FREE recorded class: Pressed Plants in Your Nature Journal with Marley Peifer.  Registration required—sign up here!

We can’t wait to see your work! Share it with us by tagging us @wildwonderfoundation using #naturejournalingseptember and we’ll share with the community! Tag a friend in your post to invite them to join in the fun!

PS: Looking for prompts from a prior month? Pop to the ARCHIVE at the bottom of this page!

* “Drawing is not a gift—it is a skill. You can learn to draw. You just have to put in the pencil miles.”

—John Muir Laws

Nature Journaling September Prompts

Some of the prompts below link to additional free resources and/or tutorials. Special thanks to this month’s host teacher Marley Peifer, @marleypeifer.
Be sure to sign up for the special live online free class, Pressed Plants in Your Nature Journal with Marley Peifer!

  1. Overlap

  2. Warm & Cold

  3. Use Your Least Favorite Art Supply

  4. Nature Journaling & Your Body—If you usually sit, try standing…change it up!

  5. Use Different Languages 

  6. Push Your Values (light and dark) 

  7. Swatch Out Your Palette

  8. Toned Paper 

  9. NJ as a Study Tool—Use your journal to do a deep dive into a subject or mystery…

  10. Flower Families 

  11. Draw Your NJ Tools   

  12. Bird Shapes

  13. Gardens and Nearby Nature 

  14. Biomechanics—Notice and document the way things move and work. 

  15. Invertebrates Everywhere—Nature journal an insect, worm, jellyfish, snail, or spider.

  16. Bread and Butter—What is your go-to prompt when you nature journal? 

  17. Juice—What topic energizes you? 

  18. Growth Edge—Push yourself outside of your comfort zone. 

  19. String Safari

  20. Taxonomy of Questions 

  21. Nature Journaling Heart

  22. Watercolor Loose

  23. From Your Window 

  24. Home Experiment—Choose something at home to study and explore.

  25. Things Growing on Other Things

  26. Less is More—Go minimal with your supplies or techniques.

  27. Pressed Plants in Your Nature Journal*

  28. Put Yourself on the Page

  29. Relationships in Nature

  30. Review-Reflect-Refine—Look back at your journal, reflect on your journey and growth.

LEARN MORE ABOUT NATURE JOURNALING

ARCHIVE: Nature Journaling Prompts

Click each month to explore the prompts and link to additional resources.