MARCH 2026 | SKILL OF THE MONTH: NOTICING

Your March card set is here. This month's Wild Ones guide introduces the foundational naturalist skill of Noticing — the ability to slow down and truly look. It sounds simple. It is also the skill that every other naturalist practice is built on.

What's inside your 8-card set:

Cards 1 — Skill introduction and how to use this set. Cards 2–4 — Three hands-on field activities: The One Thing Game, Color Hunt, and Zoom In Zoom Out Card 5 — Noticing Log documentation card (print multiples — use one per outing) Cards 6–7 — Caregiver language guide and nervous system explainer Card 8 — March field guide for Hunting Island: best noticing spots, tide tip, and your naturalist prompt for the month

How to use these cards:

Print on cardstock if you can. Laminate Cards 2–4 for dry-erase reuse on repeat outings. Cut apart and keep one in your trail bag. You don't need to use all eight on the same day — pick one card per outing and let that be enough.

Card 5, the Noticing Log, is worth printing several copies of. Date and location the back of each completed one. By the end of March you'll have a small record of what your child noticed — and it will surprise you.

This month at the parks:

I'm arriving at Hunting Island on February 28th. Card 8 is written directly from what I know of this place in early March — the wrack line at low tide, the maritime forest edge, the resurrection fern on the live oaks. If you're not at the coast, the noticing skill translates anywhere. The park-specific prompts are a model you can adapt to wherever you are.

Coming in April: Skill of the Month — Listening

April's card set introduces sound mapping and the practice of directed listening outdoors. It pairs directly with the noticing skill you're building this month.

Questions? The Wild Ones Q&A is scheduled for the weekend after I settle in at Hunting Island — date coming soon by email.

— Tamara, Roots & Rainboots Nature Co.