Listening to the Wild: Using Soundscapes in Nature Journaling
“Wild sings the bird of the heart in the forest of our lives” -Mary Oliver
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When most people think of nature journaling, they imagine sketching a bird on a branch, noting the colors of a flower, or recording the changing weather. But nature journaling isn't only about what you see. One of the most important—and often overlooked—ways to connect with the natural world is by tuning in to its sounds.
Sounds have a way of pulling us outside. I often find that while I enjoy sound, I struggle to bring it to the forefront of my senses. What I mean by this is that when I’m walking outdoors, I don’t always notice the birdsong, the wind, or even the ambient noises like cars or people talking. I tend to tune them out. Yet I know some sounds can shift how I feel when I’m in nature.
So what happens when we allow sound to come to the forefront of our awareness?
This post is all about tuning into sound using a tool called a soundscape or sound map. I also tried out the Merlin app, which identifies bird calls and displays information about the birds on your screen. Birds seemed like a natural place to start when talking about sounds in relationship to journaling. Why? Because birds are everywhere. You don’t have to have a forest or green area in order to access their music. You can be in the busiest of cities, and you can still work with the sound of birds in your journal. Think of this post as a guide to help you start noticing sounds more intentionally—and using a simple outdoor walk as inspiration for what you might hear.
What Is a Soundscape?
A soundscape in its simplest form is a map of what you hear. It is the acoustic environment—the collection of natural and human-made sounds in a place. In nature, this includes everything from birds and wind in the trees to the buzzing of insects and the gurgle of a creek. By incorporating soundscapes into your journal, you open a new sensory dimension to your observations, helping you deepen your awareness and presence in the moment.
How to Get Started
John Muir Laws in How to Teach Nature Journaling: Curiosity, Wonder, Attention provides a step-by-step guide on how to do soundscapes with your class. I recommend his resource for anyone who is venturing out on their own with nature journaling or taking students with them into the outdoors. He provides examples, coaching, and pointers for being outdoors and moving your class outside.
How to Teach Nature Journaling: Curiosity, Wonder, Attention
“The first-ever comprehensive book devoted to helping educators use nature journaling as an inspiring teaching tool to engage young people with wild places.
In their workshops, John Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren are often asked the how-tos of teaching nature journaling: how to manage student groups in the outdoors, teach drawing skills (especially from those who profess to have none), connect journaling to educational standards, and incorporate journaling into longer lessons. This book, expanding on the philosophy and methods of The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling puts together curriculum plans, advice, and in-the-field experience so that educators of all stripes can leap into journaling with their students. The approaches are designed to work in a range of ecosystems and settings, and are suitable for classroom teachers, outdoor educators, camp counselors, and homeschooling parents.
Full-color illustrations and sample journal pages from notable naturalists show how to put each lesson into practice. Field-tested by over a hundred educators, this book includes dozens of activities that easily support the Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards—and, just as important, it will show kids and mentors alike how to recognize the wonder and intrigue in their midst.”
Tips for Soundscape Journaling
1. Find a Quiet Spot Outside
Choose a location where you can sit or stand comfortably for a few minutes. This could be your backyard, a park bench, or a hiking trail. Try to pick a spot with minimal distractions so you can focus on the sounds around you.
2. Sit Still and Listen Closely
Close your eyes for a minute or two and just listen. Take note of both near and distant sounds. What do you hear? Birds? Wind? Insects? Footsteps? Water? Let your ears wander like your eyes normally would. Use a timer to spend just 2–5 minutes listening.
3. Draw a Simple Map
In your journal, draw a small circle to represent where you're sitting. Then add directional markers (N, S, E, W) around it. This will help you place sounds to where you are.
4. Add Sounds to the Map
As you hear different sounds, draw or write them on your soundscape map according to the direction and distance from you.
For example:
A bird chirping to your left? Draw a bird symbol or write "chirp" to the west.
Leaves rustling behind you? Add that to the south side of your map. Use words, symbols, doodles—whatever helps you remember the experience.
5. Reflect and Label
After a few minutes, look at your map. Label the sounds if you can identify them. If not, write a description (e.g., “high-pitched trill” or “soft buzzing”). You can also reflect: How did the sounds make you feel? Which stood out most? Try to describe quality and emotion: Is the sound soothing? Alarming? Mysterious? Joyful?
Other Sounds to Tune Into
While birds often steal the show, a rich soundscape includes many more contributors.
Consider these:
Wind – How does it move? Through grass? Rustling leaves? Whistling around rocks?
Insects – What kinds of buzzes, hums, or chirps can you hear? Are they constant or rhythmic?
Water – Is there a stream nearby? Dripping from leaves after rain? Ocean waves?
Mammals – Squirrels chattering, deer rustling, coyotes howling.
Human-made sounds – Footsteps, distant traffic, a train whistle. How do these blend or clash with the natural sounds?
Each of these elements helps you capture not just a scene, but a moment in time—one that can never be exactly repeated.
Journal Prompts for Listening to Nature
Here are some prompts to help you explore and record soundscapes in your nature journal:
What is the first sound you noticed today?
Close your eyes for one minute. What sounds do you hear? (Describe them in words, patterns, or pictures)
What sounds are constant? Which come and go?
Do the sounds suggest any animal behaviors? (For example, alarm calls, foraging, singing for a mate?)
How do the sounds make you feel? (Calm, alert, curious, uneasy?)
John Muir Law Video on Sound Maps
John Muir Laws Video on Birdsong
Birdsong as a Gateway: Using the Merlin App
Birds are often the most vocal and recognizable contributors to a natural soundscape. Whether you're in a forest, park, or backyard, their calls shape the atmosphere. Identifying birds by their calls used to be the domain of seasoned birders, but with the Merlin Bird ID app by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, anyone can join in. I liked using the Merlin app because it gave the subject matter for journaling. You could look up and learn more about the birds, play back what you heard on a recording, and then repeat if necessary.
With Merlin's Sound ID feature, you can:
Record live audio while you journal.
Get real-time identification of singing or calling birds.
Learn to recognize patterns, pitches, and rhythms of common birds in your area.
Try this: Next time you’re outside journaling, open Merlin and let it listen for a few minutes. Record which birds it identifies and write down what their songs sound like to you. Use descriptive words: “whistling,” “buzzy,” “sharp chirps,” or “rolling trills.” Add personal associations—maybe a sparrow's call reminds you of a squeaky wheel or a violin string.
Use the Merlin App Together
Preschoolers love gadgets, and using the Merlin Bird ID app can be an exciting adventure:
Tell them the phone is your “sound detective tool.”
Show them the birds that pop up and let them help pick which picture matches the sound.
Use the app’s visual cues to turn sound into something they can see and talk about.
Examples of Birdsong Recordings
Example 1
We found five birdsongs almost immediately on the first stretch of our walk. The Great-tailed Grackle was the most interesting bird because they can be quite loud and come off a bit scary to a preschooler.
The other bird that was surprising was the Verdin. This small bird gave an access point to talk about color and size with my four-year-old.
Example 2
On the second stretch of our walk, we ran into a Gambel’s Quail. The little feather on his head and the loud noise he made started a good conversation on our walk. I really like the features on the app where you can see different variations of the bird (both male and female, young and old) and then look at examples that you are seeing in real life.
The other smaller bird was the common house sparrow; however, we could make a connection to the birds that we see around our house often even though we were standing on a nature preserve. The connections happened later that week when were walking around our busy neighborhood street, and our little one said, “Mommy, are those sparrows?”
Example Journal Layout
I took the pictures from the Merlin app and screenshots of most of them to get pictures of the birds for my journal spread. I printed them using Canva and my inkjet printer. Nothing is fancy about this layout below. I wanted it to be simple, so we can go back and revisit the birds as we see them again. If I were to add to this layout, I would incorporate one of John Muir Laws’ techniques: placing the sounds of birds next to a quick sketch or image of them, especially the quail or the grackle.
Add Drawing as a Way to Listen
The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds by John Muir Laws has also been on my radar to use in addition to drawing the sounds of birds. With the same intention of slowing down to listen, drawing things holds the same effect as pausing in time. You have to concentrate and try to balance what you are seeing with what you are putting on the page.
The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds
“John Muir Laws's guide to drawing birds is itself winged, soaring between a devotion not only to art but also to the lives, forms, and postures of the birds themselves.
Here, artistic technique and the exquisite details of natural history intertwine, and drawing becomes the vehicle for seeing. As Laws writes, "To draw feathers, you must understand how feathers grow, overlap, and insert into the body. To create the body, you must have an understanding of the bird’s skeletal structure. To pose this skeleton, you must be able to perceive the energy, intention, and life of the bird."
This how-to guide will perfect the technique of serious artists but also, perhaps more importantly, it will provide guidance for those who insist they can’t draw. Leading the mind and hand through a series of detailed exercises, Laws delivers what he promises: that "drawing birds opens you to the beauty of the world."
Mentor Texts for Introducing Listening with Kids
Prompt for Preschool Journaling/Listening:
“What sounds do you like best outside?”
“Can you draw what the wind sounds like?”
“Let’s be quiet bunnies for one minute. What do our bunny ears hear?”
“If the bird was singing a song, what would the words be?”
4 Years-8 Years
Are You Listening?: A Picture Book (Sensing Your World)
“From the Sensing Your World picture book series that explores the five senses through a mindfulness perspective, New York Times bestselling author Susan Verde highlights how careful, intentional listening allows us to appreciate the world around us in Are You Listening?
All day long
there are sounds.
I hear them,
telling me the world is busy—
and so am I.
But when I find stillness
and make the choice to
pause, breathe, and give each sound my careful attention,
I can listen. Listening tells me more . . .
Gracefully written by Susan Verde, bestselling author of the I Am books, and winsomely illustrated by Juliana Perdomo, the Sensing Your World series teaches little ones to experience the world around them more deeply using the five senses to find joy, connection, and beauty in the small, everyday moments. Are You Listening? encourages us to listen to the world around us with our whole hearts.”
Baby-4 Years
Mindfulness Moments for Kids: Listen Like an Elephant
“Part of the Mindfulness Moments for Kids series, this mindful meditation exercise featuring a colorful elephant helps kids feel focused, wherever they are.
With Listen Like an Elephant, kids learn to slow down, listen to the world around them, and focus their minds--no matter how messy life becomes. Best of all, the exercise can be performed anywhere: in the backseat of a car, at home, or even at their desk at school. Written by Kira Willey, winner of a Parents' Choice Gold Award, this board book series (also including Breathe Like a Bear and the upcoming Bunny Breaths) is the first of its kind and is the perfect tool to help children and parents develop a fun and consistent mindfulness practice.
Adapted from the successful hardcover and paperback editions of Breathe Like a Bear--a collection of mindfulness moments and exercises for kids--this board book is an easy-to-follow exercise kids can use to manage their bodies, breath, and emotions.”
Why Listen?
Tuning into sound sharpens your focus and fosters a sense of closeness with the world around you. It reveals the presence of animals that may be hidden from view and brings a new layer of storytelling into your journal. Over time, you might even begin to recognize seasonal changes through sound—different birds, insect activity, or the silence of a snow-covered landscape.
Nature journaling is not just about documenting what you see—it's about experiencing nature in all its dimensions. So next time you head out with your notebook, take a moment to stop, breathe, and listen.
There’s a symphony waiting for you.
