Are you a grandparent who would like to help connect your grandchild(ren) with the natural world? Check out these great tips from Richard Louv… Grand Ideas! 21 Great Ways Grandparents and Grandfriends Can Connect Kids to Nature. What wonderful ways to bond! My dad and my son, then three, gardening together (Tip #9: Create aContinue reading “Connecting Kids With Nature: How Grandparents Can Help”
Category Archives: Nature Play
Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration: Beach Labyrinth
Photos of the labyrinth created in the sand, from the Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration, 2013, at Stinson Beach, California. Usually, these are made for meditation, but that’s not how my five-year-old used it. He had so much fun running around and around and around the winding path. Either way, the design was appropriate for theContinue reading “Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration: Beach Labyrinth”
Weekly Photo Challenge: My 2012 in Pictures
Weekly Photo Challenge: My 2012 in Pictures
Silent Saturday: Trail Through Time, Rock City, Mount Diablo
Photos from a hike in Mount Diablo State Park earlier this week with my Nature Time playgroup. We hiked a section of the Trail Through Time, from the Rock City parking lot to (and up) Sentinel Rock, allowing the kids to climb and play on and in the limestone rock structures and caves as muchContinue reading “Silent Saturday: Trail Through Time, Rock City, Mount Diablo”
Rock Art
Take a child into nature where there are rocks and watch what the child does. Either the child will pick them up and throw them or he’ll build rock statues. Photos taken Friday, October 5th, 2012, Tioga Lake, California.
Going on a Bug Hunt
While my husband was warming up for his bike race on Saturday (see post here… Cyclo-Cross, Monterey Style), my son recommended we follow one of the nearby trails and go bug hunting. Excellent idea! We keep exploration tools (bug viewer, magnifying glass) with us at all times, so we’re ready to go whenever inspiration strikes.Continue reading “Going on a Bug Hunt”
Go Climb a Tree
We’re lucky to have a couple parks nearby that have great trees for climbing. The kids are drawn as much to playing on these trees as to the man-made play structures in the parks. This one is in Kolb Park in Dublin. Our other favorite climbing tree is in Shannon Park, also in Dublin. DoContinue reading “Go Climb a Tree”
Create With Nature Zone, Blake Garden, Kensington
Take a child out into nature, and what are they naturally drawn to play with? It’s pretty universal… sticks and rocks. So this is the perfect playground for a child… an area filled with sticks and rocks, inviting the child to stack, build, and create. Imaginations went wild this day. In additional to the simpleContinue reading “Create With Nature Zone, Blake Garden, Kensington”
Swim in a Lake!
The weather is heating up here in the San Francisco East Bay. Take a break from the local swimming pool, and cool off in a nearby lake instead. Del Valle Regional Park in Livermore has two swimming areas, East Beach and West Beach. Swimming is free, but there is a $6.00/vehicle park entry fee. IsContinue reading “Swim in a Lake!”
Create-With-Nature Pathway
While visiting Redwood Regional Park in Oakland yesterday morning, I made a fun discovery. We were meeting friends for some nature playtime, and they were running a half hour late. While waiting, my son was having fun riding his bike up and down the paved path while I was strolling along behind him, enjoying thisContinue reading “Create-With-Nature Pathway”
Hide and Seek!
What child could resist playing hide and seek in this redwood forest? Can you find them? At Roberts Regional Park, Oakland… http://www.ebparks.org/parks/roberts. *** You may also enjoy… Nature Play, Roberts Regional Park, Oakland (anaturemom.com)
Nature Play… Sticks and Pine Cones
A child can be absorbed for hours, simply playing in the forest with sticks and pine cones…
Kids ‘n Cameras: Five Tips for Introducing Children to Photography
Just in the past few months, my son has become interested in cameras and photography. Both my husband and I are into photography, so he sees us using our cameras a lot. He loves to sit on my lap and watch me while I’m reviewing photos on our computer. He adores the images of theContinue reading “Kids ‘n Cameras: Five Tips for Introducing Children to Photography”
My Childhood Play… My Love of Nature
This is the backyard of my childhood home. These are the places I played as a child, building forts, climbing trees, scaling mountains, running from dinosaurs, becoming a world explorer, digging like an archaeologist, wading in the creek, catching crawdads, watching frogs lay eggs, and observing the development of pollywogs. This was the play ofContinue reading “My Childhood Play… My Love of Nature”
First Time Camping with Kids? 5 Tips!
It’s that time of year when parents with young children are beginning to plan that very first camp trip with their young child. Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve read a ton of articles about camping with kids. What can possible be added to the discussion? I have a few extra tips forContinue reading “First Time Camping with Kids? 5 Tips!”
Hiking and Playing, Coyote Hills, Fremont
If you read my post yesterday, you know we attended the Nectar Garden Fun Day at Coyote Hills Regional Park on Monday. I invited friends from my Nature Time! playgroup to attend with us, and the kids had a great time running around and playing after they were done with the butterfly activities. A favoriteContinue reading “Hiking and Playing, Coyote Hills, Fremont”
Nature Time! Hike, Dublin Hills
We kicked off our Memorial Day weekend with a great hike with friends from our Nature Time! playgroup. The kids had fun on the trail, playing in the tall grass, and stopping to check out insects (mostly stink bugs). The weather was breezy and cool, but the children didn’t seem to notice. It makes meContinue reading “Nature Time! Hike, Dublin Hills”
“Awesome”… “Wow!”…
Quotes from my son while viewing the solar eclipse last evening at the Lawrence Hall of Science in the Berkeley hills… I figure he’ll be seventeen for the next solar eclipse… have to experience these moments while we can!! Related articles 40 Awesome Photos Of The Solar Eclipse (buzzfeed.com) Trans-Pacific ‘ring of fire’ eclipse wowsContinue reading ““Awesome”… “Wow!”…”
Fossils, Flowers, and Fun! Dublin Hills
I thought we’d head to a museum today, but my son asked if we could go hiking instead. Great! When I asked him where he wanted to go hiking, he said, “Dublin Hills!” I liked that answer, as the official trail head (Donlon Point Staging Area) is only a few miles from our home. Easy!Continue reading “Fossils, Flowers, and Fun! Dublin Hills”
Spring Nature Activities!
I’m always on the lookout for fun things to do with my son. Today I came across the Spring 2012 Nature Rocks Spring Activity Guide, which is filled with tons of fun nature activities. Coincidentally, it includes a couple activities I recently recommended (take favorite toys outside and do messy art activities outside), but alsoContinue reading “Spring Nature Activities!”
Suburban Nature Explorations 