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 a … Continue reading »
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 the … Continue reading »
Weekly Photo Challenge: My 2012 in Pictures Continue reading »
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 much … Continue reading »
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. Continue reading »
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 »
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. Do … Continue reading »
The highlight of the weekend for my son? A Sunday afternoon bike ride with his dad…. While my husband and son were riding, I enjoyed a nice, quiet walk through the redwoods. Lovely…. Location: Redwood Regional Park, Oakland Continue reading »
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 simple … Continue reading »
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. Is … Continue reading »
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 this … Continue reading »
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) Continue reading »
A child can be absorbed for hours, simply playing in the forest with sticks and pine cones… Continue reading »
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 the … Continue reading »
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 of … Continue reading »
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 for … Continue reading »
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 favorite … Continue reading »
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 me … Continue reading »
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 wows … Continue reading »
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 »
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 also … Continue reading »
One of our favorite parks for play is Roberts Regional Park in the Oakland Hills. This park, nestled in the redwoods, has something for everyone. First, if you have a child, the play structure here is among the best in the Bay Area (and it’s barrier free / wheelchair accessible). But other than that, the … Continue reading »
As the weather has been warming up, we’ve been seeing more and more lizards on our walks. I believe these little guys (they are about 3-5 inches long) are Western Fence Lizards. We have them all over the place here in the East Bay. Maybe your child(ren) would like to go on a walk to … Continue reading »
After several days stuck home due to sickness, my husband, son, and I headed out today for a short hike through the Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve in the Oakland Hills. The 1.7 mile Huckleberry Path seemed about the right distance, and I’ve heard from many sources that it’s a great hike to do with a … Continue reading »
A friend recently told me about some fun-looking educational treasure hunting booklets created and sold through the Urbia Adventure League. These booklets were created based upon the concept of letterboxing (which I wrote about last week), but add so much more. Each booklet has at least ten pages packed full of information and activities designed … Continue reading »
My favorite spot in the San Francisco East Bay to take kids for a nature walk is Redwood Regional Park, but, for a variety of reasons, we haven’t visited the park for a few months. We had a break in the rain late this week, so we headed to the park for a walk … Continue reading »
I’m happy to report that our first letterboxing experience was (mostly) a success. For our first outing, I wanted to do a search that was, 1) relatively easy, and 2) close to home. After searching on letterboxing.org for boxes hidden in Dublin, California, I was glad to find there was a box hidden in Dublin … Continue reading »
Letterboxing has been around forever (well, at least, a few hundred years), but I just learned about it within the past year. Though I’ve been interested in trying it out with my son, it somehow seemed a bit overwhelming just to get started. But now I’m ready to begin. If you’re new to letterboxing, like … Continue reading »
I’m convinced that all a kid needs to have fun in nature is a stick, some rocks, a body of water, and a friend or two (or five) to play with. Nothing more. Photos taken this morning at Shadow Cliffs Regional Park, Pleasanton. Continue reading »
The sight of leaves blowing in the wind, the scent of flowers, the feel of grass, the sound of bird song… these are just a few of the wonderful outdoor sensory experiences available for any baby to enjoy. Getting outside is good for both baby and parent… the more often, the better. When … Continue reading »
