Blake Garden in Kensington may be the best botanic garden in the Bay Area for nature play. A favorite feature for my son is the Create-with-Nature Zone, which is stocked with sticks, rocks, flowers, and other nature items for kids to play and build with. The second best feature here is the bamboo tunnel sculpture. … Continue reading »
Photos taken January 29th, 2013 California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Also see… The Living Roof: California Academy of Sciences Continue reading »
Photos taken January 27th, 2013 Redwood Regional Park, Oakland Interested in going? The ladybugs cluster at Redwood Regional Park between November and February. You’ll find them at the intersection of the Stream and Prince Trails. Look on, around, and behind the bench, as well as across the trail, near (and on) the sign. You can … Continue reading »
As I sit here at my computer with the backdoor open to allow some fresh air into our home, I’m listening to the lovely sound of frogsong. The chorus is coming from the creek on the other side of our backyard fence. Up until today, we’ve only been hearing one frog at a time. Suddenly, … Continue reading »
One of the great things about playing in nature is that bouts of exertion and excitement are often interspersed with quiet, contemplative time. I don’t have to recommend these quiet moments… my five-year-old sits down and calms himself entirely on his own whenever he’s inspired by the beauty around him. I often wonder what he’s … Continue reading »
This past weekend, we attended a fun nature class at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont. This free class for children aged 5+ and their family, called Family Nature Hour, is held on Saturday afternoons throughout the year. Each week a different concept from the natural world is covered. The one we attended on Saturday … Continue reading »
Large print, no claw marks… Photo taken January 5th, 2013 Sunol Regional Wilderness Continue reading »
I think it’s important for kids to see how tiny humans can be compared to other living things on this planet. Here’s my boy contemplating a saguaro… Photo taken December 30th, 2012 UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley Continue reading »
Peaceful… Kayaker, Lake Chabot Regional Park Photos taken December 11th, 2012 Continue reading »
When the tide is low, head out to the rocky, north end of Natural Bridges State Beach to explore the tide pools. Look for sea stars, hermit crabs, sea anemones, sea urchins, and more. So fun! For more information about Natural Bridges State Beach, visit the California State Parks website… http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541 If you’re here between … Continue reading »
Within Natural Bridges State Beach, in Santa Cruz, you’ll find the Monarch Butterfly Nature Preserve, a grove of eucalyptus trees where thousands of Monarch Butterflies spend the winter each year. The butterflies may be viewed by taking a short 0.75 mile Monarch Trail loop through the Preserve, or by simply taking the short, wheel-chair accessible … Continue reading »
On Monday morning, my husband and I went for a run out at Crissy Field in San Francisco (while our so rode his bike). This is my absolute favorite spot to run in the Bay Area. Luckily, it’s also an awesome trail for kids to ride bikes! I took a couple photos from the East … Continue reading »
Photos taken November 18th, 2012 Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley *** Weekly Photo Challenge: Green Continue reading »
Photos from a hike I took this morning with my son at Don Edwards S.F. Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Newark, California . We walked the the short 0.7 mile walk around the LaRiviere Marsh Trail, beginning at the Visitor Center. 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 »
Saturday is the first day of Autumn. While it doesn’t quite feel like fall yet here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I know the seasons will begin to change soon. This is a great time to head outdoors with your child to look for the first signs of fall. This walk can be taken … Continue reading »
My article about getting outside for a hiking adventure with the kids has been featured on The Roundup at Circle of Moms! To read the article and pick up some tips about how to have a fun family hike, click on over to Circle of Moms here… 6 Tips for Outdoor Adventures with Kids. Happy … 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 »
Butano State Park… I love this place! It’s a short drive from our home in the San Francisco East Bay, as it takes us little over an hour to reach Pescadero. The campground is small, quiet, tucked away in a canyon filled with redwoods. Camping here is an annual tradition for us, and is usually … Continue reading »
On our way back to the car from the San Francisco Botanical Garden (see post from yesterday), we took a little detour to visit Stow Lake. We first discovered the lake on a visit to Golden Gate Park a few weeks ago. Now, how did we “discover” a lake that’s been there since 1893? Let … Continue reading »
Another great Outdoor Discoveries outing! Today, the naturalist took the kids up the Ringtail Cat Trail into Las Trampas Regional Park for a “beanstalk lunch hike” to learn about vines. This is another of my favorite trails in the area, especially on a hot summer day, as the trail winds above a creek through a … 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 »
Nectar Garden Fun Day As many of you already know, we’re in the process of creating a butterfly garden in our backyard. So I couldn’t resist attending the Nectar Garden Fun Day with my son yesterday morning at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont. This is one of my favorite parks in the East Bay, … 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 »
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 »
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 »
Aargh, Batman… there’s treasure in yonder hills! OK, so pirate speak and Batman don’t really go together, but I can’t seem to get my little one out his Batman raincoat these days… not even for a bit of treasure seeking. We had an unexpected break in the rain today, so we drove into San Francisco … 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 »
