Photo taken May 22nd, 2013 Central Park, San Ramon For more parks in the area with water features, see… Ten Fun East Bay Parks with Free Water Play Structures Continue reading »
Tag Archives: children
So fast!
This is the reason I started running four years ago…. Continue reading »
Sibley: A Volcano, A Labyrinth, & Gorgeous Views
Did you know there’s a volcano right here in the San Francisco East Bay? Yep, Round Top, a volcano so long extinct that it’s now lying on its side, is located in Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve in the Berkeley Hills. On Sunday, I enjoyed a fun Mother’s Day hike around the Round Top Loop Trail … Continue reading »
Pattern: For Love of Dirt
Three photos of my son from our walk through the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley last week. Can you spot the pattern? Yep! No matter where we go, he’s playing in the dirt. Photos taken May 5th, 2013 *** Weekly Photo Challenge: Pattern Continue reading »
Connecting Kids With Nature: How Grandparents Can Help
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 »
Neighborhood Walk: An Early Summer
Here in California, due to the lack of any spring showers, it’s already feeling like summer. That means hot weather, dry hills, and, unfortunately, an early fire season. Here are some images from a walk I took with my son yesterday around our neighborhood in the San Francisco East Bay. Photos taken May 2nd, 2013 Continue reading »
Feeling Like Summer? Pool Time!
It’s beginning to feel like summer here. Time to get our son ready for the pool! Swim lessons started this weekend… Photo taken April 27th, 2013 Continue reading »
Weekend: Into the Forest
I hope everyone had a great weekend! It was gorgeous here in the San Francisco Bay Area… perfect for a bike ride in the redwoods! Photo taken April 27th, 2013 Redwood Regional Park Continue reading »
Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (2)
Photo taken April 20th, 2013 Weekly Photo Challenge: Up Continue reading »
Ladybug: On the Beach
Photos taken April 20th, 2013 Stinson Beach, California *** Like ladybugs? Check out this post… Ladybug Clusters: Redwood Regional Park Continue reading »
Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration: Sand Globes
Photos of my husband and son making sand globes, from the Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration, 2013, at Stinson Beach, California. Instruction was provided. Apparently, once these are made, they’ll keep indefinitely, as long as they are misted with water daily. We won’t be able to find out… my son had fun using the ones they … Continue reading »
Art Fun / Beaches / Festivals / 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 the … Continue reading »
Stinson Beach: Play!
Saturday was the perfect beach day… not hot, not cold, not a bit foggy. With such gorgeous weather, we couldn’t resist heading to Stinson Beach to attend the 9th Annual Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration. There were so many fun art activities to participate in, I can’t possible contain them all within one post! So, for … Continue reading »
At Home / At the Park / Tips
Three Classic Backyard Games: Fun For Kids and Adults
It can be tough to find outdoor games that are truly fun for both children and adults. Here are three of our family favorites…. Croquet, Bocce, and Cornhole. My brother and his wife always have these games set up when they have parties at their home. So fun! Croquet I grew up playing Croquet in … Continue reading »
Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (Seed Update)
Some of you requested that I post updates about the growth of the seeds we planted in our root viewer. Here’s what we saw on day eight! Interested in making your own root viewer? Check out the directions here… Kid Science: Make a Seed Viewer. *** Weekly Photo Challenge: Change Continue reading »
Fun! Rope Swing
Photo taken April 13th, 2013 Continue reading »
Observe: Insect Activity
What cool insect, arachnid (spider), or mollusk (snail) activity can you find around your yard? Has your child watched a spider spin a web? How about ants marching along on a mission? What about a snail eating a plant? Give your child the time and space to observe these small creatures in their natural environment… … Continue reading »
Kid Science: Make a Seed Viewer
Seeds… how incredible that plants of all sizes can grow from such a tiny thing. If you’ve gardened with a young child, you’ve witnessed their fascination and wonder at the mystery of plants. To give your child the opportunity to actually witness the growth of a plant from the first roots shooting out of the … Continue reading »
Play! Blake Garden
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 »
Play: Lawrence Hall of Science
No visit to the Lawrence Hall of Science is complete without a bit of playtime on the massive DNA Sculpture and on Pheena, the life-size model of a fin whale. Photos taken April 2nd, 2013 Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, California Continue reading »
Redwood: Kid Bike Ride
A few days ago, we went to Redwood Regional Park for a bike ride with friends from our Nature Time! playgroup. Super fun! Photos taken March 30th, 2013 Redwood Regional Park, Oakland, California Continue reading »
Rainy Day Fun: Snail Watching
After a night of rain, my son usually rushes outside to see if any snails came out. He found this one yesterday morning on our front walkway. He crouched there and watched it for about fifteen minutes, then rushed inside to tell me all the cute things the snail did. Photos taken March 28th, 2013 … Continue reading »
Thank you! Top 25 Outdoorsy Moms 2013
Thank you to everyone who put in votes for me in the Circle of Moms Top 25 Outdoorsy Moms 2013 contest. The contest ended today, and I’m in the top twenty-five! Thank you, thank you, thank you! There were so many wonderful nature-loving mom-bloggers entered in the contest. Here are my favorites (in no particular … Continue reading »
Kid Science: Owl Pellet Dissection
Owls are fascinating creatures. They have a special organ (gizzard) that stores the undigestible parts of their prey, preventing these parts (bones, teeth, fur, feathers) from proceeding through the digestive tract. The gizzard compresses these parts into a pellet which is later regurgitated. This is a pretty simplistic explanation. If you’d like to learn more, … Continue reading »
Little House in the Big Woods…
I started reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder to my son before bed last night. I was afraid it would be too much of a “girl” book for him to find it interesting, but, so far, I’ve been proven wrong. The first chapters have been primarily describing what life was … Continue reading »
Sacramento: Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park
If you’re ever in Sacramento, Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park is spot you must visit. Growing up in Sacramento, this was a regular outing on school field trips, so I take it for granted. My husband, however, hadn’t been before, and he thought it was amazing. It was fun to see the fort through the … Continue reading »
Great book! Friends of the Earth: A History of American Environmentalism
In preparation for Earth Day next month, I’m currently reading a wonderful book… Friends of the Earth: A History of American Environmentalism by Pat McCarthy. The book, written for children ages 9 and up, introduces the efforts, struggles, and triumphs of men and women (scientists, artists, authors, naturalists) who dedicated their lives to protecting the … Continue reading »
Silent Saturday: Neighborhood Walk
Neighborhood Walk (Run and Climb) Photos taken March 11th, 2013 Related articles Looking for Signs of Spring: A Walk Around the Neighborhood (anaturemom.com) Continue reading »
Sausalito: San Francisco Bay-Delta Model
Apparently, back in the 1950′s, engineers were considering building two dams in the San Francisco Bay to create fresh water reservoirs, right in the bay. Luckily, the US Army Corps of Engineers decided it would be a good idea to study the potential impacts that such a huge undertaking might have, both environmentally and economically, … Continue reading »
Photography for Kids: Fun with an iPhone
I enjoyed a fun walk around our neighborhood on Monday with my son, looking for signs of spring. My son loves to take photos, but he’s become frustrated with the quality of the images he takes on the kid camera we gave him for his birthday last year. He wants to be able to take … Continue reading »
