If you are in the area and have the opportunity, I highly suggest you take your little ones to the Bay Area Discover Museum in Sausalito to play in the “Framed: Step into Art” exhibit, which will be on display until September 8th, 2013. We’re fortunate, in that this is this is the second time we’ve been able to check out this great exhibit. It … Continue reading Framed: Step Into Art Exhibit, Bay Area Discovery Museum
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 made as “snowballs”. Most of the orbs were incorporated into … Continue reading Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration: Sand Globes
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 celebration… I read somewhere that the Hopi considered labyrinths to … Continue reading Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration: Beach Labyrinth
Photos of the evolving outdoor sculpture gallery, from the Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration, 2013, at Stinson Beach, California… For more information about the celebration, visit the official website… 9th Annual Free Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration. All photos taken April 20th, 2013. Continue reading Create-With-Nature Earth Day Celebration: Rock Towers
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 photos close-up, and his camera simply doesn’t zoom in well. … Continue reading Photography for Kids: Fun with an iPhone
After school on Monday, we went for a walk around our neighborhood to look for signs of spring. As an extension of the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge (Phoneography Challenge: My Neighborhood), I gave my iPhone to my five-year-old son and asked him to take photos of what he could find. The signs he saw were primarily floral… wildflowers and blossoming trees. We did see our … Continue reading Looking for Signs of Spring: A Walk Around the Neighborhood
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 Rock Art
My five-year-old isn’t much of a craft guy, but he does love to play and experiment with paint. He’s usually up for art if it’s more process-oriented than result-oriented. A favorite is painting with marbles. I like to do this activity outside, as the the marble, covered with paint, tends to jump out of the container sometimes. Better outside than across the carpet! Here’s what … Continue reading Outdoor Art: Marble Painting
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 joys of stacking and weaving, a few of the items … Continue reading Create With Nature Zone, Blake Garden, Kensington
A couple weeks ago, Let’s Go Chipper posted instructions about how to create a box for storing a rock collection from a recycled egg carton. Perfect! My son collects rocks everywhere we go. So we made the storage container this week… Interested in doing this with your child? You’ll find the instructions here… Chipper Recycle Crafts: Egg Carton Rock Collection Have fun! Continue reading Craft: Egg Carton Rock Collection
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 lovely park. That’s when I noticed this sign at the … Continue reading Create-With-Nature Pathway
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 animals, flowers, family, and friends, I capture with my camera. … Continue reading Kids ‘n Cameras: Five Tips for Introducing Children to Photography
Our new favorite nature outing is to take a walk together with our cameras. Provide a child with a camera, and he’ll see the world in a different way. Every day while in Yosemite National Park last week, my son begged us to take him outside to photograph the flowers. Obviously, Yosemite naturally calls to be photographed, but we have just as much fun walking … Continue reading Nature Fun for Kids: Take a Photo Walk
We’ve been staying home a lot this past week while my son’s been sick with a cold. One afternoon, he asked, “Can I dig for dinosaurs in the backyard?” We have a section of the yard that isn’t landscaped, so that was perfectly fine with me. Dinosaur digging can be done in a patch of dirt in your backyard, in a sandbox, at the beach, … Continue reading Paleontology Play! Dinosaur Digging
One of these days, I’ll remember that finger painting really should be done outside…. Continue reading Outdoor Art Recommendation: Finger Painting
We did this art activity at the Chabot Space Center‘s Tyke Explorer class last week. When I asked my son if he’d like to do this again at home, he said, “yes, but we’ll have to do it outside.” I asked him why, and he said, “it would be WAY to messy to do in the house.” Well, he has a point… paint would probably … Continue reading Outdoor Art: String Painting
For a quick, easy outdoor activity, I keep a bag of sidewalk chalk on our front porch. We were home sick yesterday, and drawing on the front walkway with chalk was about the only outside activity my son felt up for. I like this kind of art for its simplicity. Give child chalk, send outside, draw. Done. This is one of the pictures my boy … Continue reading Outdoor Art: Sidewalk Chalk Drawing
Allow your child to channel their inner Jackson Pollock with this fun, messy painting activity. This art is made to be done outside, as no sane parent would allow it to take place in the house! Materials: Tempera paint Containers for paint (plastic cups, recycled jars, etc) Large paint brushes Masking tape Large plastic sheet, tarp, or old shower curtain Large paper – at least … Continue reading Outdoor Art: Splatter Painting
