It's Big, It's Bright, It's Close...It's Super Moon!

Tonight's Cinco de Mayo moon is at its closest to earth this year. The image above compares the size of last year's "super moon" to an average full moon. And as the caption above mentions, even though we might not be able to see with a naked eye that the moon will indeed be bigger and brighter (even compared to last year's "super moon"), we're sure to step outside and enjoy it's magic. 

6 Fun things to do during a full moon:

• Take a hike. Head to a natural area, away from city lights. You'll be able to walk around easily with only the bright luminescence of the moon, offering a whole new perspective on a nature walk. Imagine a moonlit walk along a lake, out in the desert, on a beach, through a meadow, or around your neighborhood.
• Kayak or canoe. Many outdoor companies are now offering moonlight bike rides, canoeing, paddle boarding, kayaking, etc. during the full moon. Check your local area for these special monthly outings, or head out with a friend! Even  in our desert we can go kayaking in nearby Salton Sea http://seaanddesert.org/  
• Sleep. Why take some blankets outside and fall asleep under the light of the moon. Moon nap in a hammock, or on a warm sandy beach or desert dune and connect with something greater.
• Sketch or journal. Once a month a group of us head out to a place in the desert, surrounded by mountains and we sketch by the light of the full moon. Sometimes we write poetry, sculpt with clay, or journal. But it is always something designed to engage our creative self, and always with the inspiration of the full moon to guide us. 
• Howl. Howl, bark, or hoot at the moon. This may feel strange, but you might be surprised at what answers you back! This is a fun one to do as a family or with a group of kids and other willing participants. Best if done in a natural area, with plenty or wild habitat around. Add it to your full moon hike. While out in the desert at night, we decided to start howling and were pretty excited to hear coyotes howling back in the distance!
• Moon gazing and sky watching. Despite the bright light of a full moon, there are still some good sights to look for in the night sky. Practicing your start mapping, constellation finding & planet naming. Look for satellites. Best of all, use binoculars or a telescope to explore the surface of the moon, identifying geographical features from a moon guide book 

Enjoy the moon!

Earth Day: Over 1 Billion Making A Difference!

Earth Day is April 22. This will be the 42nd anniversary marking the beginning of an historical push in promoting awareness and education regarding the health of our planet. Today it is estimated more than 1 billion people participate in Earth Day activities around the world. (www.earthday.org)

The exciting thing about the first Earth Day in 1970 is in its grassroots beginnings. With seemingly no political value at the time, no money, no resources, no education, our environments were being degraded without regard to future environmental health and natural resources. It took the dedication and resourcefulness of some steadfast individuals to find a way to put environmentalism on the political map by tapping into a dedicated student energy who believed our planet to be a worthy cause. The time finally came when people became fed up with the environmental destruction and death around them and communities of concern sprouted up to became active in the name of our planet. And a movement years in the making emerged, initiated by Senator Gaylord Nelson and his staff, who gave voice to those who cared enough about our planet to fight for it in a new arena. Nelson’s fight for the environment and related health hazards encouraged the public to bring the concerns of our planet’s health into mainstream politics. Later that same year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established.

“Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.”

Read more of this article about how the first Earth Day came about by by Senator Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day. http://earthday.envirolink.org/history.html

Although we have a very long road ahead of us, imagine where we would be without our current standards and sanctions put in place to better protect our environment and our health. What would we be facing without environmental conscience, or the science and education which have since guided our decisions and permeated our lifestyles today? Our air quality is regulated and many pollutants have been removed, we have lead-free gas, and our waste has been more properly managed. We are moving more toward alternative energy sources. Our oceans are being protected, once endangered species are protected, some are even making a recovery--just to name a few.

But, there is still much to be done, as our population grows our planet tries to keep up. Our climate is still in peril, new species are threatened, world waste is suffocating our oceans, big business and some countries refuse to adhere to environmental laws and agreements put in place for the greater good of the planet and the health of their people.

In its beginnings, a day devoted to bringing awareness to the environment had no political value, now it is mainstream the environment has its rightful place on the political agenda. Yet there is still a vital need, an urgency for the world community to more strongly unite, to step up and take stewardship of our planet as a whole.

Much has been established and is working since the first Earth Day, and now we have to maintain that momentum and work to keep the environment front and center, for our future generations. We can do that by:

VOTING

Vote for candidates you trust and have a track record for putting the environment first. Check their environmental scorecard here:  http://www.lcv.org/scorecard/ and interest group ratings via Project VoteSmart http://www.votesmart.org/issues/NA/30

STAYING EDUCATED & AWARE about the science (including how information is spun and by whom), the money players and political agendas. There are TWO sides to every study. Know who is reporting the study, be aware of sound bites/quotes out of context, who is paying for the research, ultimate agendas.

KNOWING WHERE WE SPEND OUR MONEY

For example, if excess packaging is your beef, let the company know you will not be buying their product until they change the packaging...and then stick to that promise of action. Or know what super-company owns your favorite stores or restaurants, are they environmentally responsible?

PRACTICING THE THREE R's (reduce, reuse, recycle)

Probably one of the easiest ways to do your part in living green! Most waste services offer curbside recycling. Or choose to recycle on your own, reuse items to keep them out of landfills, reduce you waste by buying package free on the shelf or little to no packaging for shipping.

DOING OUR BEST TO MAKE CRUELTY-FREE DECISIONS

Buy from companies who do not test on animals, there are many sites that list cruelty free companies like In Defense of Animals http://www.idausa.org/facts/crueltyfree.html, Peta and Peta2 http://shopcrueltyfree.peta2.com/  

AVOIDING "GREEN WASHING"

In the age of environmental friendly shopping, some companies are falsely claiming to be safe and/or green, taking advantage of green business and “earth friendly” loopholes in their labeling.

REDUCING OUR IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Many ways to do this including your commute to work using electric vs. gas vs. cycling, solar energy, home gardening, turning off lights, saving water, etc.

EDUCATING OURSELVES ON ORGANIC FOODS & LABELING

Organic food  labels  in the US are  either 100% organic, 95% organic, or “made with organic ingredients,” a minimum of 70% organic ingredients (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_certification). Know what fruits and vegetables are the most and least contaminated with pesticides, get the list here: http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-214.  The best fight against this is simply buying local, go the your farmers market and see your growers face to face, ask questions about pest control. Supporting local farms reduces our overall impact on the environment and is good for your local economy!

ACTING AS STEWARDS

You love our planet? Protect it. You want your children’s children to run free in nature’s playground like you did when you were a child? Protect it. Do you find refuge next to a stream or gazing up at the stars? Keep the waters and the sky clear and clean by protecting them. You want to be able to find new places where nature takes your breath away, or experience the excitement of witnessing a magnificent species in wildlands that your generation helped to protect? Keep protecting it, be a LOUD voice for the land and the animals!

These aren’t the only things we can do, but in a nutshell, we can at least live our daily lives in a way that shows we care for the earth and its species (including humans!) who depend on the balanced dynamic of a living planet.

Has Earth Day made a difference for our environment? YES! Even today? YES! But we need to be vigilant in our individual responsibilities to continue our progress. Be an environmental role model for your children. Go out in nature, let it inspire you, experience its awe, spend the night with it and let it motivate you to keep it pristine and wild.

Start with steps that are practical and easy for you and your family to ensure you will continue to do your part. Once it’s second nature, move on to bigger steps!

Make every day Earth Day now more than ever.

 

 

 

Bike Safari

Spring is around the corner and the weather has been warming up (at least here in the southern California desert). Family bike rides are a great way to spend time outdoors together. Now is the time to plan a bike safari with your child(ren) as an afternoon activity.

Here’s how:

• Before you go, you must plan your route. Make sure all members of your family can finish the route comfortably.
• Do a practice run, writing down clues for things to find along the route.
• Print out the clue list for each family member to take with them during the ride.
• During the ride, help the little ones by telling them one clue at a time so they can concentrate on riding safely while searching for their clue (not carrying a list).

Clues can be ambiguous to encourage individual interpretations and might include things like, “something that can spray water” (interpretations might include a hose, fire hydrant, sprinklers, etc.), or something specific, “a blue gate.”

Include things that guide thinking beyond just the human presence in the neighborhood like, “material for a bird’s nest,” “food for a bee,” “purple blossoms,” or “something just beginning to grow.”

Take pictures of your finds or simply point them out to each other as you go. Below is a list of ideas for clues.

Clue ideas:

• A plant you can eat
• A found face
• A pollinator
• Dripping water
• Something sparkly
• Something you can hear but can’t see
• A bird’s nest
• Food for a hummingbird
• A (color) door
• A flag
• The silliest mailbox
• A fragrant flower
• Something you can see through
• A rainbow bouquet (a red flower, orange flower, yellow flower, green, blue, (indigo), purple flowers—found throughout the ride)
• The smallest tree

Enjoy your adventure!

My Buggy Valentine

We fell in L-O-V-E with this easy and very cute Valentine’s idea found over at the Nature For Kids blog. Procrastinators unite and check out Shawna’s wonderful post along with her FREE jar graphic for you to use for your own catch of buggy Valentine’s!

Pictured in this post are my son’s Valentine’s we made this afternoon for his kindergarten classmates, using Shawna’s printable template provided in her post. We found a great Insect Tube at Joann's Fabrics. I printed the bug jar templates out—two per page—on cardstock paper. My son signed his name on each card and he helped glue a few of the bugs. I embellished each "Love Bug" with a black or silver heart, using a Sharpie. We think they turned out pretty neat :)

*Bee mine*

Happy Buggy Valentine's!

Natural Playscapes: Rock Hopper Garden

Last summer we visited the amazing Hamilton Children’s Garden. The garden is filled with playful and enticing elements throughout, with plenty of creatively designed natural playscapes and gardens perfect for spontaneous, unstrunctured play and discovery—the best kind!

One feature my son particularly loved was the “Rock Hopper Garden,” large boulders spaced just far enough for children to jump from one to another, landscaped with native, “fall” friendly plants.

Our backyard was a fairly blank canvas in need of some play-friendly and exciting space for my son to enjoy. We LOVE natural playscape designs and the rock-hopper garden was a great opportunity to create a natural area where he could have a little adventurous fun. So with some leftover large rocks in our yard (not quite the boulders at the Hamilton Children’s Garden, but worked just the same), we set out to create this nature-inspired playscape for our 5-year old.

We found this to be an easy concept to put in place, the hard part of course was rolling/moving/carrying the very heavy rocks into place. Aside from positioning the rocks and getting the rocks to place, little ones can be a great help—my son helped with ideas on placement, digging, filling and of course stamping the rocks and soil down.

As more plants get added, they will soon fill the spaces between the rocks, adding a little more to the challenge. Meanwhile, my son is happily hopping his way around an outdoor play area he helped build!

We’d love to hear what natural playscape designs you’ve added to your yard (or plan/wish to add!). Once you get the rocks, this is an easy one to put in place. If you’d like to add this element to your backyard, here are a few tips that might help :)

Tips:

• Make sure you have help moving the rocks (no sense in throwing your back out). I was able to roll a few, but my hubby helped with the rest! (Depends on what rock you have access to.)
• I recommend digging out a shallow hole to accommodate the pointier side of the rock, backfill with the soil and stamp down. This will allow it to sit nice and stable.
• Let your youngest test the first two rocks (for spacing) before you place all of your rocks. You don’t want them to be too far apart, but not too close either—create a little challenge that will grow with them for one or two years at least!
• If you decide to combine with a garden (and why not?!), make sure the plants you choose are child-friendly, no poisonous plants or spines/thorns!

Let us know about your natural playscape, share your ideas and pictures!

Dynamic Duos: Partner Mandalas!

Inspired by a cooperative time-filler found in Family Fun magazine, I have found partner mandalas to be a great exercise for building creative confidence no matter what your artistic ability. Something you can do with the little ones, this was a fun artistic activity to do with my kindergartner.

Each artist gets one color marker and a square sheet of paper. 

Partners begin by drawing a circle in the center of their paper, then they swap sheets and add an element to the design (a ring of dots, dashes, zigzag lines, or a more detailed element). Continue swapping and adding elements until your mandala is finished.

The photos (bottom of the post) are the two mandalas created with my 5 year old son. We both liked seeing what each of us would add and how quickly the madalas grew.

Try these alternatives! 

• Find a area with plenty of natural materials (rocks, leaves, twigs, petals, sand, etc.) and have each partner alternate turns adding a ring using these materials only.
• Use brown, grey, and/or black markers to create mandala designs you can transform yet again by coloring.
• Create a family mandala during the holidays or a vacation. Leave a jar of colored pens or pencils along with the ongoing design out where family members can add their own ring related to their experience(s). You can assign each family member a color or let them choose as they go. *Try to keep colors alternating
• Make a journal madala. During your next vacation, retreat, or as a personal journaling exercise, add a daily ring to your madala design to represent the emotion or experience(s) from each day.

 

Amazing Cephalopods!

Take a nature break with David Gallo, an enthusiastic ambassador for the sea and pioneer in ocean exploration, as he leads you through a deep sea and shallow water dive highlighting our favorite cephalopods like the octopus, squid, and cuttlefish!

Length 5:25 (minutes/seconds) Thank you to Caliso friend Laura H. for forwarding this clip! If video does not appear, click here to watch.


Source: www.ted.com/talks

My Kindergartner, Scorpions, & Stinkbugs—Oh My!

This time of year the weather cools down and the desert night invites exploration. We took advantage of a thin crescent moon combined with a hazy night sky to take my 5-year old son on his first scorpion hunt. I should mention our scorpion hunts are more of an unofficial survey, we’re just counting and sizing up how many individuals we find without collecting specimens. Living in the desert offers the perfect opportunity to scout scorpions which are easily seen using portable UV lights.

Searching for sand scorpions on the desert floor is an exiciting adventure for most, no matter what your initial feelings are at first, you end up having an interesting time. It is a favorite fall activity of mine and I couldn’t wait to get my son out there to experience the challenge and fun of a successful hunt. I couldn’t believe I had finally talked him into venturing out into the desert night with me and my cousin, and the scorpions did not disappoint!

At our first stop, just after dark we spotted an eloedes beetle (stink bug) and 13 sand scorpions in about 40 mintues, not bad. We decided to indentify the tiny scorpions as babies, kindergartners like my son, teenagers, a preschooler. They were all juveniles, so we decided to try our luck at another, nearby location.

We hit the jackpot at our second stop. Two more eloedes beetles! Yes, but oh the scorpions! We began to lose count at 25 scorpions in only about 30 minutes. We found babies, sub-adults and, just as we decided to head back to the car…the biggies—well big for sand scorpions (photos below). My son was getting tired, and my cousin theorized that more were coming out the later it got, including the big guys. We agreed that next time we should begin our hunt an hour or so after dark to test that theory :)

No matter their age or size, scorpion morphology stays the same.
Compare this tiny, half inch baby scorpion...

A "teenager" about one inch in length...

An adult sand scorpion about 2 inches in length. 2 1/2" to 3" with its "tail" flat.

My son was into it during our first stop, it was like a treasure hunt to him, but the tiny scorpions (or little lobsters as he first called them), weren’t impressing him. Especially since they stayed perfectly still. Maybe he was expecting a different kind of treasure. He even questioned if they were real. The adventure began to wear off for him along with his patience. However, he did get excited when he spotted the scorpions first and also when we found two large scorpions during our second stop :) I’m glad I left the whole natural history of the scorpion schpiel for another time. *wink*

Later, before bedtime I asked him if he had fun and he said, yep he really did (sans the stink bugs of which he didn’t like). YAY! I cheered inside, maybe just maybe he will be my scorpion-hunting buddy.

Thinking about giving scorpion hunting a try? READ THESE FIVE TIPS! First, read up on scorpions in your area: what species, if any, do you have in your area and what terrain you’re most likely to find them; how venomous are they? Avoid getting stung—do not harass, handle, touch, collect, or bother the scorpions you find.

Second, know your search area, scout it out in daylight first! Be very familiar with local hazards like cactus, snakes (we do not do this activity in the summer months), and man made hazards like junk piles, abandon wells/mines, temporary shelters, roads, etc.

Third, always wear closed in shoes and check your shoes and pants with the UV lights to make sure you don’t have any “hitchhikers.”

Fourth, skip the full and near full moon nights. Great for seeing your way through the desert night, but not for scorpions who seem to take cover, away from such a bright light (easier for predators to spy them). Choose the new moon or similar dark moon nights.

And finally, you need a UV light (black light). Flashlights are recommended but don’t use both simultaneously and do not rely on spotting scorpions with a white light, they are nearly impossible to see for most. Manuever your path slowly, using the black light only. Portable black lights can be found at some hobby stores, gem and mineral stores, auto accessory stores, and on line. Don’t forget the batteries.

Have fun and be safe!

From the archives: Creature “Spirits”

It's a busy little Halloween weekend here at Caliso, so we pulled a spooktacular post from the archives of witch--ooops, which we think you ghouls will enjoy!

It covers the paranormal--actually it covers the very normal activities and sounds of familiar creatures that just may explain the ghostly scream you heard beyond the trees, or why certain objects keep moving mysteriously around your home.

Please note that the links at the end of the post are not linking directly anymore. All we had to do was copy/paste the links to listen to the eerie wild animal calls; but oh so worth it as they are sure to send a chill down your spine (they sound amazingly like a human screams, and even a baby crying).

So, click on "Creature Spirits" below...if you dare. Mwahahahaaa!

Restore Your (Family) Nature: Creature “Spirits”: Confession time. I’m a huge fan of all shows that chase after evidence of ghosts, cryptozoological creatures (like Bigfoot), and UFOs. I can...

Leaf Me Never: Fall Leaf Garland Craft

Ah fall, quite possibly my FAVORITE time of year. For this desert native, I love autumn and the cooler temperatures it brings—perfect for hiking, camping, and just hanging outside, taking in nature. This family activity is a great craft to complete outdoors this time of year! It is easy and fun to create using nature’s beautiful fall leaves or at least being inspired by them. With this idea you can make a fall garland, a leaf booklet (use the hole and ribbon to create your book bind), a family portrait garland, place tags for a family dinner, or what ever else your creative mind takes you. Let’s grab some leaves and have fun!

 

You’ll need: Leaves (fake or real…if real, make sure they are still soft and bendy), glitter (think fall gold, orange, red, brown, yellow), hole puncher, glue, ribbon, scissors.

 

But we also recommend plastic or wax paper surface as glue will seep through leaves, family photos, mini clamps for holding pictures in place while drying, wire or wire ribbon for tendril affect.

Directions:

Collect your leaves (even more adventurous to collect REAL fall leaves if those are available to you—just make sure they’re still soft and bendy). We used fake leaves because, well, we don’t have “fall” in the desert! You could make mini-garlands (faerie garlands) with smaller native leaves, something we’ll try some other day.

Make a hole with the hole punch near the top center of the leaf. Depending on how you want to hang them, that could be at the leaf stem, leaf tip, from the side or even near the center of the leaf.

Decorate your leaves. Here are some ideas: use a pen to draw, write messages, poems, jokes, or your favorite quote, glue glitter in designs or on the leaf edges, glue photos on the leaves and decorate with each one with glittery frames. Little ones can just dab glue about randomly and shake on some glitter…it will look fabulous! Sometimes it’s nice to leave some leaves blank to string in between your glittery delights, but how it’s made is entirely up to you!

Let your leaves completely dry before stringing! This is a good time for a snack break, take your nap, do your homework, or run around the yard for play exercise. You also could pick up the dog droppings or wash the dishes for mom or dad, but I was just thinking outloud.

String leaves for hanging. Leave about 6”—8” of ribbon (or wire) on each end for tying loops for hanging. String through the holes your punched earlier. We recommend looping the ribbon (or wire) around stems to keep leaves in place on your garland, or you can double loop the ribbon through the hole, this will also hold your leaf in place and keep in from sliding along the garland. If you are stringing through the center of the leave, try tying a loose knot on either side (both sides of your leaf) to help keep it from sliding. If using wire (our preference), be sure to leave lots of extra for making tendrils and still having enough left over for the end of your garland! You can always add wire at stems for a seamless line :)

For tendrils…wrap wire around a pencil or your finger. Remove finger or pencil ;) 

Ready to hang! Decorate a fall basket, a centerpiece, archway, outdoor niche, the gate or front door…hang your fall treasure anywhere you wish to enjoy.

Let us know how it goes, share photos of your garlands and any tips with us!

 

Breakfast Geology

Good Morning Bunnies! How about a little bacon and eggs for breakfast? We're pretty sure this is how geologists get their proteins and minerals ;)

We love this quirky find in the Hi-Desert Nature Museum's (Yucca Valley, CA) geology display.

Howlite is commonly found as carvings, or in jewelry. It is a porous mineral, easily dyed to look like turquoise because of the similar look of the veining patterns. Dyed howlite (or magnesite) is marketed as turquenite. Howlite is also sold in its natural state, sometimes under the names "white turquoise" or "white buffalo turquoise," or "white buffalo stone" (none of which are true turquoise).

Honey Onyx is a delicate, soft stone often used as a decorative and architectural stone for kitchen countertops, bathroom sinks, and as stone sheets and tiles. It is particularly beautiful when back lit.

Travertine is a sedimentary limestone deposited by hot mineral springs or in limestone caves ("flowstone"). It is sometimes marketed as travertine limestone or travertine marble (it is not a marble). Travertine is often formed in creeks or rivers, or in caves as stalagmites and stalactites. Sometimes flowstone cave structures are deposited into thin sheets called "draperies" or "curtains" with brown and beige layers that look like bacon--often called "cave bacon."




"Cave bacon," a type of flowstone. Image by DanielCD














Source Wikipedia

Predator or Prey

My husband took our 4-year old to our favorite desert zoo and botanical park. One of their most recent additions is the North American Jaguar exhibit. As you enter the exhibit, you walk along a path surrounded by familiar Sonoran desert vegetation (familiar to us anyway!), where you can easily imagine this beautiful large cat lurking somewhere nearby. Careful observation yields jaguar tracks and even its scat—convincing enough to invite a little fear into the back of your mind, there’s no way this thing got out, right? Then you are at once upon the exhibit, with glass and fencing that blend away so easily that you can easily enter into the veil of a wild and free close encounter with this predatory cat. It was here that my husband and son had an amazing, albeit a little creepy experience.

My husband had to follow up on scheduled call and while he was doing that, my son sat in the little zoo wagon watching the jaguar. And the jaguar was watching him. Rather, the jaguar was stalking him. Each moment my husband would turn away from the jaguar (only seconds at a time), it moved closer to my son, always watching him. My son noticed the jaguar moving closer and told my husband. What a great learning opportunity my hubby thought, and so they decided to “test” it. Sure enough when my husband simply looked away, the jaguar would move in closer. When my husband was looking at the jaguar, the jaguar would glance at my husband. It moved quickly from the cover of one bush to another.

The photos are of the jaguar after it moved in, now crouched beside some bushes, less than 5 feet away from my son. Notice how his paw is forward in the second shot which to me, looks like he’s entering a “pounce” position. It was enough to give both my husband and son an uncomfortable feeling. In my sons words, “that was creepy daddy.”

I've often heard of similar experiences with young children and large cats at zoos, in fact years ago one of the mountain lions here used to watch small children very intently and show similar behaviour within its enclosure. I think it's a fascinating opportunity to see these elusive animals react in such an instinctive way. I imagine it’s an intense experience, especially when you realize YOU are the prey that is triggering this instinctive behavior. As for my son, he bravely returned to the exhibit (very reluctantly at first) in order to show me the jaguar that he, “thinks wanted to jump on me mommy.”

Only the week before my son enthusiastically learned about carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores in zoo camp, including his preschooler perspective, “I’m meat mommy, so there are animals that would want to eat me!” which led to this interesting opportunity to apply those same concepts when talking about his encounter with this particular meat-eater. (Not to mention an additional opportunity to reinforce some favorite bedtime stories on courage and compassion through a gentle and supportive pep talk on courage that helped my brave little guy return to see the same cat less than an hour later!)

It could end up being a memorable experience that will stay with him for a bite..er bit :)

Spontaneous Critter Encounters!

This beautiful June Beetle flew into our car this morning just as we were leaving for zoo camp. Spontaneous critter encounters are the best! It was a great reminder to have handy a safe and secure critter catcher for up close viewing. These encounters are exciting and you want to be able to take advantage of such a wonderful moment with your children.

A mason jar with a screen lid, a jar with its lid punched with nail holes, or a small pet store critter carrier are all great standby's for safely catching, securing and viewing unexpected visitors before releasing. Having more than one on hand is sometimes useful as we have all three but this plastic one was perfect for taking with us for sharing. Why not keep one in your car for the park, the trail, or when camping, or at a friend’s house—you never know when a critter may stop by to say hello for a short visit!

We recommend releasing critters after a few hours of viewing—so get those field guides out, take some photos, and identify it while you can. Use a hand lens to get up close viewing that you wouldn’t normally be able to do. It’s fascinating! Even though you are being VERY careful with them by not moving the container around or tapping on it, you can imagine it is likely a stressful situation for your critter. This can affect their health very, very quickly as it is not an ideal environment for them (being enclosed, experiencing unnatural temperature variations and being away from their natural resources and cycles they rely on throughout the day or night). Just keep that in mind but be sure to enjoy this spontaneous gift from nature, then release your critter near where you found it.

Three cheers for cool, green, metallic beetles! Bugs--bugs--bugs!

SDBG's Insect Fair & Hamilton Children’s Garden

For those of us who live in the southern California desert, summer temperatures tend to limit our options for outdoor play time and exploration. One way to get around this is to escape to cooler areas like the mountains or the beach. We enjoyed a great day trip to the Hamilton Children’s Garden at the San Diego Botanic Gardens (formerly Quail Bontanic Gardens) in Encinitas, CA. This weekend’s event was their annual Insect Fair and we went especially for that event.

We learned about a variety of native and exotic insects, reptiles, and birds. Many live critters were on hand to get visitors up close to the many creatures we share our planet with everyday. All of these first encounters started near the wonderful Undersea Succulent Garden which is filled with beautiful tiled sculptures, lava stone, huge shells, and marine glass planted planted among succulents that looked very much like ocean coral, sea stars and other marine critters.

Nearby, young visitors and their parents played in nature with some water play, bubbles, plant creatures, garden play houses, dino dig, a miniature railroad, and crafts within the Seeds of Wonder garden, especially created for toddlers and preschoolers. While on the other side of the park, the laughter and energy of children climbing up and under a huge tree house, splashing in a stream, creating music in a musical garden, spelling and smelling in an alphabet garden, herb and salad gardens, exploring a grass maze, and boulder jumping in the "rock hopping" garden (you must hop from boulder to boulder, no touching the ground!), led the day for families in the equally fantastic Hamilton Children’s Garden.

What an amazing place! You will likely find something for the entire family to experience between the amazing gardens, integrated sculptures, children’s play areas and specialty gardens, trails and lookouts. We found a lot of hidden whimsy throughout the day in the form of critters, “secret” hideaways and paths, artful, enchanting gardens and inspiring displays.

Be sure to visit their site for more information about the Seeds of Wonder garden of delights for the little ones and the huge tree house to be explored and climbed on in the Hamilton Garden! Some of their annual events include the Chocolate Festival, Fairy Festival, Garden of Lights, Lady Bug Day, Orchid Festival and much more! Click San Diego Botanic Garden

If you’d like to see more pictures from our day at the San Diego Botanic Garden check out our Facebook album.

Sun Painting

 A great project to try for celebrating the beginning of summer is sun painting. You can usually find sun painting kits, sun-sensitive papers & paints online or in nature, craft, and educational catalogs and stores. But for this post we went “old school,” simply using dark construction paper (avoiding fade resistent/archival papers).

Do you recognize any of

the objects we used?

By experimenting with junk drawer items along with objects found in nature and in my son’s toy box, we enjoyed an easy, mess-free activity. Creative play emerges when you begin to arrange your items in patterns, themes, radial designs, or if you decide to cut out paper snowflakes or other designs to lay atop the dark paper.

 

Materials:

• Dark colored construction paper
• Natural objects (leaves, twigs, pine cones, and so on) or household objects (scissors, keys, combs, and so on)

Easy-peezy directions:

• Place paper outside in direct sunlight
• Arrange objects on paper in random order, patterns, a mandala-inspired design, etc.
• Leave objects in place for a couple of hours (make sure paper remains in sun during that time!)
• Remove objects and admire your sun painting creation!

*TIPS*

• The flatter the object lays, the crisper the image it will leave behind.
• Use small rocks or other weighted items to hold objects flat or in place, but watch for any shadow they might create in your design.

Enjoy collecting your objects and experimenting with their layout. This is a great “background” activity to add to a summer day. My son took his afternoon nap during the couple of hours needed for our images to appear nicely. You can do this project in between seeing a movie, enjoying some pool time, taking a hike or bike ride while you wait for your sun painting.

Happy Summer Solstice!

For a "how-to" sun painting with colorful sun-sensitive paints, please see this link.

 



Floating Mandalas

This weekend our family enjoyed a fun day at one of our favorite local preserves, Whitewater Preserve. I manned an ongoing workshop for their 2nd Annul Water Celebration event, where participants created beautiful floating mandalas made with natural items. Using stems, sticks, leaves, petals, and blossoms visitors arranged these colorful plant elements in a variety of patterns and designs to create their own, wonderful floating mandalas. Our youngest participant was 3 only years old! Mandala creators of all ages enjoyed this relaxing activity throughout the day.

A traditional mandala is an ancient circular design which typically represents the universe. It can also be a symbolic expression to connect with the "self." For our mandalas, we were hoping participants would connect with their creative self through nature.

This is a perfect summertime activity to try at home! All you need is a bowl of water, small dish towel, plant clippers or scissors, and some plant material from your yard like: flowers (to keep whole or for petals), leaves, sticks, seed pods, lightweight bark, etc. Anything natural that you discover will float! Experiment with different ways to use your materials, some of our participants ripped up petals into tiny pieces of "floral confetti" that added a delicate touch to their designs. Sticks were used in many different ways to add visual lines, accents, floral rafts, bridges, barriers and more in many designs. Even your tiniest mandala creator will be able to create something pleasing to the eye, not to mention have a great time playing with these treasures in the water!

Here are the mandalas created throughout the day (click photos for larger images):