We’ve been lucky in that this week has been gorgeous. We’re spending a lot of time outside in the sun, which definitely helps everyone’s mood. So I’m sharing family-friendly outdoor activities that are social distancing-approved.

I know spring, though, and this beautiful weather isn’t here to stay permanently. I know we have rain in our future, so I’m also including ideas for indoor activities. (I guarantee your kids will have SO MUCH FUN with #10!)

So when boredom strikes, turn to one of these fun social distancing activities for kids. They’ll help your family have fun—while staying safe and healthy.

Outdoor social distancing activities for kids

Research consistently shows that being outdoors is good for your immune system AND your mental health. Has there been a more important time to boost your body’s ability to fight germs and keep your mood up?

So if weather (and local regulations) allow, get outside!

Of course you’ll need to maintain 6 feet between you and others you encounter outside. But the good thing about the Great Outdoors is that it’s big!

Here are some of our favorite social distancing activities for kids you can do outside.

1. Go on a hike

Is there a hiking trail nearby? A nature preserve? Lace up your shoes and go out for a hike. Walking along in nature will take all your minds off the constant COVID news.

2. Do a nature scavenger hunt

Sometimes my kids have more fun outside when they have a project to focus on. That’s why we love nature scavenger hunts. The other day I made a booklet for Maxine, with categories for things to find (round, crooked, green, beautiful, etc.). The booklet also included space for her to draw what she observed and a few lines for her to write some notes (or, since she’s a pre-reader, get a grown-up to write it for her).

I also like these nature scavenger hunt printables from Have Diapers Will Travel.

3. Post encouraging signs outside

This health scare is the perfect time to band together as a community—from a distance, of course. You can let your neighbors know you’re thinking of them by posting encouraging signs outside.

Have your kids draw a picture or write a positive message on a large sheet of paper or poster board. Then post it on a telephone pole or another public spot outside. The message will make your neighbors smile!

4. Chalk an activity path

Lots of other families are taking walks in the neighborhood. Give them something fun to do by making an activity path with chalk!

On your sidewalk, draw hopscotch, spots to jump, a windy path—anything that will encourage other kids to have fun. Don’t forget to test out the activity path yourself!

5. Egg hunt for friends

It might not be Easter, but you probably have some plastic eggs around. Put a few pieces of candy, stamps, costume jewelry or toys inside a handful of eggs. Head to a friend or neighbor’s yard and hide the eggs. Then text a video challenging your buds to find the eggs!

6. Nature art projects

Take homeschool art outdoors. You can even incorporate science into your art project by observing and using things you find outside.

Want some ideas? Check out my post on 32 fun nature art activities.

7. Rock painting

Start by collecting a handful of rocks and wash them. (This step is one of my kids’ favorites!) After they dry, set out some newspaper so you don’t get paint on any surfaces. Then you and your kids can go to town painting the rocks!

Acrylic paint works the best for this project but it does stain, so wear clothes you don’t care about. I also have the “paint talk” with my kids, telling them the paint can only go on the rocks or paper. Other paint, like tempera or finger paints, will wash off.

You don’t have to stop at paint, either. Glue on sequins, googly eyes or other bits and bobs you have in your craft box. Then set them outside where others will see them—and smile!

8. Nature survey

This project doubles as art, math and science, for anyone still trying to stick to a homeschool schedule. (More power to you!)

Go into your yard or another outdoors area. Set a timer for one minute and have your kids run around, drawing a picture or making a note of every kind of plant life they see (dandelions, clover, grass, maple tree, etc.).

Then set the timer for five minutes (or longer, if your kids are older). Have them move around, tallying the number of each type of plant. You can teach them to make tic marks and how to count by fives. (See? Math! #homeschoolmasters) Then discuss which type of plant life is more common. Did your kids find the same kinds of plants? The same numbers?

For really ambitious kiddos, you can then visually show the diversity with a bar graph.

9. Plan a treasure hunt

What’s better than pretending you’re pirates or jungle explorers searching for hidden treasure?

First, pick out some things your kids would be excited to find. I like pulling together costume jewelry and dress-up stuff. Put it in a container small enough to hide.

Then make a map for your kids to follow. You can even set up little activities at each “stop” around the yard, like doing ten jumping jacks or answering a silly would you rather question.

Your kids will be so excited to search for actual treasure!

Indoor social distancing activities

If the weather is crummy, you probably won’t be spending a ton of time outdoors. When your kids have gone through all the homeschool curriculum you’ve planned—or haven’t—get going on some of these fun indoor activities.

10. Bubble wrap dance party

Chances are, you’re doing more online shopping now that you can’t get to the store as much. Whenever something is nestled in bubble wrap, save it—for a dance party!

Using painter’s tape, secure a stretch of bubble wrap to the floor. (This will only work on hard surfaces, so not carpet.)

Then put on your kids’ favorite music (we have been rocking out to JoJo Siwa lately) and dance it out on the bubble wrap! It’s so freaking satisfying to hear the pop pop pop!

11. Finger paints in the bath

This activity is not for the faint of heart—but I promise your kids will never, ever forget it.

Start by putting a crummy towel on the bottom of your bath tub. Then squeeze out different colors of finger paints onto plastic plates. Get your kids into the bath (with no water) and let ’em at it!

My kids loved painting the wall and themselves. We just had a rule: no paint in the hair. They were actually really good about this!

After they were done, we used the removable shower head to rinse of kids and the bath. The finger paint comes right off.

12. Swing from the ceiling—literally

I posted about this social distancing-safe activity on my Instagram the other day and was bowled over by the response! Y’all were really into our favorite indoor activity: swinging from the ceiling.

A while back we installed bolts into a beam in the ceiling of our downstairs living room. Then we tied old sheets to the bolts. My kids now use them to swing, Tarzan-style, and do Cirque du Soleil-worthy stunts.

We take the sheets down during movie night so we can see the screen. When the sheets go back up, the kids are just as excited as ever.

13. Makeovers

Backstory: Edie really likes the idea of makeup. She likes watching me put on makeup. She likes to ask me if I will buy her makeup 100 times a day. I always tell her no.

Then coronavirus happened. I was facing down potentially months of social distancing with two young, active, outgoing kids. So I bought some cheap makeup—and surprised the kids.

They just about lost their minds when I told them we were going to give each other makeovers with real makeup.

Have you ever done makeovers with your kids, during social distancing or other times?

14. Write post cards to shut-ins

My grandma lives just a few minutes away but we haven’t been able to see her in person for weeks. The assisted living facility where she lives asked no visitors to come to protect residents, who are more vulnerable to coronavirus.

So we began sending her post cards nearly every day.

That got me thinking about all the other people who are homebound. About how lonely they must be. So I started writing post cards to friends’ relatives. Then I joined this Facebook group, where people post their loved ones’ mailing addresses and requests for mail.

If it feels weird to write to a stranger, draw something (or have your kids draw) instead. I usually doodle a little something, share a sentence or two about what’s going on in our life (“We’ve been watching a jay build a nest in our yard”), then sign it “your friend from Oregon, Catherine.”

I send about five cards a day—a great way to use up all those post cards I buy on our travels. And it makes me feel good to help brighten someone else’s day.

15. Make movies

Want an activity that can take up most of the day? (Of course you do. I get you.) Challenge your kids to make a movie!

They’ll need to pick a topic, assign characters and write a script (or at least hash out the plot). They can either act out the movie themselves or set up toys and move them around. Once they’re ready, you can offer to record it. Or set up your phone on something stable, hit record and do one of the zillion things you haven’t gotten to. (Or lie down and read a magazine.)

If your kids are like mine, they’ll have a blast!

16. Make “street art”

Grab a roll of kraft paper and tape it to your wall or kitchen island to make a giant “canvas!”

With such a large space to let their creativity flow, your kids can think big. Let them make a mural or try their hands at “graffiti.” (Want some inspiration? Take a peek at my favorite street art post.)

If you get a nice day, you can do this activity outside, too. We recently tacked the paper to the side of our deck and painted in the sun!

17. Window art

Before you start this activity, make your kids agree that they’ll wash the windows afterward. (Bonus, they’ll be roped into doing chores!)

Hand out dry erase markers and let your kids draw on the windows. They can sketch whatever is in their imagination or—my favorite—”trace” whatever they see outside.

Dry erase marker wipes off glass. If it’s stubborn, just spritz it with glass cleaner and wipe it off. The windows will end up even cleaner than when you started!

Social distancing with kids doesn’t mean you can’t have fun

Yes, the coronavirus outbreak has changed all our lives. School is canceled, children can’t play with their friends, and pretty much all parents have a mini-panic attach whenever a kid coughs.

All this uncertainty doesn’t mean we have to surrender to a boring life, though!

To keep things interesting—and keep your kids entertained—have fun with these social distancing activities for kids.

As always, be safe and follow the local guidelines to slow the spread of coronavirus. And of course use common sense to keep your kids and community healthy.

Tell me: What have you and your kids been doing during this time of social distancing?

The post 17 fun social distancing activities for kids: Unique ideas for quarantine times appeared first on To & Fro Fam.

That’s when I suggest my girls and I do one of these nature art projects —and then watch their imagination and creativity blossom. These also make for fun camping activities for kids so you’ll never run out of things to do on your next family camping trip.

We’ve been doing these nature projects for kids for years. Now whenever we take our dog for a walk, the girls want to bring along their buckets so they can collect “nature art supplies” for later crafts. When I say, “Hey, want to do a nature art project?” they literally jump up and down, asking me what we’re going to do.

Because variety is the spice of nature art projects, and you might want a little inspiration, I’ve put together a list of 34 gorgeous camping arts and crafts that you can use while camping, or simply out in your yard. Go ahead, let your creativity shine!

And since you’re excited to have fun with your kids once you reach the Great Outdoors, you might as well have a wonderful time getting there, too! Grab your copy of my book Road Trip Games & Activities for Kids. It shares 33 fun, customizable games and free printables that will keep you and your littles entertained for hours! Click the image below to get your copy in e-book or paperback!

Beat boredom with these fun camping activities for kids

Boredom while we’re family camping or just out in the yard is unfathomable to me now—there’s little I’d rather do than just relax in a quiet forest or chill by a river. But I remember complaining to my mom—“I’m booooooored”—when I was a kid.

Get rid of the b-word when you’re outdoors with one—or many!—of these fun nature crafts which make for some of the best family camping activities.

But, before you get started with these fun camping activities for kids, be sure to come prepared with extra supplies including glue, paper, clay, crayons, washable paint and string. 

1. Nature collage: The most popular kids camping activity

There’s no questioning why this is number 1 on my list of best camping activities for kids.

With just glue, card stock and whatever nature supplies your kids collect, they can create gorgeous nature collages. My kids can happily spend an hour on this camping arts and crafts project, while hubby and I sit back, relax and enjoy the outdoors!

2. Nature mandalas: One of the most exciting camping activities for kids

Send your kids on a scavenger hunt for pieces of nature. (I always bring buckets on our camping trips for this part!) Then create symmetrical designs using flowers, pine cones and whatever else you find at your campsite.

3. Ash painting: Most unique camping arts and crafts activity

In a bucket, stir together a scoop of campfire ash (that has completely cooled off, of course!) and water until it makes a thin paste. Then invite your kids to create art with this DIY black “paint”! Paint the sidewalk or white paper, but not your clothes—it will probably stain.

Your kids will be even more excited about this camping art project when you explain that this technique is one of the ways cavemen made art on their walls.

4. Leaf animals

Collect a variety of leaves—aim for different sizes, shapes and colors. Arrange them on a piece of paper, the ground or a tree stump, using leaves for each animal part. You can add a googly eye (I love a good googly eye) or use something found in nature—like a pebble—for the animal’s eyes, nose and even spots.

5. Clay nature prints

When you bring clay on your next family camping trip, your kids can make nature prints—which are basically fossils. (Yes, you just upped your cool factor!)

Give small pieces of clay to each child. They can roll it in a smooth ball and flatten it to a disc, then press an item from nature into it. Carefully peel it out to reveal an imprint of a snail shell, twig or pine cone. This is one of my kids’ favorite camping arts and crafts!

6. Rock footprints

Find stones of different sizes. Then arrange them in the shape of footprints, using big rocks for the pad of the foot and pebbles for toes.

Depending on the shapes of your rocks, you can leave human footprints or animal footprints. Your kids may even be inspired in this camping art project to create footprints of the animals in your camp! Think of raccoons and squirrels, or bear and cougars!

7. Nature face

Use what you find in nature—sticks, rocks, leaves, pinecones, flowers—to make a funny face. You can set this up on the ground or a tree stump, or leave it on a picnic table for someone else to find—and laugh over! Your family can get quite creative with this fun nature art idea.

8. Nature puppets

With some glue and a popsicle stick (or even a regular ol’ stick), you can make an adorable, creative puppet with items you found in nature. My girls and I made this one with leaves, dandelion stems and even marigold seeds – Although I think I had more fun than they did with this nature art activity!

9. Home sweet tent

Collect sticks or rocks—whatever is most plentiful in your campsite. Then spell out the word “home” in front of your tent.

Doesn’t your tent feel cozier now?

10. Fairy houses: The best camping activity for kids

Using whatever nature materials you have at your campsite, your kids can build a home for fairies to live in! My kids got so into this camping art project that it stretched over three days.

They would add to it (the final fairy house included an obstacle course, playground and chandelier) and play with their ponies in the structures. They ended up using our firewood—so we had to get more, since we couldn’t burn their fairy houses!

This camping arts and craft project really allows them to use their imagination and will keep your kids entertained for hours on end.

11. Leaf rubbings

Remember doing leaf rubbings when you were a kid? Just have your child put leaves, ferns or other items from nature under a sheet of paper, then gently rub a paper-free crayon over the paper. Your child will watch an etching of the leaf appear!

12. Color explorations: the best kids nature art for the fall

This activity works best in the fall, when nature’s colorful side is on full display, but you can do it anytime of the year.

Pick a narrow range of colors—e.g. red-orange-yellow—and collect as many things within those hues as you can (e.g. leaves). Then arrange them on the ground by gradation of color. In this example, you’d start with the deepest red on one end, and the color would transition to yellow on the other end. It’s like nature ombre!

13. Nature paintbrushes

All you need to bring along for this nature art and crafts project is washable paint and paper. Collect different items in nature—a fern frond, a small pine branch, flowers, anything—and use them as a paintbrush.

Invite your kids to experiment by printing with the natural item or brushing. Your kids will be delighted by the diverse effects.

14. Leaf towers

It’s amazing how something as simple as a leaf can be used in so many different kids camping activities! To make these leaf towers, find a thin stick, then collect as many different leaves as you can. Poke the stick through the center of each leaf—don’t worry if you tear it, there are plenty more! Leave a few inches between the leaves.

You can create a pattern on your leaf tower (maple-ash-maple-ash) or simply add leaves in an order that feels natural.

When you’re done, help your kids poke the wider end of the stick into the ground, creating a beautiful—and unexpected—piece of nature art.

15. Fairy wands

Invite your kids to collect pieces of nature that call to them, like dandelion blooms, cattails, ferns or anything else. Arrange the items near the edge of a sturdy stick about 12 inches long. Use string (or even the twine that kept your firewood bundle together) to tie the items to the end of the stick. Now your kids have fairy wands!

16. Flower crown

If you’re anything like me, you have fond memories of sitting in the grass as a kid and weaving together daisy chains for a flower crown. Teach your kids this crucial life skill.

The last time I made a flower crown, I didn’t just stick to daisies; I wove in other wildflowers for a less uniform—and more organic—look. This is one of my favorite art projects and my kids get so excited every time we make these flower crowns.

17. Grass pom poms

Pom poms are having their moment—so you might as well bring them with you camping. Rip thick grass into sections about 3 inches long. Gather a small handful and arrange them so they’re roughly in an even stack. Use a longer, sturdy piece of grass (hay-like grass that’s in between fresh and dry works great) to tie the bundle together in the middle.

Fluff out the pieces of grass so they create a pom pom—and hang it from somewhere fun, like your rain fly! #pompomdecor

18. Leaf confetti

If you want your camping trip to be extra-celebratory, just bring along a hole punch: You can punch different colored leaves to make confetti! Simply punch leaves over a plate (so they don’t get scattered on the ground) until you have enough to take handfuls—and HOORAY! Instant camp party!

19. Nature necklaces

Since you have your hole punch handy, punch holes at the base of leaves and other items in nature. Then string them through a piece of twine you have on-hand—or even long strands of grass. Tie the ends together to make a gorgeous nature necklace for your kids.

20. Bodies in nature

Have your child lie down on the ground and trace her body with a stick. All along the outline, place whatever you have handy at your campsite: pinecones, rocks, or even seashells. Then have your kid fill in her portrait. This nature art project for kids is a beautiful—and engrossing—activity that could last your entire camping trip!

21. Tree stump portraits

Find a tree stump and use it as the starting point for a portrait. On the tree stump “face,” you can add hair (grass, moss), eyes (clovers, sand dollars), lips (leaves, berries) and anything else your child can imagine for this nature craft project.

22. Nature chalk drawings

Time to get really creative with the next few kids camping activities, and they’ll love it! With chalk, draw outlines of things you find in nature—then continue to draw to turn them into animals, landscapes or whatever your child can imagine! The outline of a leaf, for example, could turn into a hedgehog, the flame from a fire-breathing dragon or the top of a tree. 

23. Bark painting

Forget paper; paint on tree bark instead. Simply find some bark on the ground (though please don’t pull it off of living trees, as it stresses and harms the tree) and paint whatever you like. Your kids may be curious about the different results of painting on the rough outside and the smoother inside with this nature art project.

24. Decorate nature fairies

I recently printed out these free drawings from Mer Mag, and the girls and I transformed them into forest fairies by adding found objects from nature.

I’ll definitely plan ahead for our next family camping trip so we can add this camping art project to the mix!

25. Dangling nature art

Bring along string or yarn from home—your kids will love this camping art project. Simply tie things you find in nature to strings of varying length. Then hang the strings from a tree branch for a gorgeous art installation.

They remind me of disco beads, yes?

26. Nature spirals

This camping nature art project is super-simple. Just collect a bunch of the same things—my kids gathered basalt rocks on a recent family camping trip—and arrange them in a spiral.

Spirals are found naturally everywhere in nature. Just think of the arrangement of sunflower seeds, the curve of a seashell or even a hurricane. Humans have been using a spiral as a sacred symbol in art and architecture for centuries; why not add it to your nature art project, too?

27. Nature God’s eye

You might have made these at summer camp with popsicle sticks and fluorescent yarn; you can make this all-natural art from materials found outside, too.

Cross two short sticks in an X. Take a bendable vine (such as a long ivy branch) and begin to wrap it back and forth around the intersection where the sticks meet in the middle. When you get to the end of the vine, tie it to another vine—either the same kind or a different one for an alternating pattern. Continue until the nature God’s eye is full to the edge of the stick (or earlier if your little ones lose patience!). Tie off the vine at the end, and hang it from your tent or a tree.

28. Hammered flower prints

We always keep a mallet in our camping box; you might have a hammer. Use it to create gorgeous flower prints, a camping craft idea you may not be familiar with!

Lay a piece of white paper on something sturdy that you don’t mind getting slightly dented (such as a beat-up picnic table). Lay out a design of brightly colored flowers. Cover your design with a paper towel. Gently tap all over the paper towel with the mallet or hammer, doing your best to not move the flowers too much underneath.

Lift up the paper towel and peel off the flowers to reveal your flower prints! 

29. Leaf stencils

Lay a leaf onto a sheet of paper. Hold it still by pressing one finger into the center of the leaf. Using a sponge or a wide paintbrush, dab the area around the leaf and on the edges of the leaf. Carefully lift up the leaf (it works best to lift it from the stem). You’ll reveal white space where your leaf used to be.

30. Mushroom prints

Pick a mushroom (just familiarize yourself with your region’s fungi to ensure you’re not picking something poisonous; check out this book on North American fungi), then remove the stalk. Place the mushroom cap gills-down on a blank piece of paper. Place a cup over the mushroom cap to keep the breeze from disturbing it and leave the mushroom overnight.

In the morning, pick up the cap—you should see a print left behind from the spores the mushroom released!

31. Life-sized nature people

Using rocks, branches, driftwood, even seaweed—whatever materials you have around—make a life-sized person out of nature. You can even dress him or her up, give a fancy hairdo, or add some bling!

What’s more, this is a fun nature art project you can continue to add to over the course of your time outside. Start this outdoor art project at the beginning of your camping trip, for example, and see how it evolves throughout your stay.

32. Nature weaving

Find three sticks and collect a bunch of long vines or grasses. Push the base of each stick into the ground, close to each other in a row. Tie one end of a vine or blade of grass to one of the outside sticks near where it meets the ground. Weave the vine in and out of the sticks to create a gorgeous nature weaving project.

33. “Paint” with dandelions

One of our new favorite camping arts and crafts: painting with dandelions! I love the vibrant yellow of dandelions—and did you know you can use them to paint or draw?

Simply pick a few dandelions and smudge them over paper. The pretty yellow hue shows up on the paper! This is the perfect camping craft for toddlers.

34. Braid flowers

If you’re like me, you might be skilled at braiding your kids’ hair—so why not transfer that expertise to flowers? 

Simply tie together three flowers with long stems. (I use a long piece of grass to tie them together under the base of the flower.) Then braid them, adding a new flower to the strand every other time you cross the stems. 

I recently braided flowers into a dandelion crown. The kids later used it to decorate the entrance to our tent. Then Maxine turned the flower braid into a zip line for her fairy house!

The best camping activities for kids (and the whole family)

Now that you’ve looked through all these fun camping crafts for kids, you have so many ideas for family camping trips—or just your back yard. You and your little ones will be inspired to play outdoors with all these outside activities for kids.

Do you have a favorite? One you’re most excited to try? Tell me in the comments! And don’t forget to pin this post or email it to a friend!

And if you want to make buckets for camping arts and crafts for your own kids, see the directions below.

Yield: 1 activity bucket for kids

Create a Camping Arts and Crafts Bucket

Print

Make a camping arts and crafts bucket for kids! On your next family camping trip or outdoor adventure, these buckets have all the supplies and inspiration for fun camping activities for kids.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Active Time 5 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Difficulty easy

Materials

• Bucket or pail
• Puff paint
• Notepad
• Crayons
• Pencil and colored pencils
• Magnifying glass
• Yarn
• Paintbrush and paint (watercolors or washable tempera)
• White glue
• Sidewalk chalk
• *You don't need everything on the supplies list, though these materials will allow your kids to do nearly every camping activity in this post.

Instructions

1. Assemble the camping arts and crafts supplies you'll need. Buy supplies from the materials list above or rummage through your craft drawer.
2. Using puff paint, write your child's name on a bucket.
3. Once the paint is dry, fill the bucket with camping arts and crafts supplies.
4. Customize supplies if you like, e.g. writing your child's name on the notepad.
5. Keep the bucket secret so you can surprise your kids on your next family camping trip or outdoor adventure!

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Sturdy buckets 
• 
  Washable sidewalk chalk
• 
  Washable paint that won't stain

Did you try this? What did you think?

Were these instructions helpful? Be a gem and share this info with someone else who could use it!

PS – Want ideas for family camping in Oregon? Check out my post on yurt camping at Ft. Stevens on the Oregon Coast, or tent camping at Milo McIver State Park near Portland.

The post 34 GORGEOUS Camping Activities For Kids: The Best Nature Art Projects appeared first on To & Fro Fam.

Yes, it includes family favorites like plenty of dinosaur bones (including a baby T. rex!!!) and dioramas displaying preserved animals. Beyond the slam-dunks, though, is a museum curated and crafted with every age in mind. Families will find hands-on activities to bring natural history to life, interactive displays, friendly museum staff and outdoor spaces that incorporate nature into the learning experience.

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LA’s Natural History Museum with kids

My kids weren’t with me on this trip, but now I want to plan a trip to California  just so we can visit LA’s Natural History Museum with my kids. You guys, I just can’t stop raving about this kid-friendly museum, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Here are the highlights for when you visit LA’s Natural History Museum with kids.

Dinosaurs: The star attractions

Dinos are the A-list celebrities of the Natural History Museum, and for good reason: It is absolutely awe-inspiring to stand beneath the fossilized skeletons of these behemoths.

You’ll see two right off the bat in the central foyer of LA’s Natural History Museum. Here, curators recreated a fight between a Tyrannosaurus rex and a Triceratops. (Who do you think would have won? Definitely not me—that T. rex is about to nom my head!)

Continue on to the Dinosaur Hall and you’ll see two rooms on two floors—after all, these dinosaurs are so big they need the room.

Level 10 travel tip: Look for the wall of fossilized bones—it has a touch screen display in front of it where kids can “filter” the pictures (e.g. by meat-eaters or species). You can play I Spy or a scavenger hunt: Let your kids challenge you to find a predator’s tooth or vertebrae!

Make sure to scope out the area where you can watch scientists working on actual fossils. When I visited, one was using a tiny drill to clean a 24.8 million year old bone from an Ichthyosaur. Watching these experts at work is even better than career day at your kids’ school!

Animals here and animals gone: Halls of diversity

LA’s Natural History Museum has several enormous rooms filled with scenes depicting animal life in the wild. Your family will see preserved animals that live among us today (for example the hawks in the Bird Room) and those that are, sadly, extinct.

Your kids may recognize some of the animals from the zoo, but chances are they’ve never seen them this close. Of course the animals at this kid-friendly museum aren’t alive, but your kids will notice details—how feathers lay flat on top of one another, the unique patterns on an antelope’s stripes—they’d never spot from afar.

Level 10 travel tip: Read the informational displays at every animal to yourself: Many of them have remarkable trivia about the animals depicted. (Did you know, for example, that the ostrich has the largest eyes of any land animal, and that a group of hippos is called a bloat? Neither did I, until I visited the Natural History Museum!)

Even more exhibits!

If I’m honest, to me, everything besides dinosaur bones is secondary in a natural history museum. But LA’s Natural History Museum made me rethink my dino-focused zeal.

The reason for my epiphany? The Gem and Mineral Hall.

I never thought this section of LA’s Natural History Museum would be so fascinating, but I marveled at the colors, textures and shapes of minerals found deep underground and inside rocks. And the bling contained inside the gems room made my eyes pop (and the security guard keep his eyes on everyone inside).

In addition, you’ll find permanent exhibits on shells, ancient Latin American art and fetish carvings.

Make sure to look for rotating exhibits, too. When I visited the Natural History Museum, they hosted an exhibit on tattoos throughout time (though entry costs an additional $8, unless you’re a member).

Exploring actual nature at LA’s Natural History Museum with kids

LA’s Natural History Museum is the only one of its kind that does a remarkable job incorporating, well, the outside natural world (at least that I’ve ever seen).

Step outside the museum and you’ll find a half-dozen different habitats and many more opportunities to learn. Keep an eye out for LA’s wildlife that visits the museum not to stare goggle-eyed at dinosaur bones but to take a bath in the pond, sip nectar from blooms or nest in a tree.

Level 10 travel tip: Bring a change of clothes for your kids. On a hot day, your kids will want to splash and play in the water feature. They’ll be amazed that they can splash around at a museum!

Visiting LA’s Natural History Museum with kids

LA’s Natural History Museum has kid-friendly activities and features throughout the museum. They do an exceptional job getting kids interested—and excited!—about science and the natural world. If you’re visiting the Natural History Museum with kids, don’t miss these highlights.

Nature walks

Every day at 3:30, Natural History Museum staff lead a group of kids throughout the outdoor section of the museum. Kids might have a chance to spot finches or mourning doves on the bird viewing platform, harvest snap peas from the edible garden or look for wildlife in the pond. The museum’s nature walks are free with admission.

Critter Club

This monthly meet-up introduces kids 3 to 5 years old to different kinds of animals through art, song, stories and other hands-on activities throughout the museum. The sessions are on a break now but will begin again in Summer 2018.

The Discovery Center: Hands-on central

In the Natural History Museum’s Insect Zoo and Discovery Center, kids can play and explore to their hearts’ content. They can dig for casts of dinosaur bones, pretend to camp out and peek across the museum grounds in a spyglass.

Then get close and personal with creepy crawlies. You’ll find cockroaches, pill bugs, gigantic spiders, millipedes and more in the habitats at the center of the room.

“Ask me” buttons

If your kids are anything like mine, they don’t have the patience to read (or listen to) many of the plaques that explain the displays. But when given the chance to learn from a real-live expert, they’ll surprise you at how much information they soak in. The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles offers plenty of opportunities for kids to express their curiosity and get details from experts. 

Level 10 travel tip: Challenge your kids to find a staff member with a yellow “Ask me” button—it’ll be like a scavenger hunt. Then listen to your kids’ questions. They’re so open-minded that they ask about things you’d never consider. (“Do baby Triceratops have teeth?”)

Find the rats

Rats—in a museum?! You bet, if it’s the LA Natural History Museum! Downstairs on the ground level families will find an interactive Nature Lab, where kids are invited to ask questions about how humans interact with the natural world. Part of our coexistence with animals and plants is living alongside rats.

There is a structure with see-through walls where kids can try to spot rats scurrying here and there—and even overhead!

The nitty gritty: Visiting LA’s Natural History Museum with kids

Here are the details you need when planning a visit to LA’s Natural History Museum.

• Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for youth 13-17, $7 for children 3-12 and free for kids under 3. If you go more than twice a the year, it’s actually more economical to buy a membership.

Level 10 travel tip: If you do buy a membership, make sure to use it to get free admission at the La Brea Tar Pits and The William S Hart Museum (which has a herd of bison on the property!). They have reciprocal memberships, which means even more natural history fun!

• Family restrooms and nursing rooms are located throughout the museum.
• A cafe offers kid-friendly food downstairs. There’s plentiful seating outdoors and, if it’s raining (or too blazing hot), in a solarium. You can also bring your own food for a picnic.
• This kid-friendly museum is right next to the Exposition Park Rose Garden and is a short walk from several aircraft on display outdoors. If your kids are antsy after being relatively quiet and contained in the museum, let them run their yayas out in the Rose Garden or challenge them to find the planes.

I can’t wait to return to LA’s Natural History museum with my kids. If you’re looking for kid-friendly activities in LA, make sure to put this museum on your itinerary!

And if you’re looking for even more ideas, check out my friend Melissa’s guide to fun things to do with kids in LA over on her Thrifty Family Travels blog.

What is your favorite part of visiting a natural history museum?

The post LA’s Natural History Museum with kids: Learn, explore + play (seriously!)  appeared first on To & Fro Fam.

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The ultimate book for Oregon family hikes

Hiking is hands-down one of my favorite things to do, and that didn’t change when I had kids. What did change was the kind of hikes we tackled. Gone were the days of summiting mountains and pushing all-out up switchbacks—we had to adjust to more kid-friendly Oregon family hikes.

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to find new Oregon family hikes, so we ended up going to the same places weekend after weekend. There’s nothing wrong with that (especially when the closest hike to home is the breathtaking Camassia Natural Area!), but my whole family appreciates a little variety here and there.

Then I cracked open Oregon & Washington 50 Hikes with Kids, written by Portland’s own adventure educator Wendy Gorton. Not only did the hiking book give me a ton of ideas for new kid-friendly outdoor adventures, it also provided scavenger hunts for each and every hike.

I’m so confident you’ll love this hiking book as much as we do that I’m giving away a copy to an Oregon or Portland family. Read on to see how you can enter this giveaway!

Why you need a family hiking book

When Eric and I had our first child, we’d just carry Peeper in a carrier or hiking backpack and head to our usual favorite trails. But when she started to walk, we quickly realized that our hiking-as-usual MO wasn’t safe for our little one.

Many of the Oregon hikes nearby have steep dropoffs on the trails, poison oak or steep climbs. These minor hazards are easy for adults to deal with, but small children can lose their footing. (Nearly every outdoorsy parent in the Pacific Northwest took a close look at which hikes they attempted after a mom died trying to rescue her son, who had fallen off a trail and down a cliff on a popular Oregon hike.)

Besides safety, choosing a family-friendly hike is just more fun—for everyone. When you pick Oregon family hikes that are short enough, flat enough and safe, kids feel like they can enjoy hiking on their own. Parents don’t have to carry overtired kids down the trail. And everyone is satisfied because they actually hiked what they set out to hike.

Friends know us as the family with lots of suggestions for Oregon family hikes, but I’d never considered many of the destinations in this wonderful hiking book. My copy is now full of Post-It flags, reminding me of all the outdoor adventures yet to come.

Extra features in this family hiking book

When I go hiking with the kids, I tend to use a book to suggest trails and how to get there, then leave the book in the car. I’ve been bringing this hiking book along with me, though, because of all the extra features in it.

My absolute favorite extra is the scavenger hunt customized to every hike, complete with full-color photos.

I have always loved scavenger hunts—my mom used to make one for my birthday parties, sending me and a bunch of friends knocking on neighbors’ doors to collect pennies from 1983 (my birth year) and other random bits and bobs. My kids love the adventure of a scavenger hunt, too—I think it makes them feel like they’re pirates searching for treasure.

So when we start a kid-friendly hike in Oregon or Washington, we crack open 50 Hikes with Kids to see what we should be on the lookout for.

For example, we recently took this hiking book’s advice and headed to Lacamas Creek Falls in Washington. We met up with a blogger friend of mine, Lindsay from Running with Tongs, and her kids. The kids were thrilled when they spotted one item on the scavenger hunt—a robin. Peeper later found another item, thimbleberry bushes. That scavenger hunt item was actually an education opportunity for me: I didn’t know what the white flowers were, but now I do!

Oregon & Washington 50 Hikes with Kids is full of those details. I learned so much with this hiking book, and my whole family is excited to see where it brings us next.

Win a copy for your own family adventures!

We love this hiking book so much that I want to give every outdoorsy parent in the Pacific Northwest a copy. Unfortunately that’s not in the cards, but I can do a giveaway for one lucky family!

If you want ideas for new family-friendly hikes in Oregon and Washington, please enter the giveaway here.

I’ll see you on the trail!

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The post My new favorite book for Oregon family hikes (& win a copy!) appeared first on To & Fro Fam.