Well, summer is officially in full-swing and we’ve been having a lot of fun in our current “pebbles and plants” session at Spring Lake in Santa Rosa!

Painting pots for our bean sprouts!

The pebbles and plants session was a new one I recently developed, and whenever I put together a new class I research various books that would be both age-appropriate and of course fit into the theme of that particular class. Often I find more than I need and have to narrow the list down to the four I end up using in a session. I found more than expected for this session, and wanted to share three that I did not have a chance to read in the session, but really liked. The first is called Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor which goes through the “rules” for finding the perfect rock for you. The second one is If you Find a Rock by Peggy Christian which goes through the different “types” of rocks (i.e., skipping rock, wishing rock, hiding rock, etc.) and includes great photographs. The third is The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle which follows a seed’s journey on becoming a flower. This book’s theme was very appropriate for the class, but I felt the text was a bit long to hold the attention of all the children in the class. However, if read one-on-one it should be fine, and the other two books are also great for preschool aged-children. All three are available through the Sonoma County library system.

Thanks, and hope to see you outdoors!

Stephanie Derammelaere 

With this beautiful weather we’ve been having lately, it’s a great time to hit the beach! A great activity to remember those summer trips to the beach is to make a sand bottle. Start with a clear, straight-sided container (a cleaned out glass olive-oil bottle would work great) and fill the bottle with layers of different sands (either from different beaches or even different areas of the same beach). Even if you only have two types of sand (or sand and small pebbles), you can alternate layers in a pattern of stripes. Carefully funnel sand into the container, tipping the container slightly to create wavy layers. Be sure to fill the cotainer to the very top, and seal it with a cork or screw top, so that the sands won’t move around and mix together. If you want, you could also make simple labels to note where and when the sands were collected.  Another very simple idea to preserve treasures from a beach trip for a lasting memento is to simply take all the small shells, pebbles, driftwood, etc. that your child inevitably picks up and wants to keep, and store and label them in a pretty glass jar. When you get home, have your child clean the treasures in some water with a sponge or rag (they love doing this), and then let them dry. Fill the glass jar and affix a label to remember where the treasures are from. Here is my son’s “treasure jar” from our recent vacation to the New Jersey shore.

Children at a very young age can already grasp the concept of saving resources such as energy and water – like turning the light off when they walk out of a room, or turning the water off while brushing their teeth, for example. During the hot summer months, an easy and efficient way to save some more energy is by air drying clothes in the sun versus using your dryer. Air-drying is good for the environment. In many areas, electricity is produced by coal-powered plants. By reducing your electricity consumption, you’ll also reduce the burning of irreplaceable fossil fuels. On those hot days, it seems that it take almost the same amount of time to dry a load of clothes outside as it is to run your dryer for an hour. Even little children can help hang up clothes, and they love helping with this! While you’re hanging up the clothes to dry, you can explain to your child how using the sun’s heat to dry the clothes saves electricity, just like turning off a light.

A few side benefits are really fresh smelling clothes and a decreased utility bill to boot!