Our Rock Collection, Accessible on the Kitchen Table

Yes, we also collect rocks. We keep our rock collection handy, on the kitchen ledge accessible to the kids. Often, especially while waiting for some sort of food service, they will grab a plastic jar and explore it's contents. We do have a fun simple activity where the kids get a plastic bowl with a little water in it, the kids add the rocks one at a time and guess and explore what will happen to the rock hen it gets wet. After a few dunks, they end up simply guessing the color change they'll see.

My older son loved the wet activity the most. Baby girl is starting to be interested, especially when we did the activity in the yard together.

And when we are out bug collecting, we come across cool rocks on the beach, or fossils along Lake Michigan, these finds come home with us. We aren't pack rats I promise. We don't walk amongst tall rows of stuff. Once a jar gets full it will probably go into our garden... Or a project.... Or something. But for now we have room to grow !

Top view, the sea shells were given to us by our then neighbors who were debating if they should move out of town, to the Sunshine State, they did. And on one of their visits back brought us some beautiful big, free, seashells.


Make Mistakes. Breathe, reflect, and Laugh.Out.Loud

More Nature Sensory Tub Fun - Changing Rock Colors with Water

More Nature Sensory Tub Fun - Changing Rock Colors with Water, a photo by areyousureaboutthatblog on Flickr.

My daughter loves water play. Anything and everything wet us her favorite activity. One afternoon I needed to tend to the garden and she of course wanted to help. Once we decided to play with water, I remembered wanting to do this activity with her.

My sons and I have been collecting rocks, beach glass, driftwood and fossils, from our many beach visits along Lake Michigan. Yes you can access a beach in the middle of the United States! We have 3-4 nut containers full of our finds.

One fascinating aspect of these rocks is many of them change color when wet. So we explore each rock, one at a time, and guess what color it will be when it's wet. We also had some porous rocks in our collection and baby girl was guessing if it would "float or sink."

She's only two years old, but amazingly gets concepts quickly! I simply would say "look that rock sinks to the bottom." I said this several times. Then I intentional grabbed a porous stone and dropped it in the water tub, "look, this one is different! It floats!"

She was thrilled - for each rock after that we'd say "float or sink?" This initial 10 minutes of play had her interested for an additional One Hour!

I got to weed and mulch and she enjoyed playing (and learning).

Reminder: This picture looks only partially shaded. It was late afternoon and the tree shades this part of our patio completely - within 10 minutes of this photo being taken. Remember to place your water play in the shade so kids tender young skin doesn't burn. Also be cautious with the water levels in the tub / container of water. If your kid trips or falls in, even accidentally, water levels need to be considered!

Enjoy time with your kids. See more of our play and learnings at areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com

Make mistakes. Breathe, reflect, and Laugh.Out.Loud