Not-So-Frightening Family Fun for Halloween

All Hallow's Eve is upon us. Have you carved your pumpkins and prepared your costumes already? Halloween is a fun holiday for kids and a great opportunity to create a family tradition. Corn mazes, hay rides, pumpkin carving contests - they're all available for fun-seeking families to enjoy during the weeks before winter weather approaches.

Pick-your-own pumpkin patches are few in the Southern California area. Instead, you'll find pumpkin patches with pre-picked pumpkins, petting zoos, carnival rides, haunted houses and food trucks. Kids love this stuff.

Corn mazes are a popular seasonal activity and you can find a few in Southern California. But don't let you little ones go it alone. These can be confusing and you don't want your kids to panic if they think they are lost. Forneris Farms in the San Fernando Valley has over 4 acres of corn maze fun carved into a different image every year. They also have a market with fresh produce, and until November 4th, you can visit their 2012 Harvest Festival complete with tractor pulled train rides and pumpkins grown on-site. If you live in Orange county, you can visit the largest corn maze in Southern California (over 11 acres) at Big Horse Feed & Mercantile in Temecula. Their Harvest Festival includes costume contests, the corn maze, a pumpkin patch and a corn cannon. Harvest Festival activities are available on weekends only and the corn maze is open daily through October 31st.

Some other notable locations to visit for fall festivities and Halloween fun are:

Irvine Park: Daily activities with pumpkin patch, bounce house, gold panning, train rides and hay rides. 1 Irvine Park Road, Orange, CA 92869
Pa's Pumpkin Patch: Petting zoo, roller coaster, pony rides, a pumpkin patch and lots more. 6701 E. P.C.H., Long Beach, CA 90803
Johnson Brothers Pumpkin Patch:  Pumpkin Patch with pony rides, giant pumpkins, barnyard animals, and a play area for kids. 15500 Jeffrey Road, Irvine, CA 92618

Looking for a corn maze outside of Southern California? Corn Mazes America has a directory to mazes across the country.

Find a pumpkin patch, pick your own pumpkin farm, fall festival and more at Pumpkin Patches and More. They have listings for the United States and six other countries!

Happy Halloween!

Eat Better, Eat Together!

October is National Eat Better, Eat Together Month, a campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of eating healthy meals with your children at the family table. For many families it's difficult to get everyone in the same place at the same time, or often, time constraints posed by hectic work and school schedules make preparing family meals a stressful event rather than an enjoyable one. However, the potential benefits of this single activity are many. Kids who regularly sit down to family meals are less likely to get involved with drugs and alcohol, have fewer behavior issues, do better in school, and are more respectful of family values and traditions. In addition, family meal time is a great way to encourage open communication with your children.

If your weeknights are difficult to manage commit to eating together on the weekends at the very least and add more mealtimes whenever possible. Preparing meals together is also a great way to spend time together. Even little hands can tear lettuce or add toppings to salads or other menu items.

An even better way to encourage better eating habits is to garden together. Get outside and grow a family garden with everyone's favorite produce and seasonal items. If you have a backyard pick a spot to section off, or if you have a patio, get a few large planter pots or window box style containers. Pick a few easy to maintain fruits and vegetables and plant them according to the directions on the package. For those of you who are relatively unskilled at gardening, like myself, visit a local nursery or gardening center and ask the people who work there about what grows best according to your setup. Let them know you are starting a beginners family garden and they should be able to help you get the basics and prepare you with the knowledge you need to successfully plant your first crops. You can even have a themed garden like "Classic Salad" or "Pizza" and grow the items that you will need to make your favorite meal.

Gardening with the 5 and under crowd can be fun (and dirty) and is a great way to educate them about where their food comes from and also encourages them to try new foods they might not try if they hadn't grown it themselves! Let them dig holes to plant seeds, pull weeds, and help water. And they'll be totally excited when they get to pull those strawberries, carrots, or peas when the time is right!

For more information about National Eat Better, Eat Together Month visit:
Washington State University
Dairy Council of California
Meals Matter

For information on gardening:
KidsGardening
Gardening With Kids 

The Super Salad Garden at Centennial Farm in Costa Mesa, CA.

October 21: Reptile Awareness Day

Snakes! Turtles! Lizards! Oh my! Celebrate Reptile Awareness Day by taking the kids to a local venue that features some of these scaly, cold blooded creatures. Visit them in their terrariums indoors at local nature centers or zoos, and then head outdoors to see if you can spot any in their natural habitat. Here in Southern California you can find lizards scampering along almost any trail or sunning themselves on park fences. But depending on your location, you may find other reptilian sightings are more common.

Places to explore indoors and out:

OC Zoo at Irvine Park: 1 Irvine Park Road, Orange, CA 92869

For $2 you can see a few reptiles, bears, mountain lions and more. Enjoy the petting area and when you’re done here, explore the rest of Irvine Park.

El Dorado Nature Center: 7550 East Spring Street, Long Beach, CA 90815

You’ll see lots of turtles in the lake and lizards on the trails. Head inside the nature center to see more reptiles up close!

Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center: 2301 University Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660

You can see snakes, turtles and a bearded dragon here. Then, take a walk near the water’s edge and see if you can spot a lizard or a water snake slithering across the surface of the stream.

Prehistoric Pets and the Reptile Zoo (indoors only): 18822 Brookhurst Street, Fountain Valley, CA 92708

Hands down, the best place to go if you want to see some serious reptiles. Alligators, snapping turtles, the world’s largest snake and a two headed snake are a few of the awesome reptiles you’ll find here.  If you live in the area, this place is a must-see! Visit their website for fun facts and activities for kids, too: http://www.thereptilezoo.com/.

To find a nature center in your area visit:

http://www.naturefind.com/

http://www.koddler.com/directory.aspx/dir/special/nature-centers

 

Roll Out for National Roller Skating Month!

October is National Roller Skating Month. And if you haven’t put on a pair of skates in a while (or ever), why not give it a try. Roller skating is a great way to have fun and get fit with the kids and the entertainment factor spans all age groups. So pick your favorite pair (do you prefer quads or inline?) and get rolling!

Here are a few suggestions for getting your skate on:

Roller rinks are a great place for skaters of all ages and skill levels. At Fountain Valley Skating Center you can join the Tiny Tots skating hour. For $6 you can skate with your age 5 and under kids. Skate rentals are included in the fee and you can even push your stroller on the rink! Skate Depot, located in Cerritos, has family friendly skate sessions on Saturdays from 12:00 to 3:00 and on Sunday nights from 5:30 to 8:30.

To locate a rink in your area, visit the Roller Skating Associations’ locator at http://www.rollerskating.com/locator/rink.asp.

For outdoor skating adventures visit a local park with paved walking paths. Be sure to walk your course ahead of time to be sure you and the kids won’t run in to any steep hills or unskateable terrain. If you live in Southern California, Venice Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Long Beach all have paved paths on the beach that are great skating options.

A few safety notes:

·         Pads and helmets are important! Protect kids and yourself from severe injury by wearing these when you skate.

·         Keep kids on flat surfaces where they will be comfortable, and have places to jump off the path if they get moving too fast like soft patches of grass or sand.

·         Stay away from streets and intersections. Choose paths away from traffic for optimal safety.

It's National Wildlife Refuge Week: October 14-20!

This week is National Wildlife Refuge week and that means it's the perfect excuse to get out and explore with your family. Visit one of your nearby favorites or find a new refuge near you that you've never been to and learn along with your kids about the habitat and wildlife that are being preserved there. Our family favorite is Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach, California. We walk there several times a week and spot coyotes, herons, brown pelicans, lizards, egrets, cottontails and most recently - the American White Pelican. These beautiful white birds made their appearance at the wetlands about 3 weeks ago and we are watching their population grow steadily. Today we saw the pelicans, alongside many other species of birds, feeding on schools of fish at high tide. If you live in Southern California this is a great place to visit. There are trails accessible from the interpretive center near the corner of PCH and Warner or from PCH, across from the entrance to Bolsa Chica State Beach. You can also access the bluff top trail from the parking lot in the Brightwater community located off of Brightwater Drive and Fordham Lane (4512 Oceanridge Drive, Huntington Beach, California 92649).

For a list of other wildlife refuges visit http://www.fws.gov/refuges/.

Happy exploring!

 

National Fossil Day is October 17th!

Did you know that October 17th is National Fossil Day? This annual event is hosted by the National Park Service and the American Geological Institute as a way to promote the awareness of and appreciation for fossils and their educational and scientific value. Check out one of these great Southern California locations for some fossil fun with the kids (scroll to the bottom for a link to locations nationwide):

Ralph B. Clark Regional Park
8800 Rosecrans Ave. Buena Park, CA 90621

Clark Regional Park has paved walking paths, a dirt trail around the park's perimeter, multiple play structures, a stocked fishing lake, and an interpretive center complete with fossils from the Orange County Area. You'll see million-year-old fossils from marine animals and fossils from younger land mammals.

The Interpretive Center is open Tuesday - Friday 12:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Saturday & Sunday 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. It is Closed on Mondays.

La Brea Tar Pits and The Page Museum
5801 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036

Explore L.A. Ice Age-style by taking a walk in the Pleistocene Garden. Look for plants, animals, and fossil related items throughout the tar pits and the Page Museum on a self-guided scavenger hunt. See fossils being unearthed before your very eyes at Project 23. There is no shortage of fossil fun here! For more information about the activities listed here or to begin planning your visit, click here: http://www.tarpits.org/visit/plan-your-trip

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007

You'll find the only display of T. Rex's at three different ages here at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. You'll find over 300 real dinosaur fossils, the Paleoparadoxiid, or Mystery Mammal - an unknown mammal found in southern California, giant Jaguars and countless other replicas and skeletons of life forms from millions of years ago. After the museum, explore the Exposition Park Rose Garden to see over 200 different kinds of roses. For more information about the Natural History Museum, click here: http://www.nhm.org/site/

The locations listed here are located in southern California, but National Fossil Day is a national event! Visit the National Park Service website for a list of fossil-rich locations in your are: http://nature.nps.gov/geology/nationalfossilday/fossil_parks.cfm

Also check with your local parks and nature centers to see if you have an unlisted location near you. You never know what kind of treasures you'll turn up when you do a little digging!