Shipley Nature Center Begins New Children's Program

One of my favorite places to take my kiddos to explore is Shipley Nature Center in Huntington Beach. The 18-acre center features trails that wander through California native habitat. The center displays eight habitats here including an oak woodlands habitat, meadow habitat, redwood grove habitat, Blackbird pond habitat, coastal sage scrub, riparian woodland habitat, Torrey Pine habitat, and Southern Oak Woodland Habitat. You'll find a special area that provides food and shelter for Monarch butterflies, a replica of a Native American reed hut, and an observation platform to look out over Blackbird pond.

 

Shipley also has a great interpretive center. Head in to the building and make your way to the back room. They have puzzles, puppets and other fun things for the kids to play with before or after your walk.

I'm super excited because Shipley is now offering a children's program on Wednesday mornings at 11:00. They'll be doing story time, a craft, and of course you'll have access to a nature walk. The cost is $3 per adult.

 

 

For more information check out their website at http://shipleynature.org/. Have fun exploring!

Music for Infants and Children

I recently posted about music you can listen to with your kids to have a dance party at home. But exposure to music, both listening and participating in creating it, is essential to growth and development. When children are engaged in music they are developing their motor skills, concentration, perception, memory, language, speech and much more.

There are so many ways to enrich your child's life with music. Musical toys are everywhere - keep a set in your home and give your child access to play with their instruments whenever they feel like making noise. The Parents Bee Bop Band Play & Learn Drum comes with a removable lid to store the other 4 musical instruments inside the drum.

Make musical instruments with your child. The plastic resealable baby food tubs and glass jars make wonderful noise when you add a few beans, beads or coins and seal the container shut. I used the plastic baby food tubs to do this with my infant son, and to eliminate the choking hazard I wrapped the tub with duct tape. Mine was original, but you can get duct tape in amazing patterns these days so you can choose something more appealing than basic gray if you want to add a visual element to the homemade instrument. Need inspiration? Pinterest and Google are swarming with homemade musical instrument projects.

Turn household objects into musical instruments. Use your pots and pans and wooden spoons and shoe boxes and pine cones and get groovin'. See how your child expresses himself and concentrates and laughs when he's given the opportunity to make music freely.

Finally, take a music class with your child. If you have a preschool aged child participate in a parent and child class together. Let your older child take a fun class where they'll play music and engage with other kids their age. Parks and recreation departments often have classes for kids of all ages. If you are in the Orange County area, Dancing Keys Music Studio offers Simply Music Rhapsody classes for children as young as 3 months.  For 4- to 6-year olds, Play-A-Story classes are an introduction to music and piano, allowing children to play improvisationally to build a foundation for learning. Other programs are also available. Contact Dancing Keys Music Studio to find out more at www.Dancingkeys.com, 949-734-DKMS (3567) or info@dancingkeys.com.

I received a free introductory class from Dancing Keys that I attended with my 2-year old daughter and she loved it. Her favorite part was making thunder on the drum!

 

 

 

Mother's Beach Marina Del Rey

As a writer, I get to take my family with me to do my research now and then. For my current project, I am exploring neighborhoods in Los Angeles County, and we are lucky enough to stumble upon some fun locations that we never would have found otherwise. This past weekend, we found Mother's Beach in Marina Del Rey. The sandy beach sits just behind The Cheesecake Factory and offers views of the Marina, volleyball courts, calm waters for splashing and a super fun playground complete with a pirate ship.

There is a self-pay parking lot next door to the Cheesecake Factory where you can pull in, pay for your time there at the machine, and place a ticket on the dashboard. The machine accepts cash and debit/credit cards. If we lived closer, this would be a great spot for family dinner night, then head out to the beach for play time.

Mother's Beach Marina Del Rey is located at 4101 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey, CA 90292
For more information call (310) 578-0478

They Might Love A Dance Party!

You might know them from one of their adult albums or from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song - either way, They Might Be Giants will get you moving. They've released more than ten albums, four of them for children. Their first family-friendly album was No! and was mostly recorded to provide music for Malcolm in the Middle. Since then they've released the Grammy winning Here Come the 123s, Here Come the ABCs, and the Grammy nominated CD/DVD set Here Comes Science. Their tunes are educational and super fun to listen to.

As the weather cools down and gets a little soggy (or icy, depending on where you live), us parents start looking for indoor activities that keep kids entertained and provide some physical fitness. Have a dance party to get kids moving, and with tunes like Photosynthesis, Fake Believe, and The Secret Life of Six, they'll also be learning about letters, numbers, science and more.

Playing with your kids doesn't have to be expensive or complicated. Just turn on the music and have fun together!

 

 

Orange County Coastkeeper Gardens

Located behind Santiago Canyon College near Jamboree and Santiago Canyon Road is a fantastic little place called the Coastkeeper Gardens. Opened in the late Spring of 2013, the demonstration garden displays a selection of vignettes featuring native, drought tolerant plants and irrigation applications. The Coastkeeper Garden was developed with the hope that visitors will become educated about ways to landscape their own homes with the intent to preserve the native plant species and wildlife of Orange County, reduce urban runoff, and conserve water with drought-tolerant plants.

In addition to the beautifully displayed vignettes, there is a natural playground area for kids. You'll find archways with treestump paths, (currently dry) river beds, bridges, a tube that tunnels through the hillside, a "mountain climbing" area with large rocks to navigate through, old fallen tree trunks to climb and so much more. When we visited we had the place to ourselves, and both my 2-year old girl and 5-year old boy got sweaty and dirty exploring all the nooks and crannies of this adventure-inspiring environment. There is so much fun to be had in nature and the Coastkeeper Gardens do a fantastic job of proving that. Every neighborhood should have a location like this!

Some of the children's play area is rocky and rough, but there is a packed-dirt pedestrian path that is easily walkable, and stroller and wheelchair accessible. There was one port-a-potty near the greenhouse, but no other restrooms were available. If you live in the Orange County area this is a great location to take advantage of. Parking and entry is free but there is a donation box on the shed near the entrance for visitors - please make a contribution to help keep this fantastic park open to the public.

The Coastkeeper Garden is open Wednesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The entrance is a small driveway near the corner of Jamboree and Santiago Canyon Road. The driveway is under construction and is marked by a banner on the fence pointing to the garden. I did not find any parking available on the college campus that conveniently accesses the garden.

The Coastkeeper Garden is in need of volunteers so please contact them if you are interested!

For more information, visit their website or call 714-850-1965.

Fullerton Arboretum

When I took the kids to the Fullerton Arboretum, I didn't go with soaring expectations. I went because it looked spacious and I wanted to explore a new nature center-type location. So when I was greeted with a gorgeous waterfall that pooled into a stream that swept quickly through a shady Woodlands Collection that included buckeye, cedar, juniper, pine, bamboo and countless other specimens, I was ecstatic. You can only imagine my excitement when I found the redwoods. A perfect bench sat quietly overlooking the stream as it rushed over shiny pebbles. The kids played stream-side on the banks and tried to pick the seashells out of the packed mud.

The parking lot was nearly full when we arrived, but there was rarely another group within speaking distance. Even with the occasional passerby, it felt like we had the place to ourselves. I noticed a few other groups with children lingering by the pond and the lake watching the ducks, turtles, tadpoles and fish - someone asked about feeding the ducks but signs are clearly posted here that feeding the wildlife is not allowed. We made our own lakeside stop and the ducks and turtles quickly approached. I'm sure they were hoping for a treat but they were not aggressive with us and seemed to be content just hanging out with the kids.

In addition to the Woodlands Collection you can explore the Desert Collection, the Mediterranean Collection and the gardens. You'll find a beautiful arbor draped with wisteria, a community garden area, a rare fruit garden and a children's garden complete with a hollow tree stump replica for play, a giant watering can and shovel, and my personal favorite, the gourd arbor. I've never seen anything quite like it and I must say, I felt like a kid again walking through that magical hall of gourds.

Fullerton Arboretum is definitely worth a trip. Parking and admission are free but there is a donation station at the entrance that suggests $3 per person. Please consider the suggested donation so this amazing place can keep its doors open to the public. Also, the Arboretum offers classes for adults and children like Yoga in the Garden, Thursdays in the Kitchen, and Arts in the Garden. Visit the Classes and Programs section and the Calendar of Events for more information.

If you go: Take plenty of water and wear sunblock. There's plenty of shade, but lots of sunny, open space as well. Pack a lunch or a substantial snack supply. There's a lot to explore here so you may want to stay a while. Almost all trails are dirt and stroller accessible. There are clean restrooms at the nature center, but there are no changing tables, so bring a blanket for changes on the grass. Please dispose of trash properly so others can enjoy this beautiful location.

Fullerton Arboretum is open daily from 8:00 to 4:30.

 

100 Years of Natural History

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles opened its doors 100 years ago. On June 9th, they'll reopen their doors for their Centennial Celebration showcasing updated favorite exhibits and new and exciting features both indoors and out. The 63-foot fin whale skeleton now hangs mid dive from the glass cube housing the new Otis Booth Pavilion, complete with a sound system that sends out whale calls at different frequencies and thousands of programmable LED lights to simulate waves, shadows and other undersea images. Three and a half acres of the Museum lawn have been transformed into walking paths and nature gardens for learning and interactivity. Listen to water move through tree cells at the Listening Tree, explore soil, compost and roots in the Get Dirty Zone and see plant and bug life in action at the Living Wall. The dioramas and many other popular exhibits are still intact, but thanks to generous time and money, nearly 60% of the museum has benefited from the renovations. In 1913, the Natural History Museum was a very different place than it is today. The inclusion of updated technology and new exhibits that explore the growth and evolution of the city of Los Angeles make this Centennial Celebration a milestone not to be missed. The Museum will be closed on June 8th in preparation for Sunday's celebration.

For more information follow the link below to visit the Natural History Museum's website.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007
Phone: (213) 763-DINO

The Front Lawn, pre-renovation.