Seaside Visits

Spending time outside is essential part of a childhood filled with wonder. Time in nature, whatever plot of it you have available to you, can make any day an adventure. There is always something new to see and to notice how something might have changed. The weather and seasons make even the regular spots new for each visit. A balcony with a plant or a community park with a few trees is more than enough for children to explore with great delight!

Our home for the summer is close enough to the ocean so that we are only a short drive away from some beautiful beaches where we can walk. Oftentimes the chilly weather or cloudy days make full-on beach days complete with beach chairs, umbrellas and ocean swimming too ambitious. Short trips of an hour or two to walk on empty beaches work well for us. Tide pools can be explored during low tide. Barnacles stick to rocks. Crabs scurry across the sand. Seagulls fly over our heads. Rocks and seashells abound and we pick up a few seaside treasures to bring back home to add to our growing collection.

What access do you have to nature? How does your child like to spend time outside? How does it change your day? For us, it brings so much joy to our days. We talk about what we saw and what we noticed from the seaside throughout the day. We remember details about the kinds of animals we saw or something unusual about the weather (like how it started to rain!) during meals or when getting ready for bed. The time we spend in nature brings so much wonder to every other part of our day.