The Magnifying Glass

On the Shelf: Take a Backyard Bird Walk.

Summer vacation has finally rolled around to our house and the prospect of unstructured days is being met with absolute joy.  I'm sure that for many families, extended time off from the day to day routine is perhaps a source of some consternation, but for us, it is bliss.  This doesn't mean, however, that I don't feel the need to have a few tricks up my sleeve in the event that a restless summer afternoon arrives and the girl complains of needing something to do. 

Enter the newest title on our bookshelf: Take a Backyard Bird Walk by Jane Kirkland.  Part field guide, part nature journal and part manual for outdoor discovery, Take a Backyard Bird Walk is the perfect companion for summer mornings spent in the backyard or in a nearby park.  Designed to be used and not just referenced, the book contains tips for finding and identifying birds, as well as places to draw pictures, make field notes and write down questions for future research.  The book explains everything from field markings to bird nesting behavior in kid-friendly terms that focus on common birds that might easily be found in an average backyard setting.  

One of the things that I find most enchanting about this interactive birding book is the way that it provides inspiration for budding birders just becoming interested in the the feathered friends sharing their environment.  I love the idea of a book that is designed to help even very small children become careful and dedicated birdwatchers.  Kids have such passion for their interests when encouraged the right way and the simple text, lovely pictures and clever layout of this book are perfectly suited to this task.  

Take a Backyard Bird Walk is actually a part of a series of books called Take a Walk Books.  You can check out the publishing company's website here and find additional titles on such awesome subjects as urban nature walks, beachcombing and wetland exploration.  Welcome, summer!

----Annie

Little Helping Hands: The Gulf Coast Oil Spill and Kids

I have been watching that oily mess of a situation along the Gulf Coast from a distance with such a heavy heart. Dreading the inevitable waves of loss, wondering how this will ever really be cleaned up, and feeling so helpless, until last week when I learned of Craft Hope's current project (thanks to Kristin's post). Suddenly, I felt invigorated and excited to have something concrete to do. And then I got even more excited when I realized that this was also a project  my kids could do, too. It's not always easy to find volunteer projects for kids, but here was one that was not only do-able, but one that has great meaning to us as a family with strong connections to the Gulf Coast and also a family that dearly loves the natural world that surrounds us.

We sorted through our closets and chose to re-purpose old clothes and sheets. My son and two of his friends eagerly got to work, cutting off zippers and elastic waists. We then cut them down into 10in x 10 inch squares. These squares will be used to wipe oil off of turtles, dolphins, pelicans, and other wildlife impacted by the Gulf Oil spill.  If you choose to participate,you can sew, knit, crochet, or just cut rags (like we did). Please use cotton materials. They are also requesting donations of Dawn liquid soap (here's why). You can get more information at the Craft Hope site.

In addition to the Craft Hope Project, there is another family friendly project involving donations of hair and pet fur. Yes, hair and pet fur. Visit Matter of Trust to get the details. For even more ideas of how kids can help, take a peek at this article on More 4 Kids. And if you know of other projects related to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, please share them.

The National Wildlife Federation has a good guide with age specific suggestions on how to talk with your kids about the Gulf Oil Spill. Has this been a topic of conversation in your house recently? Have other incidents of natural or man made disasters spurred similar conversations or volunteer projects with your kids?  Or does your family have an on-going conservation project?

---Lucia

Slink, Slither and Slide

Y'all know by now that I'm a pretty outdoorsy girl. Hiking, camping, sloshing around in the creek, turning over rocks, cupping bare hands around bugs, these are all things that I not only tolerate, but love. 

That said, there is one thing, one terrible awful thing, that keeps me wary of summertime romps in the woods. 

Snakes. 

Just the word gives me the willies. 

Unfortunately, I happen to live in a part of the world that snakes love to call home. Our state is home to 76 varieties, all of whom like to come out of their creepy hiding places to bake themselves in the summer sun. That fact, paired with our crazy hot temperatures, has kept this nature girl soundly indoors of late. 

As is too often the case though, you don't always have to go looking for trouble. Sometimes trouble finds you. 

"MAMA!!!! Come quick, we found a snake in the yard!" Were the dreaded words that announced its arrival, followed of course by, "Can we keep it?" 

We have a firm policy on keeping critters though: 

1) They can be honored guests for a predetermined amount of time, but they will not be permanent residents. 

2) They can only stay for a short visit if we can replicate their habitat and provide for their needs while they are with us. Up to now, this has meant that we've played hosts to a vast array of caterpillars, praying mantises, tadpoles, dragonfly larvae, and the occasional frog. 

Now I should say here that my youngest son has been gleefully anticipating the arrival of a snake visitor for some time. He would love to have one of his own, but his mama has been firmly against it. I did however make the mistake of saying that if he found one, if he had confirmation from an adult that it wasn't venomous, and if he then caught it on his own, then he could keep it for a few days. 

I'll go ahead and admit right now that I rather ridiculously thought that he'd never get that far. 

I was wrong. 

He found his snake. 

I will admit too that while I don't think I'll ever be a big fan of snakes, this one wasn't so bad. It's a Rough Earth Snake, a Virginia Striatula. This little fella was about as big as he'll ever be. His diet consists mainly of earthworms and slugs, and he spends the majority of his life under loose dirt, leaf piles and rotting logs. This one was happily resting under and overturned flowerpot. 

He turned out to be the very best possible snake that we could have found... at least in my estimation. Why? Because as soon as we filled his tank with dirt, dropped in a few earth worms, placed a dish of water in his reach and gave him a basking light, he promptly dug himself underground and stayed that way for four solid days. 

Completely, blissfully, out of sight. 

And because he was not at all sociable, no tears were shed when it came time to return him to his home in our garden. Something was shed though... 

Graciously, and much to the complete amazement of my little snake lover, our friend left us a parting gift. 

So in the end, all were happy - the snake won his freedom, the mama stayed true to her word and soon regained her home's snake free status, and the boy has a snake skin at which to stare and dream about his next visitor. 

- Stefani

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Want to learn more about snakes? Try these resources: 

The Texas Junior Naturalist's Snake Page (there is also a link at the top of the page that will take you to information about venomous snakes and what to do if someone is bitten). 

A Golden Guide to Snakes 

The Encyclopedia of Snakes

Life In Cold Blood - a really neat documentary on a variety of "cold blooded creatures" including snakes. 

Animal Planet's Snake Videos - Lots of creepy snake stuff that thrilled my fellas and left me awfully squeamish. 

Mother Nature's Toy Box

We find some pretty amazing things when we are out and about hiking around in nature. Sometimes those things help us tap Mother Nature's Toy Box to create some playthings. 

 

Some very long grass, a few twigs and a bit of tape became an airplane that was flown off an aircraft carrier, up into space and on a rescue mission over rough waters. 

Although this project was created straight from my little man's imagination, with a little building assistance from mom, we have been inspired to use what we find in nature by a book called Nature's Art Box. 

A few rocks, some sand and flowing water helped create dams, lakes, cliffs, sea stacks, deltas, and harbors. 

A wonderful way to learn about erosion and landforms while you play. And the perfect accompaniment to our recent reading of Geography from A to Z. 

~We are very lucky to have streams flowing onto most of the beaches around here which makes this kind of learning and play readily available. Before we lived here I remember doing this kind of thing in the sand box during water play. It was on a much smaller scale but fun just the same.

And sometimes you don't have to do a thing... Mother Nature just gives you the perfect driftwood sword! 

Have you been playing in Mother Nature's Toy Box lately? 

I would love to hear about your projects and play!

~Dawn

Beach Balls: Part 2

Have a look at these balls that we found during a recent beach walk. Aren't they funny looking? There were several of them washed up on the beach and at first we thought they were some sort of sea cucumber, but when we asked a local fisherman he told us they were algae. Once we got home, I quickly started trying to learn more about them.  And eventually, thanks to the internet, I was able to determine that our beach walk discovery is codium bursa. According to this article it is a slow growing, stress tolerant type of algae that requires very little nutrients to survive and grow to such an impressive size.  

The green, squishy beach balls were an interesting discovery, but they also  got me thinking about more than just ocean plants. They are also made me think about how we get information. My first instinct is to turn to books and these days that usually means opening the car door.  Since we spend most of our weekends exploring the island and stumbling upon new-to-us creatures and plants,  our van seems to be the place where most of our local field guides reside (along with all sorts of "stuff"!). We have recently acquired some good wildflower and animal books for the Mediterranean region, but we are still searching for a good ocean/shore/shell guide (if you know of one for the Med Sea, please share!). After making that initial identification, we then head to  the library for more information. These days our library access is pretty limited because the non-fiction section is very small. This means we spend a lot of time doing research via the internet which is a wild and wonderful quagmire of a place. I am sure I am not the only one who vacillates between being impressed by all of the info and at other times feeling a bit overwhelmed by it.  

So here are my questions for you: 

1) What are your favorite, always handy field guide/ nature books? 

2) What makes a good field guide?

3) What are your favorite websites for researching nature finds (besides the Magnifying Glass, of course!)?

4) And does anyone else out there feel like they are driving a book mobile? If you seem to have a lot of books in your car, how do you keep them organized, safe, and yet still within easy reach for little hands?  We use cloth book bags jammed between car seats, but I have to wonder if there is a better solution.

***We like the Golden Guides (nice, portable, kid friendly size) and Pocket Naturalist laminated tri-folds that are easy to carry on hikes. And our all time favorite field guide is Florida's Living Beaches. Although the title specifies Florida, we have used it all over the South East coastal areas. It's well organized, has pictures next to the descriptions,full of interesting tidbits, and it has never let us down. Sadly, none of these guides work so well for us now that we are living in Italy, but if you are in the States I highly recommend them. 

---Lucia

Guest Post: Sarah Mast and a Nature Classroom

My family holds many annual passes. The zoo and Children's Museum, of course, but our favorite one, and the one we go to with the most excitement, is called Tree Adventure. It is a child's nature sensory overload adjoined to the Arbor Day Farm, in Nebraska City, Nebraska, which is the home of Arbor Day, a national holiday in the U.S.  
 
We found this gem, Tree Adventure, through accident.  I love going to local small town festivals, and the Applejack Festival is a yearly must in our household. Crafts, street vendors, and apple flavored everything from pie, slushies, and of course, their famous carmel apples are just a taste of what is to find during this fall festival.
 
While my family was there we saw a large building with lots of children running around behind it. We paid the admission and we were instant fans. We ran back to change our admission into an annual pass, and go every month, even though it is an hour drive and we have two small children. What makes this place so special? The open air Nature Explore Classroom.

The classroom boats many unique activities, from a "Messy Materials" area that holds every type of fallen logs, sticks, rocks, and leaves one could find so that the participants can build a fort--anything goes! There are three large Wooden Xylophones (my son's personal favorites), a "Music & Movement" area that encourages free play and dance, three areas of "Nature Toys" that include many different types of wooden blocks, natural "tree" blocks, wooden bricks, pine cones, seed pods, and more. The biggest draw, however, is the beautifully constructed Tree House, complete with colorful silks to use in whatever way one can think of. To top it all off, there is an entire Nature Classroom of small proportions, for every baby and toddler that visits, just behind the admission building. The smallest of explorers are important and celebrated here, too!
 
My children are only 2 1/2 and 1, and they love this place. My little lady squeals with delight every time she sees the Tree House from the trail, and I can easily plop her down with some natural found objects that she will chew, rub her fingers over, and look up at me and smile. My oldest will run off to the messy area and figure out what he can over-turn to find the most bugs.
 
This place is not only beautiful and full of nature in and around it (there is a trail that you have to take in order to get to the Nature Classroom, that is full of interactive stations for children including smelling different trees, spotting different animal tracks, and listening to different bird calls), but I can leave the two there for hours while I read, and they will be peaceful, and tired on the drive home.
 
For those interested in perhaps visiting the farm, there is so much to do. You can take a ride to see all the orchards and the first trees that were planted, visit the greenhouse where all the seedlings are placed before being shipped across the nation for planting, or walk the many nature trails, and end up at the Nature Classroom.

 
If you live far away but would like to incorporate some of these ideas into your own home or community, please check out this valuable website that provides plenty of visual inspiration, the reasons behind why nature is so important to children, and of course, if you're interested in purchasing something you saw and liked (you can order a free catalog HERE.)

 "Nature calmed me, focused me, and yet excited my senses." Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder.

-Sarah Mast

Sarah has been a long time reader and supporter of The Magnifying Glass.  You can find our more about Sarah and her family by visiting her blog.