Category Archives: Play and Fun Activities

Reducing Sensory Bin Mess

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When parents or teachers first introduce a child to sensory bin play, they usually make a big mess!

While some mess is inevitable, here are tips for reducing it.

Teach Them How Sensory Play Works

One of my core beliefs is that children want to do well. If they’re not behaving well, it’s usually because they don’t yet have the knowledge or skills they need. So, let’s teach them!

Play alongside

Over time, sensory play becomes a great independent play activity for children, where they can play with little supervision or intervention from adults for quite a while. However, first you have to teach them how to do it, and then gradually fade out your support. So, expect to be right next to them the first several sessions.

Role Model

I mostly just start playing appropriately next to them, and they quickly follow along! I narrate my play, and also narrate theirs. “Look, I’m scooping the beans – oh, you picked up the scoop – see how I use it? I can pour the beans in the bucket. Can you?”

Re-Direct

If they are doing something “wrong”, tell them the right thing to do. “Let’s keep the rice in the bin.” If they’re pouring on the floor, substitute a new target – “can you pour into this bucket?” Try to avoid saying “don’t _____”. If you say “don’t splash”, all they can think about is splashing. If you say “oh, look, when I move my hand slowly, see the ripples in the water?” they will often stop splashing.

Set Limits

Once they’ve learned how to do well in general, they may still have days when they’re having a hard time not making a mess. It’s OK to sometimes say “it looks like now is not the right time for this – let’s put it away / close it up for now, and we’ll try again tomorrow.” To be as fair as possible, I try this method: first when-then: “when you show me you can play well with this, then we can have it out more often.” Then if-then warning – “if you keep dumping things on the floor, then I’ll close the bin.” Then follow through on that consequence if needed.

Setting Up for Success

Fillers

Start with fillers that are easy to clean up. I use pompoms as the first material for my toddler class. Or paper crumpled into balls. Later, I might use pinto beans – they’re easy to sweep up. Other things are harder to clean up. For example, kinetic sand needs to be vacuumed up and can get ground into carpet, so it’s not the thing to start with.

When you start, put a small amount of sensory items in a small bin inside the large bin. If they spill outside the small bin, the large bin catches it!

Don’t use too much filler at first. Don’t feel like you have to have a 3 inch thick layer of sensory material. Start with a thin layer – they can always pile it all up in one corner if they want a deeper pile.

Remember that they will mix together any item that’s within easy reach of the bin. So, if there’s something you don’t want to be mixed in, move it elsewhere. (For example, we don’t recommend putting a bin of rice right next to the playdough table or water table.)

What Surface to Put the Table On

If possible, put sensory tables on linoleum or hardwood floors – it’s way easier to clean up than carpet!

Many parents and teachers do sensory tables outdoors where they are less concerned about mess.

Many people recommend putting a mat under the table – like this mat where the edges can fold up to make a wall, or things like playpens and crafty pods and pop-up ball pits that help to contain the mess in one area where it doesn’t get tracked around. Some use fitted sheets – like in the image below (source) or shown here. Wrap the corners of the fitted sheet around some objects to create a little nest. Or use a table cloth or shower curtain liner. Sometimes you can salvage sensory material from any of these surfaces by lifting them up so the filler all slides to one corner and then scooping it from there.

One site recommended a “builders’ tray” that looks amazing, but the link is broken and I can’t find it anywhere… Amazon has a 20×20 play tray, or you could use an oil drip pan, maybe.

Allowing for Transport

Kids LOVE to transport things. So, they often want to carry things from one place to another. Sometimes just having containers inside the bin, like having two buckets in the bin where they can move things from the bin to one bucket to the next is enough. Or setting up a cardboard box apparatus where there’s a higher spot in the sensory bin and a ramp for pouring things so they slide to the lower level, like these examples from Frugal Fun:

Or having a table right next to the sensory bin with containers on it they can move things into can work. But some kids like to have a separate bucket somewhere else they can carry things to – you can decide if that’s viable for you.

If they like the sound the beans make when they hit the floor, try putting a metal pie tin or hard plastic container upside down inside the sensory bin that they can pour onto to get the sound.

Helping with Clean Up

Ask your child to help with clean-up. You may choose to get them a mini broom and dustpan or a dust buster vacuum. (For some kids having to do clean-up is a disincentive – they don’t want to make a mess they’ll have to clean up later. Some kids like cleaning up the mess so much that they’ll make more of a mess!)

Remember, sensory play is a learning process, so they will accidentally (or intentionally) spill from time to time and there will be messes. Try to take a deep breath when it happens. If you’re having a day where you feel like the mess would be too stressful, it’s fine to close the sensory bin for the day and offer other activities.

Learn more

Check out my Ultimate Guide to Sensory Tables and my Ultimate Guide to Water Tables. You might also enjoy this post on Building a Child’s 8 Senses.

Best First Pet for a Child – Betta Fish

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Recently a parent asked me: “what’s the best first pet for my child?” She had grown up in a culture where most people didn’t own pets so had never had one herself. But she had found that pets are a big part of American culture. For example, a common question at school is “what kind of pet do you have?” Or teachers give assignments to describe your pet. She didn’t want her child to miss out, but didn’t know where to start.

I wrote another post on all the factors to consider when getting a first pet for your child. Some definitely take a lot more work than others! This post is just about my recommendation for a first pet – the betta fish (also known as a Siamese fighting fish.)

They are beautiful to look at. (And watching fish in an aquarium can reduce stress, blood pressure, and hyperactivity.) Betta fish will respond to you when you come to the tank, swimming up to you (unlike most other fish). Some bettas will learn tricks, like following a prop as you move it through the water. They’re also manageable for busy parents to care for, and low cost after the original investment. Betta fish are also good classroom pets for teachers to manage.

I’ll begin with a super-quick overview of how to get started. (I’ve included Amazon affiliate links, in case they’re helpful. I do get a small commission at no cost to you if you click on these and then purchase something.) Further down in the post, there are more details, and links to learn lots more. I am not an expert in this – I’m just a mom whose kids have owned betta fish and we made it work well.

Buying Supplies

Here’s what you’ll need that you can order online or get from Amazon. (Click here for the full list in one place.) It’s best if you get this all set-up and running for about week before getting your fish. (But it may be hard for children to be that patient.)

Here’s what you’ll get at your local pet store

  • 1 – 2 Moss Balls
  • 1 Nerite Snail

Yes, there’s a fair amount of start-up costs. That adds up to about $170. (Plus the fish will be ~$10 – 15.) But once you’ve got that, you’re almost done with costs. The food lasts for months, as does a container of water conditioner. The snail and moss balls may last as long as your fish does. (A few years.)

Choosing your Betta

Betta are beautiful, but there’s more to check for than just looks.

At the store, when you move your face or finger up toward the fish’s bowl, does it respond? Healthy betta fish will swim up to investigate when you come near. Some may flare at you aggressively. (In the picture below, you can see the flared out gills as this fighting fish tries to show you how tough he is.) Our first two betta were friendly and inquisitve when we came near. Our third was definitely a tough guy with lots of machismo.

How does the fish look? Healthy betta have bright colors and undamaged fins. Signs that a betta might not be healthy: lethargic, uneaten food in tank, dull coloring, tattered fins, white growns on body, and labored breathing.

Male betta fish have longer and fuller fins and tails.

You generally only want to buy one betta: Bettas are solitary pets – never put two males together in a tank – they will fight till one is injured or dead. Also don’t put a male and a female in the same tank – males are too aggressive. (You could keep a few female bettas together in a larger tank.)

More details:

Aquarium with pump/filter, heater, and light

You may see suggestions that you can keep a betta in a very small container (like a big margarita glass) with no pump. That is not a humane way to keep one and they won’t live long like that. (You could live in a closet, but it wouldn’t be a happy life, right?) A 2.5 – 5 gallon tank is best.

This is the tank I had – we bought it at Petco and it’s still in good condition after 5 years. However, the pump creates a strong current. The same company offers this betta tank that has a more betta friendly pump.

The tank must have a lid! Our first betta fish was a jumper. Once I came into my daughter’s room and found something on the floor that looked like a feather – I realized it was a dried out betta fish! I scooped it up and put it back in the tank in time, luckily.

Don’t fill the tank to the very top. Betta originally lived in puddle-like still water (streams and rice paddies), and need to be able to go to the water’s surface to gulp air. (Betta can get oxygen from the air as well as from water via their gills.) Because of this, they don’t need an aerator in the tank.

Heater

Keep the water heated to between 76F (24C) and 82F (27C). Betta are tropical fish, native to Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In cooler water, they become sluggish and sickly and can’t digest food well. (If your tank doesn’t come with a heater, be sure to buy one.) Don’t put your tank right next to a furnace vent or air conditioner which could have a strong effect on the water temperature.

Filter

Filters reduce harmful bacteria while supporting healthy bacteria, and make it easier to keep the tank clean. The one that came with my tank had a very strong current, which is hard on bettas who evolved in very slow moving waters. So, I only ran it for an hour a day. If your tank didn’t come with a filter, Fish Girl recommends choosing a sponge filter. (Learn about sponge filters.)

Light

Betta like light in the daytime and dark at night. You can put them in a place where they get natural light, but not in bright direct sunshine, which can overheat their tank. They look prettier and it’s easier to see them if you have a bright aquarium light you turn on, but I found that if I left the light on for more than an hour or two a day I got a lot of algae growth I had to deal with cleaning.

Tank Set-Up Needs

Sand or gravel – you’ll need about 1.5 pounds for each gallon of water to end up with 1-2 inches of substrate.

Accessories / decor for the betta to hide in / behind: Bettas don’t like to feel exposed, so make sure you have things for them to hide in / behind. Some like to rest on things near the surface of the water, so include some of those in your decor. Choose silk plants rather than plastic, and check all accessories for sharp edges – if it would snag pantyhose, it could harm the betta’s delicate fins. File sharp edges if needed.

Water conditioner. When you set up the tank, or replenish the water, you’ll need water conditioner. It neutralizes harmful chlorine, chloramines, ammonia and heavy metals in aquarium water. The pH of the water should be between 6 and 8 and the hardness between 5 and 35 dGH. Ammonia should be 0 ppm, nitrates < 40 ppm and nitrite 0 ppm. If your tap water comes from a municipal source, you may be able to find test results online for initial set-up. You can get test strips to evaluate your water over time. Do not use distilled water. It is lacking vital minerals.

Moss balls help remove nitrogen and phosphate from the water, and reduce algae by competing with algae for nutrients. (Learn more)

A nerite snail helps to clean the tank. Watching it slowly cruise around the tank adds interest. (Our son said the fish was his pet, and the snail was the fish’s pet.) Learn more about snails. It is better to get the snail before the fish, as sometimes when you introduce a snail into a betta’s existing habitat, it views the snail as an intruder and harasses / attacks it.

Food

We used Betta Bio-Gold pellets. We fed 8 – 10 in the morning, 8 – 10 in the evening. One .7 ounce container lasted more than a year. (FWIW, one guide says to feed 2-4 pellets twice a day. We fed double that and our fish lived for over two years…)

Choose a pellet food with fish as the first ingredient, and protein >38%. Don’t use flakes – they can cause bloating. You can give frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp for treats (thaw them before feeding).

For vacations, fish can go 2 or 3 days without food. When we were gone for a week, we used Pro-Balance vacation feeders. You do need to clean the tank of the residue when you return. When we were gone two weeks, we had someone come in to put in a new feeder on day 8. Our fish didn’t do well after that two week vacation. I might try the Marina buffet blocks. Or learn more here about vacation needs.

Maintenance

For a 5 gallon tank, it’s recommended that once a week or every other week you do a 25% water change. That means removing part of the water (not all) and replacing it with new conditioned water (use water at about the same temperature as the tank). Doing a partial water change helps to reduce the ammonia in the tank, but is less of a shock to the fish than a 100% change.

Once every 3 – 6 weeks, do a full clean and 100% water change. Clean the gravel (put it in a strainer and rinse it) and the silk plants and accessories (scrub and rinse with water, no soap.) More info on cleaning the tank.

There have definitely been times that I was not an ideal pet owner, and I went a lot longer between water changes and tank cleanings than this, and the fish survived. But these are the recommendations.

Note: a fish tank is an eco-system and it can get out of balance – for example, you can have a severe overgrowth of algae where the tank is filled with green gook. The balance I describe here is what worked for us: the moss balls, the snail, only turning on the tank light for an hour or two every day. If I started to see algae growth, I used the tank light less (note, the tank was in a corner of our kitchen counter so there was plenty of sunlight and artificial light in the room, just not direct into the tank.)

Note: If you see a lot of bubbles on the surface of the water, that means your fish is happy! He’s made a bubble nest in hopes of attracting a mate.

Lifespan

Some guides say they can live up to 10 years with proper care, but most pet ownership guides say 2 – 4 years. The three bettas my family has owned each lived 2 – 3 years. I believe that when you take a living creature into your life, you are committing to care for it for its natural lifespan, so I would encourage you to only get a betta if you are open to the idea of having it for 4 years or so.

Helping Your Child Be a Successful Pet Owner

It’s great if your child can take on much of the work of pet care! It’s a great way to learn responsibility. However, you as the adult are ultimately responsible for the well-being of this living creatue you have brought into your home.

I recommend writing up a checklist to keep next to the tank. Or use a calendar. Either way they make a checkmark when they feed the fish breakfast and again when they feed it dinner. That lets you keep an eye on whether or not the fish is getting fed. Also create another system for remembering to clean the tank or rotate the water.

You can also encourage your child to find other ways to connect with the animal. Here are some pictures from my son’s “betta log book” and his initial experience with his first pet.

More info on betta care:

A Pacific NW Nature Song

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Today, on Jbrary’s YouTube channel, I ran across a Douglas Fir song that they learned from KCLS. It’s to the tune of Aram Sam Sam*.

It seemed like a great way to remember some of the most common plants that we see on our preschool nature hikes in the Pacific Northwest, so I added another verse to it and motions.

A Douglas Fir, A Douglas Fir.
A tiny little mushroom and a Douglas Fir. X2

Salal, and Sword Ferns.
A tiny little mushroom and a Douglas Fir.

A Red Cedar, A Red Cedar.
Some Oregon Grape and a Red Cedar. X2

Big Leaf Maple. Blackberries.
Some Oregon Grape and a Red Cedar

For the gestures:

  • For Douglas Fir, raise your hands high above you with the palms together to help children remember that Dougs have very tall trunks and branches up high.
  • For “a tiny little mushroom” – if they’re standing up, they can squat down. If they’re sitting, use two fingers to show something that’s really tiny
  • Salal – touch your thumbs together and touch your index fingers together to make a salal leaf shape.
  • Sword Fern – pretend to wield a sword
  • For Red Cedar, spread your arms out to your sides, with the palms down to show the low branches of a red cedar.
  • For Oregon grape, use your fingers to draw a serrated leaf shape.
  • Big Leaf Maple, hold your hands up with the fingers spread to indicate the 5 points on a maple leaf.
  • Blackberries – pretend to eat berries!

For ukulele / guitar chords, I like F and C, but G and D can work too.

I made a set of 8 picture sheets to go with teaching the song, to show them what each plant looks like and how to recognize it.

douglas-fir-song-illustrationsDownload

I made a free printable book you could read about these plants.

douglas-fir-song-bookDownload

I also brought samples of each plant into the classroom for children to get familiar with before we go on a class hike.

If you want to learn more about plants that are native to the Pac NW, here’s a plant guide. Learn more about how to teach kids about nature in general and native plants particularly. And learn more about the benefits of nature for kids.

* Aram Sam Sam is commonly sung in preschools and storytimes. It is said to be originally a song in Arabic from Morocco. What does it mean? Aram sam sam is just nonsense sounds. A rafiq is a friend or companion, and gulli gulli means tell me tell me.

Outdoor Theatre 2023

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Kitsap Forest Theatre, www.foresttheater.com/
Kitsap Forest Theatre, http://www.foresttheater.com/

Outdoor productions of Shakespeare and other plays are a fun way to experience the arts in the summer time. Bring a picnic, spread a blanket out on the grass, and enjoy! (If you prefer sitting in a chair to on the ground, be sure it’s a low profile chair so you don’t block anyone’s view.) 

Outdoor theater is a good venue for kids because it gives more leeway for squirming and wiggling than an indoor performance with theater rules. However, you should still endeavor to keep kids quiet and well-behaved. Other than Storybook Theater, most of the shows listed here are good for ages 8 and up. We have brought preschoolers to shows, but we don’t expect them to pay full attention – bring snacks, toys, and sticker books to entertain them quietly. Also understand that during outdoor productions, at times your experience may be interrupted by Frisbee players in the distance, dogs sniffing by, airplanes flying overhead, and the ice cream truck in the parking lot.

Seattle Area:

Storybook Theater in the Park. Studio East in Kirkland has been doing fabulous productions perfect for 3 – 7 year old children for many years. On weekends in August, they will perform Rapunzel for free at various sites on the Eastside. 

Greenstage Shakespeare in the Park is presenting Romeo & Juliet and Henry VI, part 1. They also have smaller 4-actor adaptations of plays, called Backyard Bard that are an hour long. They’re doing Comedy of Errors and Cymbeline. (These are better choices for kids than the other two) Fridays – Sundays from July 7 – August 5 in Seattle and Fall City. Free, but please donate!

Wooden O, from Seattle Shakespeare.  Presenting a Pacific Northwest-inspired, sea-shanty take on The Tempest. Thursdays thru Sundays, July 6 – August 6. By donation. Seattle, Shoreline, Tacoma, Mercer Island, Lynnwood, Sea-Tac…

The Seattle Outdoor Theatre Festival is July 8 and 9 at Volunteer Park in Seattle. Includes some of the Greenstage and Wooden O shows, plus more.

Day Trips or Overnights

Island Shakespeare Festival – Langley. Will present Romeo and Juliet, and Hannah Cowley’s A Bold Stroke for a Husband. Thurs – Sun at 6 pm and Sunday matinees, from July 21 – September 10. Pay what you will, $0 to $50. (recommended average of $30)

Kitsap Forest Theatre – near Bremerton. Sound of Musical was Memorial Day to Father’s Day and Seussical the Musical is July 29 – August 20. $23 adults, $10 youth.

Leavenworth Summer Theatre has shows on Tuesdays – Satudays July 7 – Sept 3. Sound of Music, Cinderella, and Drowsy Chaperone (one of my favorite shows ever!!!). $14 – 40.

Bainbridge Performing Arts: The Tempest at Bloedel Reserve, Thursdays – Sundays. June 23-July 9. $25 – 30.

Activities for Kids in the Seattle area:

If you’re looking for other fun ideas for the summer, check out: Summer Movies 2023 (includes indoor and outdoor movies), my series on “Cheap Dates with Toddlers and Young Kids”,  or reviews of Eastside Parks or find hands-on STEM enrichment activities for kids age 3 – 7 at www.InventorsOfTomorrow.com.

For school year activities, if you have kids age birth to 7, check out info about info about fabulous classes at local community colleges that are great for kids AND include parent education for you,- register now before they fill up!!

Less Crowded Parks on the Eastside

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Choosing a Less Traveled Path

When planning an outing, the first parks that come to mind are the most popular ones – Green Lake, Alki Beach, Marymoor, Rattlesnake Ridge. But these can get crowded. But in King County, we are blessed with so many fabulous public spaces outdoors. Here are some less well known gems to consider for your walks. (Some of these are bike-friendly, some are not: check bike maps for bike trails.)

Bellevue

Bellevue Parks has over 2700 acres of parks and open space and over 90 miles of trails! There’s a map of Bellevue Parks here. Some options to try out:

There are three parks I know of that you might never know had a mile or more of hiking hidden in them.  Robinswood Park – near Bellevue College. Here’s a trail map, with one of our favorite trails through the woods marked out on it. Ardmore Park – near Microsoft.  Zumdieck is just north of downtown, and has a nice little loop through the woods. These are all great hikes for young children – I’ve done them with many three year olds, also good for elders who aren’t looking for an endurance hike. All three have playgrounds.

If you want a more challenging, straight uphill in the woods hike, try the Weowna Park Trail up hill from Lake Sammamish. And Bridle Trails is lovely if you don’t mind encountering horses.

If you’re just looking for a place to sit and read or have non-social play, there’s also tons more parks, both big and small. Some have playgrounds, some don’t. There are also lots of “mini-parks” and “corner parks” that aren’t much more than some grass, some trees and a picnic table. Check on the Bellevue Parks website to learn more. And more Bellevue trails are listed here.

Great Parks that can get Crowded

Downtown Bellevue Park; Crossroads Park. The barn area at Kelsey Creek park may be more crowded, but there is a nice .9 mile walking trail there, which should be fine.

Kirkland

Here’s the Kirkland Parks map. Some parks to try:

  • McAuliffe Park (between Totem Lake and Juanita Beach) is a big park with wide open grassy fields, shade trees, an ancient barn, vintage farm equipment and wind mills.
  • OO Denny – north of Juanita, near the Kenmore border. Nice beach area. (There’s a playground there.) What many people don’t notice is that on the other side of the road, up the hill, there’s a few miles of fabulous wooded trails (here’s a trail map with points of interest). It’s a pretty challenging steep climb, but beautiful. When we went on a beautiful day in late April, we hiked two hours, and passed maybe 20 people.
  • Big Finn Hill is also on the border of Kirkland and Kenmore. It’s got 9.5 miles of trails back behind the playground.
  • Carillon Woods – near Northwest College. Some trails into the woods, pretty hilly. I wrote a post about it, though it mostly covers the playgrounds.
  • Edith Moulton – between Totem Lake and Juanita. Here’s the schematic for when it was re-designed, which includes detailed maps. It’s got a nice easy walking loop.
  • Juanita Bay (around the corner from Juanita Beach) has a nice path to look over the lake. You may see turtles. The boardwalk there can get a little crowded when we’ve driven by near dinner times.
  • There’s also some parks I know nothing about, like “Cotton Hill Park – undeveloped.” Looks like it at least has a trail? Juanita Heights, Kingsgate and Norway Hill also have trails.
  • Places to sit and read/work outside: Everest Park – I like parking at their north parking lot and sitting by the stream. Peter Kirk in downtown Kirkland (park at the library), Terrace Park in Houghton – both of those have playgrounds.
  • Best parks for toddlers: Tot Lot, Phyllis Needy are both fully fenced, so it’s easy for parents to relax.

Juanita Beach, Marina Park, and Houghton Beach can get really crowded on sunny days.

Kenmore

  • Rhododendron Park has a short trail – a nice amble for a young child or an elder.
  • Wallace Swamp Creek has trails, but I haven’t had the chance to check it out. (Note, this is NOT an off leash dog park, but some people are under the impression it is, so there may be loose dogs there.)
  • Burke-Gilman Trail. This is a 20 mile long trail, but portions of it go through Kenmore. It’s paved, so great for bikes, roller blades, strollers. It is quite busy on sunny weekends, but probably a decent option for a cloudy, gray weekday. We have found the Kenmore stretches to be less busy than the Seattle zones.
  • St. Edward’s State Park. Lots of great trails. Quite busy on a sunny weekend, but would be a good outing on a rainy weekday. Large playground – it’s possible to park a ways away and walk away from it, and they might not notice. It’s a state park, so you need a Discover Pass, or it’s $10 to park there.

Here are more Kenmore parks,

Redmond

There are 59 miles of public trails in the City of Redmond! The City of Redmond website doesn’t provide a lot of detailed information on the trails; however, you can find more info about them on the All Trails website or app, on the Washington Trails Association website or TrailLink.

Trail names to look up:

  • Watershed Preserve Trails, off of Novelty Hill Road. 800 acres, with multiple trail options from 0.6 short loops to 4.3 mile hikes. Beautiful walk through green – moss, ferns, trees, ponds…. beautiful. There’s a lot of tree cover, so it’s good for rainy day hikes.
  • Tolt Pipeline Trail – 11 miles, Duvall to Bothell. Bridle Crest Trail, 3.3 miles from Bridle Trails to just north of Microsoft – it runs where 60th St would be if 60th went through.
  • The Marymoor Connector Trail is a 1.6 mile trail through Marymoor Park. It’s an easy walk with a stroller or an easy bike ride. It connects the East Lake Sammamish Trail (11 miles, up the east side of the lake) and the Sammamish River Trail (10 miles, Redmond to Bothell)
  • Farrell-McWhirter off Novelty Hill Rd. near Avondale – this is a farm park but there’s also a 1.3 mile trail through the woods. There’s a self-guided orienteering course there.

Or, there’s the 1.5 mile Viewpoint trail in the Tam O’Shanter neighborhood on the border of Redmond and Bellevue.

Snoqualmie / North Bend

On weekends, their parks can be over-flowing with day hikers. If you really can’t resist the area, instead of going to Mount Si, check out this article on 7 Trails to Try

Other Areas

Check out this Parent Map article on State Parks near Seattle. It covers Dash Point in Federal Way, Flaming Geyser in Auburn, Bay View in Mt. Vernon, Camano Island, and Salt Water in Des Moines. And this article on Secret Urban Hikes in Seattle area.

Learn about Nature while you’re out

I’ve written a guide to learning about Northwest Native plants, which includes all the major plants you’ll find on a hike outdoors, and also has a couple of scavenger hunts – one for preschool age kids, one for older kids (or adults), and a dichotomous key. Here’s another great Native Plant Field Guide that was developed by someone as her senior year project.

The City of Bellevue has a scavenger hunt for Lewis Creek that could also be used elsewhere. I found that some of the things on it were harder for kids, so I made my own version of the nature scavenger hunt using theirs as a base.