Top Tips for Rock Pooling with Kids

Today we are sharing a storybook by one of our favourite authors Julia Donaldson and one of the most read books we have from her –

How to rock pool with kids

What you need

A small fishing net

Bucket

Guide for the beach if you want to discover what you have found

A beach with rock pools

Rock Pooling

One of the things that we always do when we are rock pooling is make sure that our feet are suitably covered – with rocks, limpets and barnacles on the rocks at tide mark we really don’t want sore and cut feet – so wellington boots or jelly shoes are required.

Once we arrive at the beach it’s time to explore – fill up a bucket with water from the pools and then dip the net in and explore.

It really is that easy – the sand at the bottom of the pool is often one of the best places to find small shrimps and small fish.

5 Top tips for rock pooling with kids

CHECK THE TIDE TIMES – Know the tide times for the beach you are visiting – you don’t want to be trapped and equally you don’t want to arrive and find that the time you have it’s high tide and the kids won’t be able to get on the beach.

Wear shoes – rocks, barnacles, limpets and even the possibility of a crab nipping at the toes means that they are likely to be cut make sure that little feet and yours are protected.

Don’t forget the rocks themselves – many creatures in the rock pools are sedentary using tentacles to feed or filter out plankton from the water. Check out the rocks along the inside of the rock pools and if you are there at low tide then check the rocks at the lowest point they may hold all sorts of interesting creatures.

Take some water home with you – Take a small bottle with you and take it home – then look at it under a magnifying glass or if you have a microscope at home have a look there. At home, we have a

You know that here at Rainy Day Mum we love connecting books with learning and all this month Trisha over at Inspiration Laboratories has been running a storybook science series where bloggers from around the world select their favourite book and inspire you to explore different science areas with your kids.

As I mentioned at the start we love Julia Donaldson Activities and they often inspire us to get creative with our learning check out these other ideas we have featured in the past. Click on the images to be taken to the posts.

Original article and pictures take http://rainydaymum.co.uk/rock-pooling site