For those who live on the Central Coast of California, there is a wonderful program run through the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District (MPRPD).  They offer a variety of outdoor activities, for children through to adults.  We decided to take full advantage of it over the summer vacation and schedule activities for the kids.  One of those was a trip to the Frog Pond Wetland Preserve.

After meeting up with our guide, the kids all enjoyed a craft activity.  They made pasta necklaces (dyed in assorted colors) and we discussed the different colors with them and compared those colors to what they might find in the park – birds, flowers, bark, leaves etc.  Making a necklace was their ticket to going on a short 1 mile hike around the wetlands – of course Flynn ended up doing 2 laps.  Along the walk we stopped to listen for the different bird calls, sit under the redwoods, do bark rubbings and spot the woodpecker nests.  After the walk the kids enjoyed snacks and worked on some frog activities – drawings and molding clay before saying farewell to their guide.

The colors we found on our hike:

A few of the beautiful things we spotted:

This is an activity you can do with your children without a guide.  Have your children document the different colors, variety of birds and plants and look for certain items – such as woodpecker nests.  Take along a leaflet of local birds and plant varieties so they know what to look for and don't forget some paper and crayons for bark and leaf rubbings along the way.  Take photographs of each item they find because as we learned today, one of the most important things is:

Take only memories, leave only footprints

It is such a beautiful little spot and I cannot believe I didn't know about it before today.  And the best part is that it is dog friendly, so we will be sure to return with our pooch for a walk or two in the future.

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