Beach Discovery and Sorting

Today was one of those days that I dream about: beautiful crisp autumn air, crystal blue skies with sporadic puffy white clouds that look like they were painted by an old Dutch master, and the slight breeze that hints the smells of Fall. So, even though both Scott and I had mountains of work to do, and he had already spent time this morning in the backyard sorting leaves with the boys,

we knew that if we spent anymore time in the backyard we would all go batty. The beach, the beach was the answer. While Scott loaded the kids in the car, I quickly grabbed a few things to help make our time at the beach productive. A blanket, sorting trays, magnifying glasses, a measuring tape, and a ruler would do the trick. Once at the beach, I placed them out for the boys to take advantage of.

Here is what we discovered this morning…

Right off the bat, Arthur and Scott found an amazing partial fish skeleton…check out those teeth!

George grabbed a magnifying glass and looked at…well who knows, the sand, the sky, or in true George form, for snack.

So, after George found snack, we walked down to the water and saw a monarch butterfly. George loved following it around and checking it out.

Then, we checked out the footprints in the sand, guessing who may have made them.

Meanwhile, Arthur was walking down the beach with Scott collecting items for the sorting trays.

When we got down there, Arthur was having a wonderful learning experience in the waves. I just let him “play”, hoping my picture-taking wouldn’t disturb him.

Feeling the texture of the sand and water….

Placing a rock into the waves and seeing how the water moved around it and how the sand was shifting…

Making mounds of sand and watching the waves slowly wash it away…

I am in awe at how many learning experiences Arthur just had in that short span of discovery. My favorite part, I didn’t say a word.

Next, we picked up a few bivalves that were still intact. We commented on how the one looked like the wings of a moth. Funny how nature’s patterns repeat.

With shells in hand, we walked back down the beach to see what George was up to…

What mom?! They make a cool sound…

Between the rock throwing, Scott found an awesome telson from a horseshoe crab.

Back to the magnifying glasses.

A quick break for Arthur’s favorite Noroton Fire Department truck that showed up at the beach…

Once back at the trays, Arthur took advantage of the ruler and measuring tape. He is really into measuring things at the moment.

So, finally, here are some pictures of the trays the boys, and Scott, put together.

And of course…their rocks.

What a fantastic morning at the beach!