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You are here: Home / Activities / Exploring Nature, Geodes, Rock Arches, and Books with My Kids

Exploring Nature, Geodes, Rock Arches, and Books with My Kids

By Betty
May 19, 2019

19 May
129shares
Rocks and Minerals: Exploring Nature's Rock Arches at the beach

My children are constantly collecting rocks, and we have also had fun cracking open geodes as a family!  Rocks are amazingly unique, each with their own color, texture, size, and shape.  It’s no wonder that rocks are natural, open-ended learning toys for children!

The best part of “rock education” is that rocks are everywhere!  Our children don’t need the iPad or television to learn about rocks.

Related: Printable Nature Montessori 3-Part Cards (Chinese, Korean, English)

Through real life experiences, our children get to feel the weight of each stone, measure the size with their hands and arms, and learn to balance and climb on bumpy terrain.

At our local beach, my children have been fascinated by the smallest rocks to the tallest boulders in the ocean.

When they wonder how giant rock arches eventually erode and become small rocks, ocean waves roll into the shore and demonstrate their ebbs and flows which eventually wear down all structures.

Related: 4 Ways to Teach Chinese Characters at the Beach!

Crack open geodes! A fun outdoor family activity!

This post may have some affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, I earn a small commission which supports my blog and free printables at no additional cost to you. Please see the disclosure policy for details.

I’m going to share some of the ways my children have learned about rocks through nature outings and geode kits.  The end of the post concludes with our favorite books about rocks, and I’d love to learn about your favorites, too!

Exploring the inside of geodes with children

While the outside of rocks are plenty fascinating for young children, geodes takes the awe to another level!  Last year, both of my children had a blast comparing the inside of different geodes compared to that of regular rocks.

What you need for the geode activity

  1. National Geographic Break Open Geodes Kit – set comes with small magnifying glass, safety goggles, and 10 geodes
  2. Hammer
  3. Chisel

We ended up preferring this larger magnifying glass compared the tiny one that comes with the kit.

Please remember that adult supervision and safety goggles are required!  The rocks are hard to break, and when cracked, pieces may fly astray (eg, into eyes)!

Rocks and Minerals: Exploring National Geography Geode Kit

Tips for using the geode kit:

  • Please follow the directions that come with the geode kit!  The geode kit comes with instructions!
  • Find old socks that you don’t care for.  The instructions say to place the rocks in a sock to keep the pieces contained.  The first geode that we cracked caused pieces to fly far!  Thankfully, nobody was in the line of fire.  However, we placed subsequent geodes in a sock and it was much better.  Just know that the sock will likely be ruined due to impact from hammering.  So pick a pair that you won’t miss!

Here’s a closer look at the inside of the geodes!  My children have enjoyed examining the geodes along with smooth pebbles.

Authentic hands-on experiences, like cracking open geodes, encourage discussion about different colors, textures, and other observed characteristics.

Why We Should Explore Nature, Rocks, and Pebbles with Kids!
Exploring rocks in nature

Of course, the ultimate way to explore rocks is simply going outside!

Although it might seem silly to list this as an activity, basics like unstructured play outside can be easily overshadowed when we are constantly bombarded with technology and electronic toy advertisements.

We need to make time for nature and giving the child space for uninterrupted observation, which can be a challenge with our modern, busy schedules.

Rocks and Minerals: Exploring Nature's Rock Arches at the beach

This rocky beach is one of our favorite spots in our small California town.

Not only is it a peaceful place to reflect and enjoy the scenery, the bumpy terrain makes it an exciting playground for our family! 

These natural experiences are important for building memories with my children while practicing speaking our minority language, Chinese, to each other!

Related: Nature Literacy Activities for Kids

Rocks and minerals: Science books for children

Here are our favorite educational and beautifully photographed books about rocks!

  • Chinese
    • iSuper Science books (detailed review)
  • English
    • National Geographic Readers: Rocks and Minerals
    • My Book of Rocks (DK Publishing)
    • The Rock and Gem Book: And Other Treasures of the Natural World
    • Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks and Minerals

Both of my children enjoy looking at the gorgeously detailed images, especially after exploring the giant rock arches at the beach!

Rocks and minerals: Science books for children, National Geographic Rock Geode Kit

While reading these books, I gave my son a Chinese rock labeled “石” from our 石 radical activity.  This helped my son learn the important 石 Chinese character.

Chinese rock 石

What about your family?

Do your children like to collect rocks and explore nature?  What are your family’s favorite books about rocks in Chinese and English?  We would love to learn more from you!

Leave a comment and don’t forget to tag @CHALKAcademy on Instagram and Facebook!

More ways to learn with rocks

  • Fun Ways to Use Stones for Chinese Reading & Writing Practice!
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Chinese and Korean) Story Stones Learning Activity

Happy learning, friends!

2 Comments

About Betty

I'm a Chinese-American mom who is having fun teaching my children Mandarin Chinese while re-learning the language myself. I love coming up with creative, hands-on, and educational activities, and I hope these ideas help your children have fun learning Chinese!

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Dr. Betty Choi CHALK Academy - 2

Hi! I’m Betty, a Chinese-American mom, believer, pediatrician, and writer.  I’m having fun learning Chinese with my children, and I love sharing multilingual resources and teaching tips!  I hope these ideas can help your family or school! Read More…

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