Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Need a place to spend a few hours with your young children? Want a fun place that will engage their minds, bodies, and imaginations?

Check out the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo.

Geared toward children seven-years-old and younger, JMZ was voted 2007’s “Best Place to Take Kids on a Playdate,” the JMZ has a wonderful museum filled with hands-on science experiments, a crawling area, and information about energy creation and conservation. Through play, children learn about physics, math, geometry, and earth science. An added benefit for homeschoolers is socializing with other children!

The zoo houses many rescued animals, including bobcats, snakes, bats, fish, and a peacock. Native plants and lizards surround a beautiful solar-powered fountain.

One of the favorite indoor is the tennis ball ramp, which is comprised of gears, a large screw, overhead tubes, and wheels. Other popular exhibits include the hand-cranked fans (demonstrating wind power) and the animal den filled with stuffed animals and logs.

For more field trip ideas,

check out GHF's Virtual Field Trips page.

The JMZ offers science programs for the groups, as well as classes, summer camps, and birthday parties for families.

The museum sits next to Rinconada Park, which has two play areas—one fenced-in on the parking lot side only and the other completely fenced, as well as picnic tables, benches, and loads of grass for running and playing.

Entrance to the JMZ is free, although a small donation of $3 per person is requested, and is well worth it.

Pack a picnic and a camera, and spend the afternoon at the Junior Museum & Zoo!

Article by Sarah J. Wilson

Botany, Ecology, and Latin at the UCSC Arboretum

Botany is not a subject one commonly thinks of grade-school-aged children studying. Yet, children are fascinated by nature. They love smelling flowers, touching leaves, watching bugs, rolling in the grass. Why wait until they are in their teens or even older before introducing them to the wonders of our world?

A good place to experience the wonders of plants is the UCSC Arboretum. Admission is free the first Tuesday of the month, and not very much the rest of the time.

The Arboretum highlights native plants of California, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The diversity is surprising! And the colors are spectacular. I always take loads of pictures of plants I would love for my garden, knowing that everything there is drought-tolerant and low maintenance.

My eldest son likes discovering plants with unique names, while my youngest is always on the lookout for the colony of roly-polies that is always so busy.

For more field trip ideas,

check out GHF's Virtual Field Trips page.

But how do we incorporate the Arboretum into our homeschooling? There are the basics for the younger set: counting plants, naming colors, using descriptive words, investigating through smell and touch. Many of the plants have tags with both the Latinate and common names, so older children can read the tags. Those doing Latin (and even those not) can discuss the origin of the Latinate name. Of course, since the Arboretum displays plants from three continents, geography comes into play. Ecology is introduced with the discussion of why these plants are better for our gardens than other, thirstier varieties. What children (and plenty of adults) find interesting is figuring out why plants look the way they do. Why is one flower so different from another? Why do they bloom at different times? Why does this bush best grow under that tree? Why does this plant look like a rock? Just what are those roly-polies doing?

Regardless of what you discuss while ambling around the gardens, you are bound to come away refreshed and intrigued. Oh, and don’t forget to stop by Norrie’s Gift Shop on the way out, where you can purchase gardening books, native plants, and unique gifts for family and friends.

Article by Sarah J. Wilson