Fun Ways to Start Rock Collecting with Kids
Wouldn’t those curious kids like to go on a treasure hunt? Try rock collecting for kids! Get them interested in science with a little rockhounding and read some fun facts and information about rocks and minerals for kids.
Rockology would like to help introduce your kids to the wonderful world of geology with some rockhounding fun. Rock collecting is a treasure hunt—a great hands-on activity that gets young minds interested in science and geology at an early age. Geology is the study of earth or “earth science”.
Geology helps us ask questions about the earth:
- How old is the earth?
- What are the ground, the soil and the rocks made of?
- Why do mountains grow so tall?
- Why is the Grand Canyon such a deep, dark cliff?
- Why do some rocks and minerals shine like a crystal while others do not?
When you get kids interested in any sort of science at a young age, they begin to build and connect passageways in early memories that later promotes easy recall of the subject matter and helps to build a wider understanding of nature and the geology of the earth.
Kids love to see rocks and minerals shine! So they won’t mind it’s all fun in learning.
How to Begin–Rocks and Minerals for Kids:
Inspiration
What rocks and minerals catch your eye? The first thing you need to know is what types of rocks and minerals kids like to collect.
Ask them, which are interesting or beautiful to you, which stand out and shine?
Many kids are first captured by geology in the glimmer of a crystal, the color of a beautiful agate slice or the texture of stalactites inside a cave.
Organization
How would you like to clean, identify, label, catalog and display your rocks and minerals? Things like Identification, Labeling, Cataloging and Displaying are some of the most important parts of rock collecting—it’s like we’re real geologists here!
Some things to include are the mineral, location, date collected and who collected it. Here is a free rock and mineral label print sheet.
Tools you Might Need:
Pick and Shovel
The best way to get kids interested in rocks and minerals is to get out there and dig! Find a place nearby or plan a trip next vacation to visit a rock and mineral extraction site. Fee mining sites can be found located throughout the US with this map. Start off small and pan the soil for crystals and gems, or dig right in the soil with pick and shovel to uncover thunder eggs. Don’t worry, most sites will allow you to rent equipment if you don’t have your own!
Tumbler
If you decide to collect rocks from mines in the nearby region or far away on vacation, you might find that a tumbler is a wonderful addition to complete the educational activity. Kids have way too much energy to sit and ponder rocks—but, they absolutely love to get involved. Those who are tactile learners are more engaged in hands-on learning and build knowledge best with scientific activities.
Rock and Mineral Book
Your kids will certainly need a guidebook for rocks and minerals if you want them to learn everything there is to know about geology. Kids are like sponges in that they soak up every bit of information they find interesting—notice how your children remain engaged in learning when you incorporate something fun like an activity into the mix?
Some kids simply love to read. Take advantage of this opportunity to download our free rock and mineral book—Rocks 101. You can start with a treasure hunt full of fun facts at each new location.
A Prized Specimen
Once you’ve figured out which rocks and minerals you like, you might want to pick which piece is your favorite of all. The best rock collecting inspiration comes from that prized piece—the one little gem in the box that you cherish above the rest.
What makes it so special? Why does it capture your eye? There are many things we can learn about the rock and mineral that is our very favorite above the rest. It is the Prized Specimen—and its quality is legendary.
Every kid must have a beautiful or favorite rock and mineral specimen to be truly captured by the adventure of rock collecting.
Start the collection and build interest in rocks and minerals for kids right way by finding a specimen they won’t forget! A fun educational activity makes the perfect gift that keeps on giving.
Labels by KidsLoveRocks.com
cc: Gerry Thomasen
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