We just love our nature time, and what a wonderful addition it has been to add in lessons from the Wild Explorer's Club. There have been so many wonderful assignments! When we got to the walking stick assignment, we knew we needed to get ourselves to where there would be some trees. Into the Eucalyptus grove in Montana de Oro we headed!
These trees are actually not native to the central coast, but are now such a big part of our State Park. They smell wonderful, and the shedding bark leaves such a beautiful trunk. The kids loved foraging for the perfect stick. Just the right size, not too heavy, and with a perfect handle.
The trail we took, of course, ended up at the beach. And then I was stuck holding all the sticks, while the kids ran down the massive sand dunes. Once down at the beach, the walking sticks turned into tide pool tools. And once we got home, whittling knives and sand paper perfected the sticks for future hikes.
Oh the possibilities of decorating those walking sticks. What about:
wrapping colored floss around the stick