Rock Collecting {Summer Science Series}

Week 2 of our Summer Science Series with Edventures with Kids is all about geology. Today we’re talking about rock collecting. Affiliate links are included in this post. Thanks for supporting Inspiration Laboratories!

Let’s Go Rock Collecting

Aiden chose Let’s Go Rock Collecting from the library because he wanted to go rock collecting and add to his collection. In this book, you’ll get an introduction to igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks and learn about a few types of each of the rocks. The book encourages kids to go out and start their own rock collection and try to figure out what types of rocks they have.

Here are two more rock books we enjoyed.

• If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian names rocks based on how we play with them – skipping rocks, chalk rocks, climbing rocks, splashing rocks, and more. It’s a great way to get kids talking about the rocks they find.
• Rocks: Hard, Soft, Smooth, and Rough by Natalie Rosinsky. This book contains similar information to the Let’s Go Rock Collecting book in that they both talk about the types of rocks. Both books present the information in unique ways.

Starting Your Own Rock Collection

Aiden has had a rock collection since he was a toddler. Whenever we go on walks, he collects things. His favorite things to collect are rocks. Walking around the neighborhood, he mostly finds rocks that wash down from people’s driveways – they usually aren’t the most interesting rocks. {They are great for painting though.}

He finds the most interesting rocks on our hikes on the trail, in the woods, near creeks, and especially in dry creek beds. We also look for rocks at the local university. The geology department has a rock pile outside where they toss their unwanted rocks.

Here are just some of the rocks we’ve found in the pile one day.

The geology department usually has a lot of core samples where you can see the rock layers. Aiden loves to collect these cylindrical rocks.

And of course bringing your magnifying glass while wearing a rock shirt adds to the rock hounding experience.

Once you find some rocks, try to determine what type of rocks they are. Are the igneous or sedimentary, or maybe even metamorphic? Use a rock field guide to help you identify them and find their exact names.

Do your kids enjoy rock collecting? Where do you find your best rocks?

Summer Science Series Weekly Reading Themes

Week 1: Biology

• Backyard Earthworm Experiments
• Kids’ Books and Websites about Biology over at Edventures with Kids.
• Growing Vegetable Soup at Read Science
• Easy Earthworm Science Experiment
• How to Attract Fireflies

Week 2: Geology

• Rock Collecting
• Kids’ Books and Activities About Geology at Edventures with Kids
• R is for Rocks {part of our A to Z Science series for toddlers and preschoolers}
• Sediment Observations and Learning about Dirt at Read Science

Week 3: Astronomy

• Learn about the Sun, Moon, and Earth
• Astronomy Activities for Kids with a list of books about stars at Edventures with Kids
• Make a model of the solar system with this planet order activity.
• Play a Planet Board Game to learn about the planets.

Week 4: Physics

• Physics for Kids: Exploring Color and Temperature
• Exploring Physics with Kids with a cool sink and float activity at Edventures with Kids
• A collection of physics experiments and activities for preschoolers

Week 5: Chemistry

• Kitchen Chemistry Experiment: Make a Cup Cake
• Chemistry Experiments for Kids with CO2 from Edventures with Kids
• More Kitchen Chemistry ideas
• 20 Baking Soda Experiments

Week 6: Ecology

• Ecology for Kids: Food Chain Lesson
• Learn about Biomes plus Ecology Books and Resources at Edventures with Kids

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