The Tide Is Out

5 Reasons to Take Your Kids to the Tide Pools

Tide pooling can be a little bit intimidating for some, especially if you are thinking about taking your kids to the tide pools for the first time. But just in case you only read this far, you should do it! As long as you take into account the mild safety risks and plan accordingly, taking your kids tide pooling is a fun, educational, and exciting activity for kids of (almost) all ages. My parents first brought me to the rocky shores when I was three.

I’m planning a series of posts about tide pooling with kids where we’ll get into the weeds of how to handle kids while tide pooling and what you can except from different age groups. In this post, I’m just going to lay out some reasons why taking your kids tide pooling is a good investment of time and effort. Trust me; you won’t regret it. 

1. 1. Introduction to Marine Life
2. 2. Winter Beach Activity
3. 3. Spark Curiosity
4. 4. Teaching Gentleness and Respect
5. 5. They’ll Have Fun

1. Introduction to Marine Life

Taking your kids to the tide pools is like taking them on treasure hunt at an aquarium. There are hundreds of pools and rocks to explore and each one holds fascinating marine creatures. Even if you don’t expect your child to go into science, seeing marine creatures in their natural habitat is a valuable experience. Plus, it doesn’t cost any money (unless you visit a location where you have to pay for parking), so it is more accessible than aquariums or other opportunities to view marine life like whale watching (although those things are great too!). 

Tide pooling can also be a great way to let your child see ocean animals in the wild without having to snorkel. No swimming skills are required for tide pooling, making it possible for many more people. Taking your kids on outings like tide pooling can seriously broaden their education and increase learning. 

2. Winter Beach Activity

If you live near the beach, but aren’t sure what to do with the kids there in the winter, tide pooling is a great option. While you aren’t guaranteed to stay dry, there is definitely less chance of wet clothes compared to playing in the sand and it doesn’t have to be warm for you and your kids to enjoy exploring the rocky shores. You’ll also find that on the West Coast of the U.S., the best daytime low tides of the year are in the winter, so you won’t want to miss the opportunity to see an octopus or kelp crab with your kids. 

3. Spark Curiosity

Children need to experience new things. And while there is way too much stimulus in our digital world to ever take in, the curiosity of children stirred up by something truly new is unmatched. Even the most common marine invertebrates, the ones you are guaranteed to see if you visit a known tide pooling spot, look they are from an alien universe and are entirely different to any terrestrial animal. Anemones alone are like flower animals that can also move, hunt, and react to a child’s touch. Never underestimate the value of your kids becoming curios about something. It encourages learning, thinking, and further exploring. 

4. Teaching Gentleness and Respect

Tide pooling is a great opportunity to practice gentleness with your child. There are several types of animals that you can gently touch on our rocky shores (see this article for which ones), and showing your child how to control their hands and softly touch the animals can help them with this skill. This especially works with the animals that will close up if you are too rough; if you child wants to see them, they must be gentle.

It’s difficult to teach children (and adults) to respect other living things, especially other people simply because they are people. As strange as it might seem, taking your kids to the tide pools can provide an opportunity to teach respect for others. That thing is alive; don’t step on it. We don’t take anything from the rocks; the animals need it for their home. Just because an animal is less powerful than you does not give you the right to hurt it.

5. They’ll Have Fun

Seriously, they will. I first visited the tide pools when I was three and was enamored by an anemone. Now I’ve visited the tide pooling countless time with many people and have made it a serious hobby. While you might have to work through a melt down or wet socks, your kids will definitely have fun exploring our rocky shore line. After all, what kid doesn’t like a treasure hunt? Getting to search for marine animals is no exception. Get out there and have some fun!