Oct. 21-22 is the height of the Orionid meteor shower — an opportunity for an educational trip for the whole family. It’s nearly impossible to know what the school scene will look like through this month because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some school campuses might be open for in-person lessons,...
How grandparents and grandkids can stay close from afar during the pandemic. One of the most painful aspects of the pandemic lockdown has been the separation of grandparents from their children and grandchildren. We’ve all seen the photos of families on either side of a window, touching their hands to...
Get some fresh air and exercise with the family this summer at these local scenic hikes. Planning for school is always nerve-wracking, for sure. And by now, many parents feel as though they have pulled out all the stops on finding creative activities in the home and backyard. Maybe there...
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash With a little research, you can design a fun, enriching and free summer camp experience for your kids this summer. Now that social distancing has moved from spring to summer, parents have shifted, too, from their school-year roles as academic tutors during a time...
Camping at home as a family. It’s time to go camping. Time to get out of the house, sleep under the stars, get a change of scenery and have a family adventure — with all the comforts of home. No poison oak, no need for non-perishable foods and even better,...
Take this time at home to create these educational and fun science projects with the kids. With schools closed, the kids have been home for weeks now and you’re running out of ideas for them. Remote learning might be going well but in any case, children are antsy and looking...
We don’t have to go far to experience marine life and coastal adventures in Orange County. This might not be the time of year to take a cooling swim in the ocean waves. But it’s definitely the right season to appreciate living along the coast in ways that are just...
Planting a native garden can benefit the family as well as local wildlife. Have you ever seen the cedar waxwing bird, with its crest, black mask, clear shades of yellow and rust, and feathers so smooth they don’t look like feathers? If not, you probably haven’t been hanging around toyon...
A summer trip to Israel brings inspiration for building real-world relationships as we begin the back-to-school season. Our recent trip to Israel and Jordan was filled with landmark sites. I could show you gorgeous photos of the Ottoman-constructed Old City of Jerusalem, the astonishing building façade carved into a cliff...
Take some time during summer break for fun projects the whole family will remember. Do any teachers still assign that September cliché, the essay on “What I did during summer vacation”? Whether or not they do, it’s worth thinking about what your children would write or say in response to...
Dinner time is important—but there are other ways to create special family moments with the kids. There are times when listening to the experts can drive parents a little crazy with all the responsibilities and impossibilities of doing everything just right. Do you talk enough to your baby while breastfeeding...
A trail on the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve near Murrieta offers families a nearby hike full of natural wonders. People often ask me what my favorite local hike is. That’s a tough question. How can I compare a wildflower hike with a walk in the woods or a scramble...
The wonders of hiking can be enjoyed by the whole family with just a bit of planning. This is shaping up to be a spectacular hiking season. The early, drenching rains set the creeks flowing with water again. The warm sunshine interspersed among the storms provided just the right conditions...
Find out how your family can do its part to help save and care for the lovely monarch butterfly. Saving a species was never so much fun or so beautiful—or, in the case of the monarch butterfly—so needed. The North American population of the eye-catching orange-and-black butterflies have been declining...
Check out some of these family-friendly docent-led hikes in time for the Orange County hiking season. In most areas of the country, this is the dead of winter. In Orange County, it’s prime hiking season. Depending on when and how much rain arrives, this is often the time when the...
A new clinical report stresses the importance of play for children. If your pediatrician is up on the latest prescriptions for children, you’ll be told about whatever vaccines might be needed at this age and counseled about the importance of nutritious instead of junk food. And then you’ll be asked:...
Get inventive with these toy options for kids this Halloween. Maybe it’s time for us to be spoilsports, just a little bit, starting with this Halloween. There was once a time when you couldn’t get me to consider giving a trick-or-treater anything other than candy. Chocolate, in fact, was a...
It’s easy to let go of summer too soon. Here are some ways to continue to soak up summer family bonding. Grab onto summer and keep it here for a while by making it a period of relaxed social fun. You can do this by holding casual, low-cost gatherings during...
Escape to the enchanted garden of mystical fairies with your children by creating one in your own backyard, or visit one together at this obscure gem of a trail in Mission Viejo. What child can resist the book, “The Secret Garden”? It’s always been an enchanting notion: A special, hidden...
Oak Canyon offers an easy trail along a year-round stream, a cactus-covered ridge and a wide variety of flowers. It seemed as though the rains were never going to come this past winter, didn’t it? The hills remained brown and wildflowers that usually show up in early January still hadn’t...
Parenting OC’s new monthly column will offer obscure places, easy crafts and low-stress, low-cost ways to flow. Parents are a group of hard-working and often tired people. They earn money to provide a well-furbished home for their families and to surround their children with enriching activities and lessons. They oversee...
Where Moonstones, kayak paddles, otters and elephant seals compete with Hearst Castle for attention. The time was when families traveled to the San Simeon area solely to tour Hearst Castle and take in views of the dramatic Central Coast shoreline. Don’t get me wrong, those are still around and as...
To read Parening OC's Top 25 Teacher of Orange County 2016, click here! Amanda Hassine Woodbury Elementary, Irvine Miss Hassine is truly the most amazing and outstanding teacher..she goes above and beyond for each and every one of her students past and present..Whether it be going to Disneyland on her...