Rock pooling – visiting tidal pools to see what lives in them – is a fabulous outdoor activity that kids of all ages will love. It’s an awesome nature activity that is packed with science learning, and loads of fun!
Follow our simple tips for rock pooling with kids and grab our free printable rock pool scavenger hunt to check off all the things you find in the tide pools!
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Rock pooling, also known as tide pooling, is a fun and easy way to spend time at the beach, exploring the rocky shoreline during low tide to see what you can discover. Tide pools are temporary habitats for a huge variety of marine life, from sea anemones, to crabs, starfish and more!
During low tide it is easy to observe these mini ecosystems and get up close to lots of different sea creatures. It’s a fun, and easy way to connect kids with nature and learn about coastal environments and the plants and animals that live in them.
What You’ll Need to go Rock Pooling with Kids
You don’t need any fancy equipment to go rock pooling with kids! Here are few things that you’ll need:
- appropriate clothing, a hat, and sunscreen.
- shoes that can get wet – rocks can be slippery and sharp so best to protect your feet.
- a bucket or container
- a spade or scoop (optional)
- a kid-sized fishing net (optional)
Tips for Rock Pooling with Kids
The best beaches for rock pooling are ones that are sheltered with a rocky shoreline. A quick google will help you find lots of good places to go rock pooling in your areas.
Check the tides for the beach you are visiting and plan your trip to coincide with low tide, Make sure you have lots of time for exploring before the tide turns and keep an eye on the water level and the surrounding area as tides can change quickly.
Make sure to supervise your kids at all times around water, and stay away from the edges of rock platforms, and be careful of slippery rocks.
Learn about the marine life in your area, and what is safe to observe up close and what is unsafe. Teach your children never to put their hands where they can’t see, eg under rocks, and to look carefully before reaching into a rock pool. Where I live we have blue ringed octopuses so we teach our kids never to pick up marine life unless they check with an adult first.
Try to a approach each rock pool quietly and try not to cast a shadow over it so you don’t scare any marine life into hiding.
Look carefully to see all the marine life that lives in each rock pool. Try not to disturb them too much, don’t move large rocks, and make sure to return any items you’ve scooped up for a closer look back into the rock pool you got it from.
Talk with your kids about what animals live in the tide pools and the delicate balance within these mini ecosystems. Encourage them to ask questions, and go home and help them find more information about the marine life you discovered.
This seashell identification worksheet is a great way to learn more about the shells you might find, or check out one of these children’s books about rock pools:
Free Printable Rock Pool Scavenger Hunt.
A great way to encourage observation skills and record the marine life you find while rock pooling is to use our printable rock pool scavenger hunt.
You might be able to find all the items in the tide pools you are observing but it is a fun way to begin to learn about the kinds of marine life that live in rock pools, and you can flip the paper over to draw or write about the extra item’s you;d found.
The printable tide pool scavenger hunt is an A4 sized pdf file, you will need a pdf reader such as adobe acrobat to open it. It will fit to print on US ‘letter sized’ paper, just be sure to select ‘fit’ or ‘shrink to fit’ from your printer options to allow for printer margins.
Click here to download the rock pool scavenger hunt.
Please remember that the printables at picklebums.com are for personal use only, you may not sell, share, or link directly to these files.
More fun Beach and Sea Activities.
Going rock pooling is definitely something to add to your holiday bucket list!
And if your kids love the beach and the sea that might also like these fun ideas:
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