Twin Falls State Park: only 35 miles east of the city, the first mile is flat and has lots of exciting natural features to explore.

Cougar Mountain: located between Newcastle and Issaquah, packing in a quick day-hike doesn’t get much more convenient.  Also, because of the area’s mining history, it’s easy to combine nature hike with history lesson for a well-rounded, educational outing!

Check out Best Hikes With Kids: Western Washington & the Cascades at your local library branch for more great ideas, and visit the Seattle Parks & Recreation website for in-city options.

Before embarking, be sure to let someone know where you are going and your plan/route.  Pack a first aid kit, rain gear, water, and snacks!  Have fun!

Check out these farms to plan your next U-pick adventure!  Be sure to call ahead to confirm hours and berry availability, since berries ripen based on the weather (thanks to Parent Map for this great information!).

Remlinger Farms: Carnation, WA

Bryant Blueberry Farm: Arlington, WA

Mercer Slough & Larson Lake Blueberry Farms: Bellevue, WA

To find additional U-pick farms, visit pugetsoundfresh.com, click “Find a Farm” and search for U-pick.

For more information on Urban Foraging and berry types, storage, and picking tips, read this article at ParentMap.com

INDOOR ACTIVITIES:

1. Indoor camping- Throw a sheet over your kitchen table and camp out underneath. You can sing campfire songs, make s?€™mores in the microwave, and pretend to go fishing. If you have access to a small pop-tent, these can be set up indoors temporarily and provide hours of entertainment.

2. Write and Illustrate a book- With construction paper and some crayons, the children can become authors and illustrators. If old enough, let them write their own stories and illustrate them (either by drawing pictures or cutting photos out of old magazines) or for younger children, you can write down their story as they dictate it to you.

3. Treasure Hunt- Hide a small treasure (a bag of candy, new game, etc.) somewhere in the house. Use post-it notes to write clues and hide them throughout the house. Each clue leads to another clue, until finally the last one will lead the children to the “treasure.”

4. Caf?© Kids. Let the kids create restaurant menus of items you have in the kitchen. Take turns giving lunch orders to each other (or you). Let everyone be the kitchen staff to prepare the lunches, and then switch to become the customers who get to eat the delicious meals they?€™ve ordered!

5. Oversized painting- Tape several large sheets of paper together on the backside or get a large role of butcher paper. Fill a few containers with different colors of finger-paints and give the kids a box of strange items to make their painting with. Try: a spaghetti strainer, a balloon, a mop head, sponges, rain boots and any other objects you see lying around!

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES:

1. Bubble art- Just about every kid enjoys bubbles! Create your own bubble solution with dishwashing liquid, water, and a teaspoon of sugar. Pour into a shallow container with a wide open mouth and then use odd objects to create your bubbles. String, rubber bands, the spaghetti strainer, straws, slotted spoons and anything else you can think of make some fun bubbles! When the kids tire of making bubbles, add a few drops of food coloring to the bubble solution and have them blow bubbles that pop onto white paper. The result will be an artistic masterpiece made from the rainbow colored bubbles!

2. Scavenger Hunt- Create a list of 20 or more things that can be found naturally outside in your area, things like pinecones, specific flowers, nuts, etc. Send the kids on a scavenger hunt to try and collect one of each item on the list. This can be done as a group effort, or each child can compete with the other to see who can find the most objects the fastest.

3. Yard sale- Help the kids organize a yard sale. They can price their unused toys and clothing and other items that it?€™s time to get rid of. Set up the tables outside with the items to sell and handle the ?€?customers.?€? Anything that doesn?€™t sell can be donated to a local charity or placed on ebay (and the kids could use the money to buy themselves something they want).

4. Plant a container garden- Many vegetables and herbs can be grown indoors or outdoors inside containers. Let the children pick some varieties to grow and tend to them throughout the spring/summer. It may even convince them to eat a vegetable if they know they grew it!

5. Be a tourist- Pretend to be a tourist in your own town and nearby locations. Use maps to discover landmarks, attractions, and parks that you?€™ve never gone to, and plan trips to visit each. There are many interesting things around Seattle that are free. For example: the Aurora Bridge Troll, the downtown Seattle Library, various musuems offer free days, and of course all the wonderful parks!