It may seem quite simple, but so often we overlook this goldmine of opportunity.  It's just a rock, but under it flourishes a whole new world teeming with life!  So, grab your camera, your magnifying glass and maybe even a bug net and container, and turn it over!

Each time the kids and I do this, we have a sense of excitement at all the possibilities we may find.  Beforehand, we sometimes try to guess what might be under it.  Will it be Sow Bugs (roly-polies)?

Or perhaps a colony of ants, scurrying about with their eggs. (click to enlarge)

Sometimes we find spiders, like this common Grass Spider (we NEVER collect spiders, I'm not that good of a nature Mom)!  But we do like to observe them from a distance.  If you're brave enough to click on this photo to enlarge, you may be able to see the poor Roly-Poly who is caught in his web right in front of him.

We also sometimes find interesting looking bugs that we do not know the names of.  Sometimes we temporarily collect a bug to observe it.  Or in this case, we just took a photo and later identified it as a Woodland Ground Beetle.  Seems the Roly-Poly wants to be friends with him.

But, we all agree that one of our favorites to find is the Field Cricket!  We collected this one to put in the habitat the kids made (I'll post on that later).

Sometimes to find our other favorite, the common earthworm, we also have to turn over an old log.

We always place our rocks and logs back into place when we are finished.  If you just happen to not have any rocks on the surface of your yard or old logs laying around, do consider finding some or several to place in an area just for a fun nature activity such as this!  If you'd like to expedite life coming to live under them, dig up a small patch of grass and place them directly on the dirt, wait a week or so and get ready to turn it over and discover!