"Look, Mom, a shell! A beautiful shell!"
If you go to the beach this summer, you may find dozens of seashells, each uniquely wonderful. Plan on filling a whole jar with your favorites: scallops, opens a new window and angel wings, opens a new window (piddocks), whelks, opens a new window and sand dollars, opens a new window.
A jar of seashells is a fine thing, but you can take your shells home and create works of art to give or keep as a reminder of your beach vacation. You may prefer to start a shell collection, for there are so many different kinds of beautiful shells.
Here's something to keep in mind: before you found them washed up on the beach, your shells protected small sea creatures. Make sure your shells are very clean before popping them in the back of the mini-van for a long ride home. Your mom and dad will thank you for it!
Another place to see lots of sea life is the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, opens a new window in Virginia Beach. Its cool, dark corridors are filled with all kinds of aquatic creatures. The museum offers boat trips so you can come along on an exciting afternoon voyage into the Atlantic to look for whales, dolphins, and more.
Before packing your sturdy shoes for shell-collecting (jellyfish—, opens a new windowow!), stop by the library for books on which shell is which and what to do with your shells once you find them.
The following books and Internet sites are great for beginning conchologists*:
*A big word for shell collector. A conch, opens a new window is a kind of snail with a beautiful shell.
On the Web
9 Fun, Easy Crafts Using Shells to Remind the Kids of Your Summer Vacation, opens a new window
Make shell animals; dye your seashells; design necklaces, hearts, hair pins, wall hangings, picture frames; and make a clamshell jewelry holder.
Chesapeake Bay Program: Field Guide, opens a new window
Learn a lot about the animals and plants in our Chesapeake Bay region. You will find information about creatures with shells under Insects & Invertebrates.
Draw Sea Shells, opens a new window
Don't have seashells? Learn how to draw your own and then color them.
How Are Seashells Formed?, opens a new window
What are seashells, anyway, and how do they come into being? Expand your vocabulary (pop-up definitions!) while learning about shells.
Identification Guide to Seashells, Sealife, Seafans and More, opens a new window
"This guide is devoted to help in identifying the many seashells and other sealife that can be found along the shore. From seashells to sanddollars to starfish and more. With so much of the Earth covered by water it would be impossible to include all items that could be found but most people should be able to find what they are looking for."
In the Library
Animals With Awesome Armor, opens a new window by Susan K. Mitchell
Cool Shells, opens a new window by Mary Elizabeth Salzmann
Little Clam, opens a new window by Lynn Reiser
Seashells, opens a new window by Melissa Stewart
Shell, opens a new window by Alex Arthur
Shells! Shells! Shells!, opens a new window written and illustrated by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Tide Pools, opens a new window by Anita Malnig
What Lives in A Shell?, opens a new window by Kathleen Zoehfeld
