Exploring Anastasia State Park Together | St. Augustine, FL

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

~Saint Augustine~

St. Augustine is the United States’ oldest city. It is full of rich living history, culture, art, religion, and fun places for families to learn together. Being from central Florida, our family generally visits St. Augustine at least once or twice a year. It has become an unintentional family tradition. Often we just make a day trip but during this visit, we decided to stay for the entire weekend.

On Saturday, we chose to take our girls to Anastasia State Park and downtown St. Augustine. There is so much to do in both of those locations you could literally spend days exploring them both. I always try to be intentional with mixing fun and education during our travels, so today I would like to share more about how we did just that.

Exploring Anastasia State Park

If you love the outdoors you will certainly appreciate this park. You can hike, camp, fish, surf, kayak, bike, bird watch, swim, and so much more here. To learn about all of their amenities visit their website HERE.

Dunes & Wildlife

During our trip, I set out to focus on the beach, wildlife, and the Spanish Quarries nature trail. The girls and I have been learning about different bodies of water and the major defining aspects of each body of water. So we have been traveling to different lakes, creeks, rivers, etc to learn all about them and the various wildlife you can find at each. Since we live in Florida, this was certainly not our first trip to the beach, however, during this visit I specifically wanted to take them to a beach where the dunes are preserved. Beach dunes are important for many reasons but they are especially important to the wildlife found at the beach. You can find birds, crabs, snails, and even the endangered Anastasia Island Endangered Beach Mouse there. We didn’t get to see the mouse but we were able to see several different types of birds and a turtle digging in one of the dunes as we walked to the beach.

Beach Warning Flags

Ava is now 4 years old and is very observant for her age. So during this visit to the beach, I made sure to point out the beach warning flag and we discussed what they mean. On this specific day, there was a single red flag flying. The red flag signifies high hazard due to high surf and/or strong currents. It is important to teach our children the importance of being observant of our surroundings. We should be observant of those on the beach, of the wildlife that may be on the shore, the tide levels, the weather, and more. When visiting the beach, the flag can be an important tool to help us prepare for a safe visit.

Sensory Play at the Beach

It is important for children to explore using their senses and the beach is a perfect place to do just that! There are a variety of ways to explore all five of our senses at the beach. Our girls enjoy splashing in the water and digging in the sand. We also like to explore the textures of different shells and Anastasia has TONS of shells!

Engineering & History

Did you know that building sandcastles are a great way for children to learn about engineering? There are so many different aspects of building a proper structure that a child can explore just from building a castle on your beach vacation.

Can you build a castle with dry sand? Can your sand be too wet? How tall can you make your castle? Will you make a moat for your castle? What is the purpose of a moat? Do you need tools to build a sandcastle? Can you build a castle without tools? How could you use shells in your castle? Where is the best place to build a sandcastle?

Building with Coquina

As you enter Anastasia State Park, on the right hand side of the road there is a trail to walk to old Spanish quarries where they mined for coquina during the early settlement years. Coquina is a material composed of limestone, shells, and sand that the settlers used to build their structures.

Full Circle at Historic Downtown St. Augustine

After exploring sand and shells at the beach and then learning how those form together to create coquina which was found in the quarry, we then went downtown to see exactly how they used the coquina to building the fort (Castillo de San Marcos) and other buildings. We were able to physically see and touch the seashells in the coquina that were helping to form the structures. How cool is it to learn about a concept and then see it in action!

Big Wooden Playground: A Must Visit with Kids!

For those visiting with children, you must remember to visit the huge wooden playground downtown called Project Swing Playground. It is a large wooden play space with tons of room for them to run, climb, swing, slide, etc. There are even artistic elements you can explore together as well like the mosaic below.

A Review of Our Day

Here is a video we put together to share our experience with you! Ava is the cutest thing helping me explain our trip and she definitely makes sure to tell you all about the ice cream and candy she purchased.

If you would like links to additional information about planning a trip to St. Augustine, make sure to scroll to the bottom of the page.