Take a moment during this busy weekend, and do something simple with your kids, writes Liz Baird of the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. Check out all the berries, nuts and seeds on the ground.

Here's Liz...

Berries, nuts, and seeds….. fall is rich with them. As the weather turns cold it is hard to remember that these are the results of flowers from previous seasons. Like many species of wildlife, this is a great time to put on some warm clothes and go gather what you can find.

Bright red dogwood berries peak from the last of the fall leaves, or tumble to the ground after a good wind. Over 40 species of birds and many mammals feed on them. Long-time bluebird enthusiast Jack Finch used to collect the berries and sell them by the tub to avid birdwatchers. The berries remain on some trees well into the winter, providing a welcome food source during the cold days. After the leaves and berries are gone from the tree, you might be able to find the swollen gray buds of next year's flowers.

Collectively, the nuts and acorns that fall in autumn are called "mast." I have found lots of acorns on my recent walks. Every species of oak tree has its own particular acorn. Walking in downtown Charlotte recently, I picked up several different types. There are more than 30 species of oaks in North Carolina, and they can be recognized by both their leaves and their acorns.

One of my recent finds I was able to identify easily - an Overcup Oak. As its name suggests, the cap of the acorn wraps nearly around the entire acorn. It is commonly found in the Southeast.

Another acorn I picked up had a most unusual cap. It looked like a sea urchin with lots of long tips coming off of the sides. These tips grew particularly long at the edge of the cap. It reminded me of a Burr Oak (also found in North Carolina with bristles along the edge of the cap) that had gone "wild." The closest oak I have found so far is the Tanoak, commonly growing in California. My guess is that this tree may have been brought in as an ornamental and does not typically grow here. Many tree field guides provide excellent images of the nuts, acorns and berries you'll find on the ground.

Seeds are everywhere. The white silken "parachutes" of the milkweeds drift overhead, the fluffy seeds from the goldenrod rub off on your pants legs and the sharp seeds of the pines fall out of their cones. A simple seed collecting activity is to take an old pair of adult socks and slip them over your child's shoes. Let them walk in a meadow and grassy area, and see what seeds stick to the socks. Plant them in a pot of soil and leave them outside for the winter in order to discover what sprouts in the spring!

Berries, nuts and seeds provide a window to the plants around us, and give us a chance to feel a little bit like "wildlife" as we gather them in the fall.

Liz writes monthly for TriangleMom2Mom. To find out more about daily and special events at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, click here.

Every Thursday, a rotating group of writers offer new ways to play with your kids.

Check out our other daily themes at TriangleMom2Mom:

MONDAY: Meet!
TUESDAY: Ask!
WEDNESDAY: Eat!
THURSDAY: Play!
FRIDAY: Out!

WEEKEND: Relax!