Clamming With Your Toddler 101
It’s deep winter, and you’re over it. You’ve taken all the advice: you’ve gone cross-country skiing, taken family yoga and music classes, visited multiple children’s museums. But you want something new. An adventure. The wind in your hair and the sand in your shoes. It is time, restless reader, for you to head to the sea. . .and go clamming. Yep, that’s right – clamming.
The wind in your hair and sand in your shoes.
For years, our friends Andrew & Monica had been telling us stories about their trips to the coast to dig for razor clams. And to be honest, before becoming a parent, it didn’t sound all that enticing: a lot of messy work for very little payoff. But now that nearly everything in my life can be described in those terms, I decided it was a reasonable thing to try.
Planning a Toddler Clamming Excursion
Monica did all of the legwork, looking up the legal dig weekends and tide schedules, and reserving us hotel rooms in Ocean Shores (we stayed at the Morning Glory Hotel, which is a short trail walk to Copalis Beach, one of the sanctioned clamming sites in Washington). She told us where to pick up our licenses (The Big 5 in Aberdeen), and even brought extra gear, so all we needed to bring was a bucket. It should be obvious by now that step one in your clamming journey is to find someone (preferably not another parent who, like you, has trouble finding the time to complete routine daily tasks such as showering) who has experience clamming, and tag along with them. If you’re going out for the first time without a guide, see the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s website for rules & regulations. They also have a pretty great video tutorial.
This is what clamming looks like.
Our first dig was in December; low tide was at 7 p.m., so it was a night dig. As usual, I had spent the requisite too many hours making lists and packing the things we would need in order to avoid losing our 21-month-old in the darkness and the surf. We brought headlamps and a glow stick to tie to one of Levi’s many zippers. Down bunting: Check. Rain suit: Check. Rain boots: Check & check. He looked like he was going to the moon. We were ready.
Levi - hanging at the beach or going to the moon?
Why Toddlers Dig A Clam Dig
I’m relatively sure that if Levi could, he would tell you that clamming is, hands down, his favorite thing to do. Unlike his parents’ preferred wintertime activity – cross-country skiing – which Levi tolerates with seeming ambivalence, he clearly loves everything about a clam dig.
First, let’s talk about the puddles. Levi, perhaps more than the average toddler, loves a good puddle. When a grownup digs for clams, their holes immediately fill with loose sand and water, creating the ultimate in puddle stomping fun. Not only is there water to stomp through, but the loose sand suctions your foot a little bit, which is incredibly fun (especially when it won’t let go and you step right out of your boot, which is apparently the most hilarious thing in the world).
Stomping in a clam hole - so much fun!
Second, let’s consider the headlamps. I think I’ve mentioned in past blog posts Levi’s obsession with electricity. This kid has a real reverence for the humble lightbulb. So you can only imagine his enthusiasm when the sun set and dozens of diggers turned on their headlamps. Better than a Christmas tree, folks!
Papa T catches a clam on our first night dig.
Monica shows Levi how it’s done.
Third, there’s the expanse of beach, better than any playground, where a toddler can run free. Add to that the lights and the puddles and. . . Well, you do the math: clamming is the perfect toddler activity.
You can see how dark it gets at the beach. Bring a glow stick for your toddler!
Making tracks the next morning.
Why Parents Dig a Clam Dig
And the grownups had fun too! Although I spent the whole dig following behind Levi in the dark (his glow stick didn’t work!), we were part of the general comradery; Levi was the only toddler on the beach, and the diggers were delighted when he came stomping by. I didn’t catch a clam myself on that first dig (pro tip: plan on only one parent clamming at a time), but being outside at night, on the beach with all the negative ions floating around, the thrill of the hunt and the sound of the waves (real waves, not sound machine ones) was enough for me to want to make clam digging a new Menaul tradition.
Travis catches a clam and finds a sand dollar! (PS: This caption said “starfish” instead of “sand dollar” for more than a month and no one said anything! Not even you, Travis! Help a tired girl out — this is clearly a sand dollar, not a starfish.)
Plus, we got to spend time with Monica & Andrew. We reserved hotel rooms right next to each other and turned one of our cell phones into a quasi-baby-monitor so we could celebrate our shellfish conquest over pizza and beer after Levi went to bed. Travis and I realized it had been a very long time since we’d hung out with our non-parent friends. And it turns out there are things in the universe other than parenting that adults can talk about -- like running, public education, and whether soup counts as a meal. So, naturally we hounded them: When could we go again?
Our guides, Andrew & Monica
Our second trip was in February, and low tide was in the afternoon this time. While the night dig was fun, the afternoon dig was even better. I wasn’t worried about losing Levi, so I was much more relaxed, and was even able to catch a clam myself. Because he could see, Levi was more interested in the actual clamming, following Travis around from hole to hole, before getting distracted by a puddle. It was cold and rainy, and it even snowed on us for a bit, but it eventually cleared up and we caught our maximum 30 clams, which are now in my freezer, waiting to become chowder (because, despite what Andrew says, soup does count as a meal).
Travis showing Levi how to dig
He gets a clam!
And just like that. . . We’re clammers! We have rubber boots, a mesh bag, and our own clam tube. Andrew taught Travis how to clean shellfish, and I – a Quaker-educated former vegetarian – sent 30 living beings to their deaths, one after the other, without remorse. Like so many things (singalongs, mom groups, detailed conversations about excrement), clamming has been added to the register of things we love that we never thought we’d enjoy before becoming parents. Speaking of which, there’s even a Caspar Babypants song about it — “Diggin with the Clams.” If that doesn’t twist your arm, I don’t know what will. See you out there!
“Diggin with the Clams” family photo
Checklist: Clamming with your Toddler
Optional: Andrew & Monica (or any other experienced clamming friends to show you the ropes)
Toddler Clamming Clothes:
Waterproof rain suit (the Tuffo Muddy Buddy keeps Levi shockingly dry)
Down bunting (the Columbia Snuggly Bunny Bunting is like Levi’s exoskeleton during the Winter months)
Fleece Jacket (Patagonia’s Micro-D Snap-T is our year-round go-to. You all know about my genetic propensity for perpetual coldness, right?)
Warm under layers: sweatpants & a long-sleeved cotton onesie (Yep! 4 layers and proud!)
The warmest socks you’ve got
Rain boots (We tried both rain and snow boots. The Oaki brand rain boots worked the best. Even with all that stomping, Levi stayed dry.)
Grownup Clamming Clothes:
Rain jacket
Fleece and/or down jacket (depending on the weather)
Warm under-layers (still on the lookout for a 40T onesie. . .)
Rubber boots (Andrew uses thigh-high waders and stays even dryer)
Warm socks
Hat & Gloves
Miscellaneous Clamming Gear (All available at Cabela’s on I-5 or at Big 5 Sporting Goods in Aberdeen)
Clamming license ($10 / person gets you a maximum of 15 clams / person)
Clamming shovel or clam tube/“gun” (also at Cabela’s or Big 5)
Mesh bag or bucket for clam collection
Bucket for transporting clams back home
Headlamp (a non-negotiable item for evening digs with a toddler) & glow sticks (Buy more than one, in case one doesn't work!)