Experiencing Apples

I’ve done lots of apple-themed activities in the past with my kids, and wasn’t really planning on doing much with apples this fall. Sometimes I forget that though I’ve done these “apple” events and activities over and over again, my littlest ones really haven’t. God must have known that my littles needed some apple experiences this fall!

On a recent fall weekend, my 4 youngest children and I had the day to ourselves. I decided we should get out and visit our local museum. I totally forgot it was apple-festival day there! We walked in to apple-activities galore and my kids thought I planned this. I love it when that happens. :)

One of the first activities the girls came across was making homemade apple cider using an old cider press. It was hard work smashing up those apples!

We got to taste our own batch of apple cider too.

Next we moved on to the apple-tasting table. My 3-year old was so shocked that they were letting her eat apples! The presenter shared facts about each type of apple and then they voted for their favorite apple.

Not only did they get to taste apples, they got to eat apple pie too! Boy was it delicious! Yes, we came on the right day!

The girls had the opportunity to guess how many apples were in the basket. It warmed my heart and made me smile when they told me their guesses. My 3-year old told me there were 5 apples. My 4.5yr. old said some unreasonable number like 2,000.

We also spent some time visiting the apple orchard store where they have a huge apple-cider press. We walked along the garden paths and totally enjoyed this unplanned apple experience. Thanks God for this special memory!

Just in case you are curious to what we’ve done in the past, you can find several apple-themed printables and activities in my archives.

  Apple Tree Number Match

Apple Pattern Cards

Apple Activities Blog Post 2010
Letter A Activities Post 2010 (Apple-themed finger-play)

Down on the Alpaca Farm

This is the time of year where I try to pack in as many field trips as I can before winter. Last year we visited the same small alpaca farm, and we thought it would be fun to visit again.

 
We were first greeted by a gang of turkeys. We turned down the wrong driveway. When we tried to back out, these turkeys chased after our van. The kids thought this was hilarious.

 
Once we figured out where to go, I strapped Lil Pumpkin on my back  in my Ergo carrier and was ready to go. Little did I realize how much hiking I would be doing….

We first visited the alpacas. Did you know alpacas have a 3-chambered stomach?

Our group got to spend some time hiking through the woods on the farm. We found a tree frog, looked for fossils, found puffballs, and got to pet several different animals.

While hiking the kids happened to find some bones. They had fun trying to guess what animal the bones were from. They spent quite a bit of time examining and talking about the bones. How timely since we are studying anatomy right now.

Yep, gross. They brought these bones home too. Oh, and for the record—these are alpaca bones.  Can you see how much my son is enjoying showing off his find?

  
We had a great time hiking and seeing animals that we don’t get to interact with on an everyday basis. By the time the fieldtrip was over, my little girls were brave enough to actually pet the farm dog and the bunny. That was a big step for them, especially the 4yr. old.

Have you been on any fun field trips lately?

Minnetrista: Nature Study Field Trip

If you are ever in the East Central Indiana area, one great museum and gardens to visit is Minnetrista. The museum has exhibits, presentations, and classes. Right now they have The Bones exhibit, which goes perfectly with our anatomy unit. Along with the museum there are many garden areas along a walking path and Oakhurst Gardens. We especially love to visit the gardens, which are free.

Sculpture Outside Minnetrista Museum

We love to come to Minnetrista to do nature studies, and try to come at least one time during each season. Many times my kids bring their clipboards, nature study notebook pages and colored pencils along.

Is it fall already? Well as you can tell, these aren’t recent pictures. We visited the gardens at the end of August---which seems like just yesterday. This is one of the little ponds my girls love to explore. Usually there are goldfish and snails in there. If you come at the right time, you can spot tadpoles too.

There are so many little areas to observe nature. This water lily was floating in the Children’s Garden area.

We like to keep track of the different types of animals we spot each time.

It is the perfect place to do nature studies and stretch your legs.

Or jump if you prefer.

We need to visit soon because right now there is apple cider at the Orchard Shop. I’m sure the leaves are all changing colors too (unless they all blew off  in this last storm).

Minnetrista is like having a nature center in my own backyard—except I don’t have to mow or weed. :)  We enjoy the gardens and the many educational opportunities that are offered here.

Linking Up To:

You Might Be Interested In:

Spring 2010 Nature Walk
Fall 2009 Nature Walk
Fall 2009 Nature Walk Con't
May 2009 Nature Walk
Drawing Nature

1 Fun Farm Field Trip

Since my little ones learned about pumpkins last week, I thought going on a field trip to the local corn maze/small pumpkin patch would be a perfect fall outing. (Thankfully my friend had arranged it all so all I had to do was say I'd be there! I love field trips like that--lol).

They had a farm animal section where our group leader talked about the different animals and how they were used on the farm. We saw llamas, horses, sheep, pigs, cows, donkeys, turkeys and chickens.

This calf was using the bar as a teething ring. :)

The kids also had the opportunity to play some games. This was the duck race game. You place a plastic duck onto a gutter and pump water. The first person to get the duck into the tank wins. This was hard to do for my 3yr. old. The pump was a little difficult to manage, but she had fun!

Little tot also tried, but as you can tell from her facial expression, she wasn't having much luck. She later just played with the duck in the water tank.

Then there was this huge bouncing "pillow". Big sis took Little Tot on it. She wasn't very excited though. I think there were too many kids on it and that scared her. 3yr. old sister wouldn't even try to go on it.

The kids played a little game of giant corn volleyball.

Then got to pick their own tiny pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.

Little Tot was so proud of her pumpkin.

After this all the big kids (and dad) went through the corn maze. I've gone once in my life and that was enough for me. I don't enjoy being lost. :)  So the little girls and I sat in the car and ate lunch instead. :) It ended up being a wonderful fall field trip.

Up, Up and Away!

There is something about hot air balloons that are just fascinating to me. They come in so many beautiful colors and even shapes, but it is rare that we ever spot one. Well this past Friday our whole co-op got to see one up close, and even were able to help set the balloon up.

One of the first things that was done was to release the black balloon to see the direction of the wind and what the air currents were like. Here's a more technical explanation from How Stuff Works:

"Additionally, a pilot might send up a piball (short for pilot balloon). A piball is just a balloon filled with helium that the pilot releases to see the exact direction of the wind at a prospective launch site. If it looks like the wind would take the balloon into prohibited air space, the crew needs to find a new launch spot."

Next the kids helped pull the balloon out of the trailer.

Up....

Up...

Up and away! We didn't go for a balloon ride (thank goodness! I don't think I could handle going in the balloon even if it were tethered!) but we all got to circle around the basket and see how the balloon worked. For a good explanation check out How Stuff Works: Hot Air Balloons.

And here's the inside of the balloon. Just beautiful!

Hot Air Balloon Resources for Kids:

Make a Hot Air Balloon

Hot air expands, cool air contracts experiment
Build a Hot Air Balloon out of a plastic bag

Printables:
Hot Air Balloon mini-book for a lapbook
Hot Air the (mostly) true story of the first Hot Air Balloon Ride - complete lapbook unit
Hot Air Balloon Mobile Coloring Page
First Hot Air Balloon to Cross the English Channel Coloring Page
Hot Air Balloon Coloring Page

Books and Movies:





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Alpaca Farm Field Trip

 
My kids and I went with a group of local homeschoolers to visit an alpaca farm in our area this week. Nothing beats walking around the farm in almost 90 degree weather with one kid who didn't want to walk but be carried. :) Thankfully, her big sister helped out a lot.

First we got a tour of the barnyard area. There were chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits. I think my youngest two would have stayed there all day and petted that rabbit.

Helping us with our tour was one of the farm dogs. I'm sure he/she has a name, but I wasn't paying attention at the time. I was probably trying to keep track of my 5 kids. :) My 3yr. old loved this dog! She walked right next to him with her hand on his back for a good portion of the trip.

Mama goose. She wasn't very happy we were there.

Baby goose---I just couldn't resist!

Alpacas! Like I said, it was hot! Most of the alpacas were down by the river to keep cool.

More alpacas. I had never been so close to an alpaca before. They were really quite fascinating and beautiful.

Thanks to Julia for setting this trip up! She was instrumental in setting up our local Homeschool Explorers group. Basically it is a local email loop where anyone can set up a field trip. It is then posted to the list and if you are interested, you contact the field trip coordinator. I love that I can pick and choose field trips that my kids will be interested in, and I also love meeting other homeschoolers from our area and surrounding areas that I probably wouldn't have met otherwise. This group has been a rich addition to our homeschooling experience by providing real-life experiences I probably would have never done on my own.



Alpaca Resources:

Alpaca Coloring Page
Alpaca Facts
Listen to an Alpaca

Wilbur Wright Birthplace Museum

Last week we went to the Wilbur Wright Birthplace Museum in Millville, IN. They held their first homeschooling days event--and I think they were pretty shocked at the turn-out. There were so many homeschoolers from IN and OH who attended. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate though---it rained all day. The bad weather didn't stop the event and the museum did a good job at planning many stations around the campus.


During the even they had 16 stations around the campus. At this station younger children could ride in a plane that moved up and down with water pressure. We also got to tour the house--which even had the Wright Brother's parents and grandmother leading the tour, see the barn and view a couple of demonstrations there, view the museum and so much more.

At one station in the museum, kids could make their own propellers. My son was thrilled to be able to use tools. He stayed at this station for a very long time. I think that this might make a good Christmas gift...scrap wood and tools.

There were also rope making demonstrations, blacksmith, loom weaving and so many instructors willing to share what they knew. I would highly recommend stopping in and seeing this museum. It's a jewel in the middle of corn (fields that is---lol).

Here are some resources on the Wright Brothers:

Wright Brother's Notebooking Page from Homeschool Share.

More Wright Brother's Notebooking Pagesfrom Homeschool Share.

Wright Bro. Notebooking from Currclick

Facts About the Wright Brothers from Enchanted Learning.