Family Farm Fun

This week, we decided to add a little science into our after school activities. I have read before that pumpkins float (on a sign at Pumpkins and More A-maiz-ing Farm, in fact). With that thought in mind, I developed a mini sink or float activity for the kids to complete. We used pumpkins and gourds that we already had around the house: a carving pumpkin, a white mini pumpkin, and a turban gourd. I filled the bathtub with water and had the girls develop a hypothesis chart. They wanted to hand-draw it but the basic premise was like this:  Pumpkin Science Chart . We talked about why they predicted that certain ones would sink and certain ones would float. Bah had already done a similar activity in Kindergarten after her pumpkin patch field trip, so she caught on a little quicker. Our test subjects and chart Testing the pumpkin Excited she was right - it floated! First, we tested the big pumpkin. We used three trials to increase our accuracy. Then, we tested...

At Pumpkins and More, we have a decorated area dedicated to reading. There are benches and a variety of Halloween, fall, and farm books. This weekend, to get out of the sun, the cousins sat down to read. One of the stories in the collection is "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything" by Linda D. Willams. Listening to Bah read this book, I was motivated to develop a craft to go along with it. I snuck it home for the week for some extra reading and fun. The craft I decided on was partially inspired by the scarecrow craft seen here .  Reading the Story Since I am working with a toddler, preschooler, and  first grader, the activity required some modification. To begin, I used construction paper to cut out the parts - a shirt, pants, boots, and a pumpkin head - for Bubs. I thought the girls would be able to cut out their parts independently. However, Boo got frustrated, so she told me which part of the story came next (shoes, pants, etc.), and I...