The Preschool Homeschool

Today was our field trip to the pumpkin patch. We visited a placed called Pumpkin Hollow in St. Francis, Arkansas. It’s about 35 miles from where we live in Missouri. This place is so neat. It’s not the typical tourist attraction. It’s very rustic and has a lot of educational value. They do have typical attractions, like a corn maze, hay bales, petting farm and pumpkin sales. But they also have a fish pond where the turtles are so comfortable they come right out of the water to your child to get food.

They also have a gourd tour where you go on a walk and learn about all the gourds they grow. They teach the kids the difference between a pumpkin blossom and gourd blossom. They also show them all sorts of long, short, fat, and skinny gourds. Then they have a little barn area set up where the kids go on a little tour and learn about chickens and eggs, milking cows, pumping water and grinding corn. They actually grind their own corn to feed the chickens.

Last but not least, they let them feed the goats and horses. They also teach them that too much corn can kill a goat and a pony. They give them what looks like flat, little wheat seeds or something to feed the goats. I forgot to ask what it was. Avlyn loves this place. One of my favorite things is their height stick. They have a stick that says, “How tall in the fall” with measurements. Your child can stand next to it each year, and you can see how much they’ve grown. This year we brought a lunch and sat next to the goats and watched (and smelled) them while we ate. She had a blast. Before they leave, everyone gets to pick a pumpkin. Here are some pics from our trip: