A study of apples wouldn't be complete without picking apples.  I took my three little friends to Baugher's Orchard in Westminster, Maryland for a little apple picking adventure.

Introduce apple picking with a picture interpretation.

I chose not to tell Grace in advance that we were going apple picking.  (I didn't tell Ada or Lucas either, but they have no idea what that means ;).  Instead, we did a picture interpretation to get her thinking about the experience.  Like a guess box, a picture interpretation is a teaching strategy that promotes critical thinking and analytic skills.  
(The following picture interpretation is paraphrased from MCPS  PADI - Ricci 2007, 2010 resources.)

1.  Choose a picture that links to the topic.  

Here are a couple of paintings I found that have to do with apple picking:

"Apple Picking" by Stina Sunesson 
Found at Postcrossing

"Apple Picking Time" by Sandie Keyser
Found at Fine Art America

You could either print out the picture or just show it on the screen.  I will use the first picture, "Apple Picking" by Stina Sunnesson to give examples of what questions to ask. 

2.  Discuss the painting with your child.  

To incorporate the critical thinking skills, you want to ask varying levels of questions, starting from basic and increasing to abstract.

Start by asking your child to identify what is in the picture with questions, like "what do you see?"

Next, move to describing the things that are in the picture.  For example, "tell me about the tree" or "what do you notice about the leaves?"

After that, ask your child to interpret the painting.   This stage leads to higher-level thinking and inferencing.  Ask questions, like "Where does this take place?" What do you think the people are doing?"  "What season is it?"  "What might the people be saying to each other?"

Finally, extrapolate (what does that mean?!) and have your child draw conclusions about what might be.  For example, ask "What would it be like if you were in the picture?" "What do you think the people in the picture will do after this?" "What if this picture was in the winter, what would be different?" 

Depending on your child's age and stage of development, you may have to alter the questions a little or rely mainly on concrete questions.  But the more you do this type of activity with your child, he/she will get better at it.

3.  Make a connection between the picture interpretation and the topic.  

Explain to your child why the picture is relevant, or say, "can you figure out what we are going to do tomorrow?"  This is a good way to get your child relating all that thinking they just did with an upcoming trip to the apple orchard.

I did this picture interpretation with Grace and she actually showed me she knew a lot more about apple picking than I expected.  She also enjoyed the challenge of answering my questions.

Go to an apple orchard!

If you can, pick your own apples!  The cool thing about doing this, besides spending a day outside in beautiful fall weather, is that it shows REAL apples and REAL apple trees.  It also gives kids an idea of how we get our food, and they can add to their understanding of farms!  Plus, they get to see some rotting apples on the ground, which can spark a discussion about the life cycle of an apple tree.

We had a GORGEOUS day for our apple picking adventure, and thankfully my hubby, Matt, was able to come along!  This is definitely a two-man job for this little gang of 3.  

Ada hoarding the apples

Trying to keep Lucas from early tasting

Baugher's Orchard has a great country store, where you can pick up a tractor ride to the apple fields.  They also have a picnicking area and a fun, little playground that the kids LOVED.

 

We got some apples from the fields and peaches, mums, and a peach pie from the store!  I'd say it was a success!

Thanks for visiting and God bless!

- Jessica

Day Trip: Sharp's Farm

If you live in Maryland, you have probably visited one of the charming local farms found throughout our state.  You may or may not have been to one of my fall favorites: Sharp's at Waterford Farm in western Howard County.  It's open for fall starting next weekend (September 28) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

Sharp's Farm is my favorite farm to go to in the fall for pick-your-own pumpkins and here's why:

1.  It's CHEAP 

It is FREE to enter the farm, FREE to park, FREE to see the farm animals, and FREE to go on a hayride to the pumpkin field.  All you pay for is the pumpkin that you picked, any additional activities, or anything you might want to buy from the awesome country store in the old red barn.

2.  It's old school.

Unlike some of the other farms with fall festivals and events, Sharp's Farm's fall season is low-key; There isn't a cow train, jumping pillow, or giant slide (which, don't get me wrong, are A LOT of fun).  It reminds me more of a real-life farm with a pond, cows, pigs, goats, chickens, rabbits, corn fields, tractors, and old barns.

3.  It's got a great little country store.

In the big, old red barn you'll find all kinds of great stuff for sale from Sharp's and other local farms.  There are foods, like apples, squash, honey, apple and pumpkin butter, apple cider, marinades, and baked goods.  They also sell fall flowers, Indian corn, gourds, hay bales, corn stalks, and other fall decorations.  And it's just super cute!

4.  It has special open houses.

These open house programs teach kids about farming or pilgrim history, and they take place during weekdays that schools are closed.  There is a cost of $7 for the kids and no cost for adults.  These programs sound just like the field trip that Grace and I went on last year with her preschool.  We picked a pumpkin, went on a special hayride that went through a stream, picked some cotton and Indian corn.  All very cool!  We are going to try to wrangle the kids to do this one time this fall.

We have been to Sharp's Farm several times and have always enjoyed it!  I love taking a little drive out to the country.  

Here are some awesome pics from past visits.

This cracks me up!: 

Grace at 1 1/2 and 3 1/2

Now I know this sounds like an advertisement for Sharp's Farm, but really I just genuinely love this place.  Hey, if you go you can always do a scavenger hunt!  Maybe I'll see you there!  

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

- Jessica

Here is a great find from my friend Crystal: $7 for hayride, pumpkin, corn, and campfire at Sharp's Farm!  Limited time only.

Little Ones Learning: The Farm Unit

The Farm Introduction

Visit the library to get books.

• picture books that take place at farms and/or have farm animals
• nonfiction farm books 

Set out farm-themed toys, games, and puzzles.

This Little People farm has always been a popular toy with my girls.  I love that it makes the animal noises. 

Here are some examples of farm puzzles.  The other toy is a Melissa and Doug Sort and Snap Color Match.  There are a variety of animal picture cards, but the rooster fit our theme.  The kids use the snap cubes to color in the picture.  It helps with fine motor skills and color matching.  

Watch farm-themed videos, like Baby MacDonald.

It's good to provide kids a variety of ways to learn about a topic.  Videos provide information in a different format and engages them in a different way.

I found a Baby Einstein video on YouTube that the kids LOVED!  Baby MacDonald - A Day On the Farm.

As we read, watch, and play, I encourage the use of animal and object names and animal sounds.

Explore with a sensory bin.

Here are some really great farm related sensory bins from Living Montessori Now:

Photo from Living Montessori Now

This was our farm sensory bin with  some paper shreds from Easter, rice, pom poms, and leaves.  We also put out some measuring spoons.

I

Do some farm-themed art!

Here are a few farm-themed art ideas:

Farm Painting (Photo from Two-Daloo)

Farm Painting from Two-Daloo

Garden Vegetable Printing from No Time for Flashcards

Garden Vegetable Painting from No Time for Flashcards

Veggie Paint Brush (Photo from Creative with Kids)

Veggie Paint Brush from Creative with Kids

For our farm stamping and painting art, these are the supplies we used:

Here are the finished paintings:

By Ada

By Lucas

By Grace

Plan a visit to a farm by creating a scavenger hunt.

The best part of learning about the farm is GOING to the farm, of course!  Creating a scavenger hunt before hand helps kids focus on the topic.  It also helped my preschooler notice new things at the farm.

Before heading to the park, Grace (4) and I sat down and made a list of things to look for at the farm.  The first one shown below is the one we used on our trip.  I left two boxes blank so Grace could add her own ideas.

Click here to open

Here are a couple of other examples of scavenger hunts:

Click here to open

Click here to open

Below are some blank scavenger hunt sheets that you can fill out any way you want.  For younger kids (8 and under), pictures are really important, unless you plan on reading the items off for them.  

You could also use the one on the left with boxes to create a bingo game with older kids.  For bingo, each child should get their own blank chart.  Then, they fill in different boxes with various items they might find at the farm.  As they cross them off, they can aim for 4 in a row, 4 corners, etc..  I could totally have used this on a field trip in school!

Click here to open

Click here to open

Of course, visit a farm!!!

Draw and write about the farm.

As a culminating activity, preschoolers and older toddlers can draw and write about the farm.  It's good to give them the flexibility to express what they find interesting.  For those who can't write, write down their ideas verbatim for them.  They will like seeing their ideas on paper.  For preschoolers, write their ideas with a highlighter, and they can trace over it with a pen or pencil.  

Here's a page I made for to draw and write about the farm:

Click here to open

Do you have other ideas for teaching little ones about the farm?  Let me know below!

Little Ones Learning: Farm Painting and Stamping

Next up: farm painting!  

I found a lot of great artsy ideas from Pinterest that go along with the farm theme.  Here are a few:

Farm Painting from Two-Daloo

Garden Vegetable Painting from No Time for Flashcards

Veggie Paint Brush from Creative with Kids

As I was searching through my own craft supplies, I found a bag of stamps (from my childhood) that just happen to be farm animals (score!) .  So I decided to let the kids do some farm animal "stamping".  Here are the supplies I used:

With this art project (with any really), I wanted to be flexible and allow the kids to do whatever they want with it.  I figured Lucas and Ada wouldn't really get the whole "stamping" concept, so I figured I'd just let them explore, which they did!  They also tried to make a snack of it.  Both of them got very excited and made animal noises (for Ada, it just happened to always be a moo) as they recognized each animal.

By Ada

By Lucas

By Grace

Here are finished paintings:

Don't you love all the awesome animal prints?!  Haha!  If you look REAL closely, you might spot a couple.  

Even though you can't exactly tell this is farm painting, the important thing is that the kids enjoyed themselves and learned through the experience.  I think their paintings are pretty cute. :)