Visit the Pumpkin Patch
A fun family trip to your local pumpkin patch can fill an entire day with activities and pumpkin picking as well. Some areas in your state may even have an old-fashioned hayride, which takes you directly to the pumpkin patch.
In addition, several farms include a traditional barn in which the kids will have a great time especially if they have a petting zoo. In addition, some also have hay tunnels in which your kids can crawl around in and have a jolly time. Of course, lunch time is filled with a variety of snacks which your particular farm offers.
In some states, farms have the old hill from storybook fame in which your kids can roll down to their hearts delight. In New York, for example, one farm has a Storybook Land in which trees come alive and where kids can even milk a cow.
What kids love most, however, is being able to choose which pumpkins they will take home to decorate. Perhaps your tradition is to make a pumpkin pie every year. Perhaps you’d like to pick out several small pumpkins to decorate your home or to use as decorations on the Thanksgiving table.
The history of pumpkins is quite fascinating. While considered a fruit, they originated over 5000 years ago. The pumpkin family includes cucumbers and melons. In fact, it was Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, who first located these melons and duly named them pumpkins.
Perhaps after your traditional Thanksgiving meal, you’d like to read to your children about the origin of the pumpkin as well as the story of the first Thanksgiving. Then you can reminisce about your trip to the pumpkin patch and have a family discussion about what the kids learned while there.
Of course, the hayride is going to be high on the list of stories told for years to come. Did everyone sing as they rode to the pumpkin patch? It may sound old-fashioned, but simple things such as hayrides are a lost art and exposing your children to these kinds of activities is important.
In addition, teaching them early on to participate and be as creative as they can be in making decorations for Thanksgiving is still another experience they will enjoy as children and adults. Can you just hear them on Thanksgiving Day saying proudly, “I helped make this,” as you pass around a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream.
We used to have a Pumpkin Patch right down the street from our house but it was moved to make way for a development of new houses. My daughter and her class used to go there and pick a pumpkin for class and one to bring home. Hopefully, we’ll find another one to carry on the tradition with my grandson.