Family Schooling Summary: Pilgrim Day and a Tour of the Snyders Pretzel Factory

One of the farms near our home hosts a Pilgrim reenactment for homeschool kids. They had 4 different stations that we rotated through, followed by a hay ride, a corn maze, and a pick-your-own popcorn field.  The first pilgrim we met talked to us about chores. It was hilarious when she spoke about chickens, M raised his hand and said, "That is my chore too. I let the chickens out in the morning and gather the eggs."  While she was talking about how the pilgrims learned to plant the 3 sisters (corn, beans, and squash) together I realised something new.  The groundhog and other animals don't like the squash vines so by planting the squash in a circle around the corn and beans, they deterred the groundhogs from eating those tasty bean plants that they love so much! I can't wait to try that next spring.

The American Indians near Plymouth were called Wampanoag or Massasoit. This chief spoke to the kids about how the pilgrims arrival looked from his perspective and why they eventually decided to help the poor whites.

We met some very tame farm animals along the way.

The kids played pilgrim games and learned about the kinds of toys that children might have had back then.  

  The get the ball in the cup game was one of them.

  Corn husk dolls were another toy.

This is the popcorn field.  We also saw two bald eagles while we were on the hayride, but I did not get my camera ready fast enough.

This popcorn is excellent.  Unlike that batch that we grew a couple years ago, nearly every kernel popped.  We are saving some of the kernels for seeds to see whether this type works better. 

Then the next day some fellow homeschoolers had organized a tour of Snyders Pretzel Factory.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside.  I found a couple online that show the same machines, though they were making tortilla chips instead of potato chips the day we were there.

 It was amazing how fast everything goes through. Our tour guide told us that if all the machines are working at once, they can make one million mini pretzels per hour!  We tried free samples of some new flavors like s'mores and chili garlic. 

Then on Thursday we had a playdate with some friends. The weather was perfect for getting our energy out at the park.