Our theme for this Fall unit is Trees so we kicked it off with learning about trees that live year round and tree bark. This week we discussed sap & syrup and oh my goodness – we all learned so much and our time together was so rich.
Our lesson started off with a great lesson (there is so much us adults didn’t even know. lots of “oohhhh”s from the parents today ;P) and we wrapped it up by reading Sugar Snow by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Understandably, waffles and syrup to dip were on the docket for snack time.
Then we began our activity. Each of the kids got to act out the process of getting the sap, making it into syrup and selling it at the store. They each got to “drill” a hole (shoutout my son’s toy drill) and then the kids put a little bucket under the tube (that I tied to the tree) and waited for the sap to come out (sap = brown beans).
Once they got their sap, they took their pot over to the fire where they had to boil it until all that was left was syrup.
After it was boiled, they could take it over and package their syrup into jars to take to the store and sell.
Shoutout to Sarah from Bug & Peach who offered this free printable that really enriched our make-believe.
The kids did this process for a long time and especially loved the storefront. It not only offered freshly jared syrup but also waffles & syrup for immediate enjoyment.
The weather was beautiful, the lesson was fascinating and the activity was magical.