Celebrate the harvest season with these kid-friendly activities & recipes!

PUMPKIN LEAPFROG

Text adapted from Kids’ Garden (Barefoot Books), written by Whitney Cohen, Life Lab and illustrated by Roberta Arenson

Pumpkins grow in lots of different shapes and sizes. This makes them perfect for creating fun obstacle courses in the garden. Let’s gather up pumpkins and get active with some Pumpkin Leapfrog!

YOU’LL NEED:

• 8 medium-sized pumpkins

• garden gloves

• 2 short pieces of rope

LET’S GET STARTED:

1. Harvest the pumpkins from a pumpkin patch. The stems can be prickly, so wear garden gloves!

2. Find an open area and place the pumpkins in a line, each about 3 ft apart.

3. Use the 2 pieces of rope to mark a start and finish line at either end of the line of pumpkins.

4. From the start line, leap over each pumpkin one at a time, all the way to the finish line.

5. Time yourself and see how fast you can make it from one end to the other.

6. Have a Pumpkin Leapfrog race with your friends.

7. Now try to zigzag through the pumpkin course, running in a Z-shape between the pumpkins. Again, race with your friends.

8. Now set the pumpkins up in any way you like and create your own obstacle course. You can run around some pumpkins and leap over others until you get to the finish line.

See page 60 for a list of farms in the area to harvest your pumpkins!

CORN-HUSK DOLLS

Text adapted from Kids’ Garden (Barefoot Books), written by Whitney Cohen, Life Lab and illustrated by Roberta Arenson

Husk, or outer layers, protect ears of sweet corn until they’re ripe. Once we’re ready to eat the sweet corn, the husks can provide us with something more — material for making Corn-Husk Dolls!

YOU’LL NEED:

• scissors • ball of yarn

• 12 corn husks

• art supplies such as markers or stick-on eyes (optional)

LET’S GET STARTED:

1. Cut a piece of yarn, then use it to tie all 12 corn husks together, about 1 in from the ends of the husks.

2. Tie another piece of yarn where you think the neck should be. You just made the head of your doll!

3. Now let’s make the arms. Separate 3 corn husks on each side of the doll and tie them together where you think the wrists should be.

4. Once you’ve tied them together, you can cut off the remaining husks, below where you think the hands would end.

5. The other 6 corn husks between the arms will make the body. Find the place you think the waist should be and tie all 6 corn husks together there.

6. Split them into 2 clumps of 3 husks each below the waist and tie those together at the bottom, where the ankles would be. These 2 bundles are the legs.

7. Cut off any extra husks below the feet. You now have a Corn-Husk Doll!

8. You can also decorate your doll and give it a face with your art supplies.

THREE SISTERS SOUP

Text adapted from Global Kids (Barefoot Books), written by Homa Sabet Tavangar and illustrated by Sophie Fatus

Adult Helper Needed!

The Haudenosaunee (hoe-deh-no-SHOW-nee) people, commonly known as the Iroquois, have been making Three Sisters soup for many generations.

“Three Sisters” refers to the three main crops of maize (corn), squash and beans grown in North America before European settlers arrived.

YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 onion, diced

• 1 cup diced zucchini

• 1 cup diced yellow squash

• 1 cup diced butternut squash

• 1 cup diced potato

• 1 cup green beans, snapped into 1 in lengths

• 1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen

• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tbsp butter

• about 6 cups of stock of your choice or water

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• salt and black pepper to taste

• large pot • spoon

• stovetop

LET’S GET STARTED:

1. With your adult helper, melt the butter over low heat in the large pot and add the onion, butternut squash and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring so it does not burn.

2. Then add the garlic, zucchini, yellow squash, thyme and cumin and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

3. Add the stock and let everything cook for about 20 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes, corn and green beans and cook for an additional 5–10 minutes, until the green beans are tender and everything is heated through.

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Barefoot Books is an award-winning, 30-year-old independent children's book publisher based in Concord, MA. Learn more by visiting www.barefootbooks.com