Prospecting for Gold!

Nature-Watch Gold Diggins Activity Kit

Did you ever fantasize about being a gold prospector, huntin' for gold in them thar hills? A few years ago we visited Alaska and were able to take a tour about the Alaska Gold Rush. It was so exciting to pan for gold and see a recreation of a prospector tent town. I was fascinated with the stories of the women in the Klondike and their part in the Gold Rush. Still being part of Victorian society, these women, whether wife - business owner - saloon girl or even prospectors themselves, wore corset, long skirt, bonnet and bloomers to clean, cook on a fire and hike over mountain trails! Can you imagine?

Eldest son panning for gold in Alaska.

How fun it is to imagine the romantic side of prospecting for gold. The thrill of the chase, so to speak, the beautiful outdoors and the dream of striking it rich.

We'd like to introduce you to Nature-Watch.com, a company committed to bringing incredible nature and science hands-on activities to families, home schools, camp groups, non-profits and academic institutions. To top it off, they offer a wonderful Gold Diggins activity kit!! Jeff from Nature-Watch was gracious enough to send us a kit to review and we absolutely loved the activity. Our whole family got involved and 7-year old Eliza was beyond excited to find her "gold"!

Included in the Gold Diggins Activity Kit is:

2 pounds of iron pyrite ("fools gold"), 4 gold prospecting pans and 25 cloth bags (miner's pouches).
A balance scale and "weights" (washers) to measure findings.
A vial of real gold (for demonstration and dramatic purposes).
Books and resource materials to supplement the lesson.
An exclusive instructor's activity guide that makes planning the project easy and delivers loads of fun ideas for activities, games and relevant projects.

Since we had gone camping along the Pony Express Trail, we trekked out to a small stream called Indian Springs and set up for panning gold. This kit would be perfect for a home school group activity or summer camp workshop.

The Gold Diggins kit comes with iron pyrite or fools gold, and plenty of it. After discussing gold panning and prospecting, we had one person strategically place the shiny rocks at intervals along the stream (unbeknown to the group). Each person had a turn using the included gold prospecting pans to swish around the stream contents and look for gold.

Once everyone had their treasure, we headed back to the truck where we had set up the scale to weigh the gold. The Gold Diggins kit has included small drawstring bags as well, to safely hold your gold.

Nature-Watch is an incredible resource to help bring nature to life through doing. Not only do they have kits like the one we tried, but kits that are more "crafty" in design and some that are more science related. Some of the categories include Egypt, Gardening, Reptiles, Trees and Weather. There is an activity kit for any lesson plan or group interest. Plus, the kits are incredibly affordable for large groups and super fun for family parties and reunions. They would even work fabulously for kid birthday parties, like the Buccaneers/Pirate Activity for boys and the Hummingbird Flower Feeder Activity for girls. We highly recommend Nature-Watch!

Visit Nature-Watch online and see their incredible selection of Activity Kits.

Join Nature-Watch on Facebook too!

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