I didn't preview the book By the Light of the Harvest Moon, but just decided on the spur of the moment that our family needed to read the book on the front porch. It was delightful! The book looked at leaf people that come out at night, playing games, and eating PIE! I can't wait to have a real Harvest party next year and invite friends to enjoy the full moon based on the book. Obviously, the book is a whimsical story that helps our imaginations stretch. Since we read the book without much advance notice, we came up with our own nighttime activities, noted below! We also talked about the history of the Harvest Moon.
1. Watch for bats at dusk! We live near a pond and can see the bats flapping around at dusk. Their flight pattern is distinct, which makes it interesting to watch.
2. Flashlights and frogs! As darkness settled, we pulled out my husband's flashlights to check out nature at night. We found the frogs were so easy to find with a flashlight! We could have spent hours doing this (and often do now!).
3. Seed exploration! We are in the middle of fall seeds and had to check out the jewelweed and help it pop along.
4. Creek exploration! Of course we had to go see what was in the creek. With the flashlight, we more easily found the fish and other critters in the stream. Of course, more frogs!
5. Catch a tadpole! We found tadpoles by the pond in the rocks along the edge. There is something different about these at night.
6. Splat! While we witnessed frogs near the end of their life cycle, we also found them at the end as they were run over by a car. I'm finding I have to slow down on this road on moist evenings to avoid the frogs. While a little gross, we used this untimely demise to look at frog anatomy.
7. Tree frogs! I have had a friendly frog outside my work window for a bit. We visited our friend at night when he is most active.
8. The moon! Of course we had to check out the moon! We live in a wooded area and the moon was obscured by the trees for quite sometime. A little later, around 10:30, I called the kids out so they could witness the super moon! It really is brighter!
How might you celebrate the Harvest Moon based on where you live? How is your experience outside at night with a flashlight different than what you might see during the daytime?
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