Crater of Diamonds Field Trip

Not far from where we live is the world's only public diamond mine.  It is a 37 acre plowed field that and anything you find you can keep.  Around 600 diamonds are found every year in varying sizes and colors.  The mine is inside the Crater of Diamonds State Park which contains a campground and also a water park  When you plan a group outing of 15 people or more to the diamond mine, it is half price to get in and spend the day.  If you are interested in finding out more information you can check out their website here.

Last time we went to dig for diamonds, was 2010.  Blogging can be so great because all I have to do to find out when we did something, is look it up on the blog.

Here are a few pictures of my children the last time we were there.

Yesterday, our homeschool group took a trip to Crater of Diamonds.  We had a pretty good size group gathered for the field trip.

The weather was beautiful.  I was afraid it would be chilly because it has been in the mornings, so I made everyone bring a coat, but by 10:30, they could take them off.

Inside the visitors center

First we did a program all about how the Crater of Diamonds was formed and about the different types of stones that you can find there.  I really appreciated that while doing the program they left out the "millions of years" terminology that they usually use (we asked ahead of time) and just said a long time ago instead.  

Then we went out and started digging.  There was quite a few people out there digging.  I cannot imagine people out there in the middle of summer when it is over 100 degrees!  2 hours worth of digging in the sun in the 70's was enough for us.  The children had a great time and brought home lots of rocks, mostly jasper and sandstone.  Chelsea does not have class on Friday so she came with us too.

I took advantage of the props and having the children together and snapped a group picture.

After we left the park, Chelsea bought the children Sonic for lunch.  It's nice to have a big sister who spoils you from time to time.  We had a great day!

Happy Homeschooling!