Pumpkin Patch Review: Clayton Valley Pumpkin Farm

Clayton Valley Pumpkin Farm

We like the Clayton Valley Pumpkin Patch partly because it is not too far from us. Even so, it is a very nice pumpkin patch, with lots for kids to do.

The Clayton pumpkin patch seems to have expanded somewhat this year since our last visit a few years ago. They have two separate play areas for kids now instead of the one they had at our last visit. With a separate charge for each one, although they do offer a combination charge that saves you all of $1 if you do both. We decided against going down to the play areas this year due to the cost. It felt overpriced the last time we were there to me, although the kids loved it.

There is also a very small train ride for a smaller cost that makes a loop around the upper patch area. We did take a train ride this year, and it was what one would expect for that type of ride, although there were some cute decorations set up along the route to look at and even a tunnel to go through.

Even without spending much money, there was enough to keep our kids busy and happy for the hour or so we spent at the Clayton Pumpkin Patch. There was a small hay tunnel that they went in and out of over and over and over again with enthusiasm. I understand there is a much larger version of this in the pay-to-play area.

There are also a few farm animals to look at. Two pigs and two goats that we could see the day we visited. While the kids can't go in with the animals or touch them, they have a neat contraption for the kids to feed them with. It is sort of a stationary bike connected to a pulley. They can buy animal feed for a quarter, put the food into a can, and then peddle the can up where it will tip over the fence into a bowl before coming back down. My children were a little disappointed that the animals were not interested in the food pellets they peddled into their bowl, but not disappointed enough to keep them from asking to do it again.

Then there are the pumpkins. They are divided into piles by size. They even have piles of the more exotic green and white pumpkins some folks like. There are wheelbarrows in the pumpkin area to load up your pumpkins to take to the payment counter. The wheelbarrows are small and easy enough to handle that I never touched it, my 5 and 9 year old kids could maneuver them on their own. My husband learned that they don't actually grow the pumpkins there at the Clayton Farm; they are brought in from other places in California.

They also have a shop with other nice fall items, such as gourds, Indian corn, and Halloween decorations. The prices were not the lowest I've seen, but they are reasonable. The workers were all very helpful, and did their best to keep anyone from waiting for help.



We visited in mid-morning, and never had to wait in a line except for the train, and then not more than maybe 5 minutes. However, by the time we left, parking was very full, and I noticed that the train line was easily 5 times as long as when we had taken our ride. So aim for an earlier visit if you want to avoid the more crowded parts of the day.

Halloween Crafts

Halloween Crafts

Kids love Halloween. Most grown ups too for that matter. While decorating for Halloween can be fun, it is even more fun when you make the decorations yourself.

Pumpkin painting:
Supplies needed:
Paints (we used washable tempera paint but you could use fancier acrylic paints if your kids can be trusted with them.)
Paint brushes
Pumpkins

My kids are still to little to do any pumpkin carving on their own, so they usually draw a design, and we do the carving for them. Painting is another way they can decorate a pumpkin on their own. These little pumpkins are usually fairly cheep, and the kids love painting them.

Lolly Pop Ghosts:
Supplies needed:
Lolly pops
Tissues
Ribbon or twist ties
Black marker

This is a old classic too, but still fun. Put a tissue over the lollypop, tie with a ribbon or twisty tie. Draw eyes on. Ta-Da!

Let The Kids Invent Their Own Halloween Craft

Supplies needed:
Possibly, but not limited to: pom poms, pipe cleaners, glue, googly eyes, markers, construction paper, sequins, fabric scraps, feathers. . . etc.

Today, the kids dragged out all our craft supplies on their own and started making Halloween decorations. They made ghosts out of construction paper and craft foam. Spiders our of pipe cleaners, and other spooky critters out of pompoms. Sometimes, giving them a pile of stuff, and letting them create all on their own can be the most fun (and least work for Mom!)

I'm going to try out this neat pumpkin art project with my kids this week:

Starlight Pumpkin Art Lesson

There are many other absolutely wonderful art lessons and projects on the Deep Space Sparkle site. I suggest subscribing to the RSS feed there if your kids enjoy art. 

Western Railway Museum Pumpkin Festival in Suisun

It has been several years since our most recent visit to the Western Railway Museum in Suisun, but it is a trip we remember very fondly each time, and it is on our list of pumpkin patches that we are strongly considering returning to this year.

The Western Railway Museum is open on weekends year round (except for major holidays), and some weekdays over the summer. They have restored electric trains and streetcars on display.

During their Pumpkin Festival, which runs weekends from Oct 13^th thru the 28^th this year, they also add a hay bale fort, tractor ride, music, and games. They also have pumpkins for sale of course, but I wouldn't consider the pumpkin selection to ever have been the strongest point for the Railway Museum's Pumpkin Festival on the times we've been. Even so, they have pumpkins available, and when we go this counts as our pumpkin patch visit for the year.

The hay fort and tractor rides are nothing amazing, but they are nice, and the kids love them. They always ask for a few more minutes in the fort, or another ride on the wagon, so these are winning features in their eyes.

For the grown-ups in our group, the highlight instead is usually the ride over to the play / pumpkin patch area on board one of the historic rail cars. I don't recall how long the ride takes. It is more than a few minutes, but not long enough to drag on. Maybe 15 to 20 minutes? You ride the train to the area with the fort and pumpkins, stay as long as you like there, and catch another train back to the museum when you are ready. Trains run every 30 minutes starting at 10:00 am.

The actual museum part, including the restored streetcars and rail trains was probably more of a hit with the adults in our group, again, but the kids did look around and seemed to really enjoy seeing the trains. They were just "done" sooner with that part of the visit.

The last time we visited, one of our favorite bands, The Hip Waders, was playing, so we spent extra time watching them. They often let the kids perform along with them onstage with toy instruments. I checked, and they will be at the Western Railway's Pumpkin Festival again this year on Oct 21^st, 27^th, and 28^th starting at 11:00 am.

The admission cost for the Pumpkin Festival is slightly more than the regular Railway Resume admission cost. It is $12 for adults, and $9 for kids, $11 for seniors. You could easily, however, take a picnic lunch with you and make a whole day of it in the pumpkin patch / play area.

The Best Printable Halloween Coloring Pages and Activities

I wrote an article on Associated Content while back about Halloween coloring pages. After looking for good Halloween themed coloring pages, and mazes, and dot-to-dots, I found that most of the high Google ranked pages were disappointing as far as quality pictures and puzzles were concerned.

So I dug deeper.

I put all the best websites I found for printable Halloween activities and coloring pages together so you can find great pages without spending so much time trolling through the rest of the garbage that's out there:

Great Printable Halloween Coloring Pages