Grove Pick and Pack

It all started when…

Visitors pick three varieties of citrus fruit, differentiated by color, from child-height trees. The plucked fruit is put into wheelbarrows that can then be emptied into a concentrator chute that empties them onto a conveyor belt that can be hand-cranked to empty into a distribution turntable.

That turntable can be cranked to turn and deposit the fruit onto a distribution conveyor belt which is then hand-cranked to deposit the fruit onto a sorting table. This will allow the children to sort the fruit by color onto the distribution table which has matching color-coded sections. The sorted fruit is finally then deposited into a “distribution box” by color which will send the fruit back to the appropriate tree, travelling through clear hoses across the ceiling.

All the steps require fine and gross motor skills and some coordination to move the fruit from picking through distribution. There is color identification and color-matching, plus math when the fruit is counted. This is also an example of the multi-level learning experience that can be delivered by an intelligently-designed exhibit.

For the little ones, the three fruit are oranges (orange), lemons (yellow), and limes (green). However, for older kids, these can be represented as fully ripe oranges (orange), partially ripe oranges (yellow), and unripe oranges (green). This then leads to an entire lesson on why pickers pick unripe oranges, which leads to a discussion about packaging and shipping overseas.

Caters from 4 – 14.