Gold Mining for Kids: Gem Stone and Rock Mining Tips to Teach about Minerals
Want to pan for gold and mine gemstones? We've got rock mining tips, ideas, and vacation trips: Do you like to Collect Minerals?
Whether you are on vacation or exploring your own backyard, kids love to collect rocks and study minerals. They love to buy rocks at all those tourist traps. You know the ones, where they get a scoopful of polished stones and fill a velvet bag full of precious gemstones. Ugh. How is this fun? It certainly isn't educational. We went mining for gemstones atop Crockett Mountain in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Here are some money saving tips and advice, so you won't make the same mistakes we have.
Ad* Rocks and Minerals for Classroom Earth Science Lessons
Crockett Mountain Mining, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Gold Mining for Kids: Gem Stone and Rock Mining Tips to Teach about Minerals.
We've been pretend panning and collecting rocks and minerals in our backyard, mining on vacation, and collecting and studying minerals for homeschool. We are sharing our best tips, tricks, and mineral identification guides. The kids have gold fever after watching Gold Rush
on the Discovery Channel. So, here are some tips on how to take your kids rock mining or panning for gold without breaking the bank. You probably don't have a pocket full of gold to pay the bills...
How to take your kids rock mining or panning for gold without breaking the bank.
Don't buy into all the hype. Find a place without a lot of pomp and circumstance.
Don't purchase the most expensive bag. We bought one bag of rocks (authentic mining rough) for $6.95. Planning ahead? You can buy a large bag on Amazon, take it with you and mine it at Crockett Mountain. The trays are out in the mining area.
Bulk Minerals for Gemstone Mining
You can also use this one at home.
Don't purchase as pail, rinse out the bag your rough came in, and save it to store your newly panned gemstones until you get home. Undoubtedly, you have several small, velvet rock bags.
There are more stones in the 2 lb. plastic bag for $6.95 than the "scoop your own into velvet bags" inside the stores.
Keep panning until all the rough is gone. There are tiny crystals and fool's gold buried in the sand.
Don't rush it, go slow.
Gemstone Mining in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
For mineral identification and more info on gemstones visit kids love rocks. They've got a page for companion rock and mineral activities.
Rock and Mineral Identification.
Kids gold mining in Tennessee.
Crockett Mountain Chair Lift in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Mayhem and Jake searching for gold treasure.
So, we rode the chair lifts to Crockett Mountain by mistake. We were hoping to get to Ober Mountain where there is a mini-theme park. It was HOT. One of us (the smallest one) didn't want to ride up the mountain, so rather than drag her another mile to another chair lift, we took the first one we saw. It was about $12 per person, round trip. I thought it was a great deal... at first. There wasn't much up there. We stayed less than an hour. There was a shop to purchase rocks and other tourist items including ice cream, a scenic overlook, and the mining area. The kids loved it. The adults loved the view.
View from Crockett Mountain in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
It wasn't crowded, so that was a bonus! There are easier mining areas to get to in Pigeon Forge, try the Three Bears General Store. You can see and feed live black bears. They are cute! Yes, it is a tourist trap, but it is a good one :)
Recommended Reading:
Rocks and Minerals Identification
Earth Discovery Center Eagle Creek Park
Homeschool Lessons from Kids Creative Chaos
Whether you are on vacation or exploring your own backyard, kids love to collect rocks and study minerals. They love to buy rocks at all those tourist traps. You know the ones, where they get a scoopful of polished stones and fill a velvet bag full of precious gemstones. Ugh. How is this fun? It certainly isn't educational. We went mining for gemstones atop Crockett Mountain in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Here are some money saving tips and advice, so you won't make the same mistakes we have.
Ad* Rocks and Minerals for Classroom Earth Science Lessons
Crockett Mountain Mining, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Gold Mining for Kids: Gem Stone and Rock Mining Tips to Teach about Minerals.
We've been pretend panning and collecting rocks and minerals in our backyard, mining on vacation, and collecting and studying minerals for homeschool. We are sharing our best tips, tricks, and mineral identification guides. The kids have gold fever after watching Gold Rush
on the Discovery Channel. So, here are some tips on how to take your kids rock mining or panning for gold without breaking the bank. You probably don't have a pocket full of gold to pay the bills...
How to take your kids rock mining or panning for gold without breaking the bank.
Don't buy into all the hype. Find a place without a lot of pomp and circumstance.
Don't purchase the most expensive bag. We bought one bag of rocks (authentic mining rough) for $6.95. Planning ahead? You can buy a large bag on Amazon, take it with you and mine it at Crockett Mountain. The trays are out in the mining area.
Bulk Minerals for Gemstone Mining
You can also use this one at home. Don't purchase as pail, rinse out the bag your rough came in, and save it to store your newly panned gemstones until you get home. Undoubtedly, you have several small, velvet rock bags.
There are more stones in the 2 lb. plastic bag for $6.95 than the "scoop your own into velvet bags" inside the stores.
Keep panning until all the rough is gone. There are tiny crystals and fool's gold buried in the sand.
Don't rush it, go slow.
Gemstone Mining in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
For mineral identification and more info on gemstones visit kids love rocks. They've got a page for companion rock and mineral activities.
Rock and Mineral Identification.
Kids gold mining in Tennessee.
Crockett Mountain Chair Lift in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Mayhem and Jake searching for gold treasure.
So, we rode the chair lifts to Crockett Mountain by mistake. We were hoping to get to Ober Mountain where there is a mini-theme park. It was HOT. One of us (the smallest one) didn't want to ride up the mountain, so rather than drag her another mile to another chair lift, we took the first one we saw. It was about $12 per person, round trip. I thought it was a great deal... at first. There wasn't much up there. We stayed less than an hour. There was a shop to purchase rocks and other tourist items including ice cream, a scenic overlook, and the mining area. The kids loved it. The adults loved the view.
View from Crockett Mountain in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
It wasn't crowded, so that was a bonus! There are easier mining areas to get to in Pigeon Forge, try the Three Bears General Store. You can see and feed live black bears. They are cute! Yes, it is a tourist trap, but it is a good one :)
Recommended Reading:
Rocks and Minerals Identification
Earth Discovery Center Eagle Creek Park
Homeschool Lessons from Kids Creative Chaos
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