We’re off to a great start! Today, we kicked off this new school year at Pike Place Market with a visit from Frantz Coe Elementary School 3rd graders in Queen Anne.

One of our favorite spots to visit at the Market is The Great Wind-Up! Sadly, it will be closing this Saturday, October 4th. Go visit the store before they close their doors! During our stop,  we learned about where wind-up toys are made, the difference between plastic and metal wind-up toys, and the critical role of a toy tester! Here’s Alan sharing how a vintage metal wind-up toy from India works!

Another fun stop is Indi Chocolate! From direct trade practices to the fermentation and roasting of cacao beans, we learned a lot about chocolate today. At Indi Chocolate, they specialize in 3-ingredient chocolate (cocoa beans, cocoa butter, and sugar)! How many ingredients do you usually see in your chocolate? Here’s Rachel showing what cacao pods look like!

Do you know what cocoa beans look like? Here are some of Indi Chocolate’s Peruvian beans:

We stopped by Market Magic and Jonathan showed us a neat trick! We were all amazing and walked away thinking, “How did he do it?”

We settled on, “I don’t know. It’s magic!”

We did lots of other cool things too, these are just the highlights! We even stopped to smell the beautiful, locally grown flowers at the day stalls. The Hmong florists make such lovely bouquets:

Until next time!