Year 3 from Sedgeberrow C of E First School came out on a cold and muddy day. The children had a great time learning the best way to walk through mud without loosing their wellies. 

Our topic today was ‘plants’, I had expected to be showing the children lush green grass and the odd spring flower. Sadly the weather this winter has meant that everything is delayed by a few weeks. The children were able to tell me about the experiments they had conducted in school and knew what a plant needed for growth. I added to their list by reminding them that farmers often add plant food and showed them the bags of fertilizer and the huge smelly pile of farm yard manure. 

As we walked past the older calves in the field, the children could see how much damage the calves had made to the wet ground. I explained that we are struggling to find good grass for the calves to eat because the ground is too wet and cold for the grass to grow.  

During our walk we went past the wild bird mix plantation and thought about the different ways seeds are spread. We also looked at the bee hives in the orchard but decided it was too cold to see any bees. Hopefully when the blossom comes out in the orchard we will see lots of bees drinking nectar and spreading pollen. 

Towards the end of our walk the children were given a trowel and asked to dig up a wheat plant and have a look at the different parts of the plant. They also pulled up sunflower plants and looked at the size of the roots. 

       

This week all three Reception classes from Bengeworth CE Academy came out to the farm. The children all did very well with the extremely muddy conditions. I have washed a lot of wellies this week. 

Their topic of the term is fairy tales and we had fun remembering as many fairy tales as we could. I did put out props along the kitchen worktop to give the children ideas. Sadly one of my seven dwarfs appears to have gone on holiday, as I was down on numbers. 

The children were asked to find a partner and in their pairs each given a toy pig. We went out to the large cow shed and used straw to make a home for the first pig. The children saw how farmers use straw for calf bedding. They also experienced being sucked by calves and how the wind blows straw about. After seeing the one year old calves eating their breakfast we then headed off into the woods. 

The children then made a house of sticks for their pig. There were some great ideas and many children remembered a chimney for the house. Then for the third house made of bricks, the children used my wooden shapes collection. I was very impressed how the children used the shapes. 

After lunch the play wood was a great hit. One group invented a new game for me which I now call the walking see-saw and will use with other groups. 

All the wonderful Year 2 children from Bengeworth Academy came out to me over three days. I had the pleasure of meeting them in their Year 1 last year. It was amazing to see how much they had remembered about their previous trip. They were very excited getting off the coach, which I took as a compliment! 

The children are studying the story ‘Into the Forest’ by Anthony Browne. With my wood, the play house, the tree house, a very long piece of string and lots of props we recreated the story. The children were put into small groups and asked to concentrate on a particular page of the book. They have clearly loved working on the book in class. 

After seeing various levels of acting ability (!) we headed down to the pond to see if we could spot any signs of Spring. After the previous cold weeks the pond is still looking very winter like. I feel the pond is at least two if not three weeks behind where it usually is. I haven’t even got the pond dipping nets out yet!

After lunch the children had lots of exploration time in the play wood. 

 

A fabulous group of children came out to the farm this week from Swan Lane First School. The group consisted of a mix of Year 1 – 4 children. Visiting the farm was an opportunity for these children to have a special shared experience. 

We started the day discussing dangers on a real farm. We then moved outside to see the one year old calves in their winter housing. The children learnt about ear tags and that the calves would be out in the Spring fields the next day. We then had a lovely walk over the ridge and furrow, through the traditional Vale of Evesham orchard, along the Saxon Saltway and into the little wood. 

In the wood I asked the children to go into pairs and I gave each pair a letter. The children then had to think of something on the farm that began with that letter. Once they had thought of it, they had to make a picture of it using natural materials. I loved a Ladybird a boy had made but sadly the photo didn’t sure it clearly. The two photos attached to the blog are B – butterfly and C – conker. 

After lunch the children had a long and very contented time quietly exploring the play wood.  

The largest group of children in the visitor room to date…..57 children! 

Today was a visit with a difference. The Reception and Year 1 children from Bredon Hancocks school came out at the same time. I decided that I would change the structure of the day to accommodate so many children. We split the children into groups and they did a round robin of activities in and around the farm yard. The morning activities were; meet the big calves, make a cows face with an ear tag, make a bird feeder, make a squishy robin, make a feathery book mark and make a pine cone chicken. The children took all their craft activities home with them.  

After lunch 57 very, very muddy children came out of the play wood with big smiles on their face. Although some of the adults had managed to keep clean in the wood, by the time they had helped the children change they were just as muddy. A proper experience of a farm in a wet January.