Another hot day on the farm saw the first class from St Andrews school come and experience Sandfield Farm. The children had the topic of habitats and how animals evolve. We started the morning walking through the wheat field which is showing the first signs of the seed head (wheat ear). Walking along the track, the children were asked to spot signs of badgers. We found three inactive badger holes and tracks running through the hedge. Later we saw the badger latrine and seeds in the badger poo!

After the badger sett we walked through the field of male calves. Earlier I had explained how farmers use the milk or meat traits of cows to develop beef and dairy cows. As the children dipped in the pond the calves came closer to have a look.  The pond was great today with plenty of sightings of dragon fly nymphs in the water, dragon fly skins on the reeds and dragon flies hovering over the water. A really beautiful place developed by nature. 

On the way back to the classroom we walked alongside the wildlife area. Here nature over the last ten years, has changed the space from a flooded wheat field to the start of woodland. I explained to the children that ordinarily we would do bug hunting in the wildlife area. However, the dry weather has caused the bugs to go deep into the soil to hunt for moisture and bug hunting would be tricky. We therefore went bug hunting in the coolness of the wood. After the children had found minibeasts and a huge slug we played a game. Each group was given a birds beak (a peg) and had to pick up a certain coloured piece of tree shaped pasta. The group which had to pick up the green pasta found far fewer pieces as they were harder to spot…..

After lunch we went back into the shade of the wood where the children explored, built dens and tried out the blind fold trail.

Tags: Habitats, May