Farm Unit Oct 2016 Update
Farm Unit Oct 2016 Update
Table of Contents
Outdoor Activities 3
Dramatic Play 6
Water Table 15
Sensory Table 16
Family Connections 26
Online Resources 28
Booklist 29-32
1
Introduction
I have been creating and expanding this “Farm Unit for Preschool” over
the last ten years of living in Vermont. My own children were always fascinated
by the local farms and harvesting food from our own gardens at home. I
gravitated to buying every farm book I could find, and taking them on trips
throughout the year to visit the places that feed us. Learning about farms, farm
animals, vegetable crops, and the seasons is a powerful way to help connect
young children to their place in this world.
For four years, I was the lead teacher at the Balch Nature School at the
Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. This experience showed me how
eager children are to get their hands into the soil, gather items from nature, and
experience everything that nature has to offer. Our trips to community farms,
small sustainable farms, the town forest, and a local maple sugaring house
clearly illustrated the power in visiting local places and hearing the stories of
what goes into the production of our food. Having a preschool- farm pen pal
was another way that we learned about the real life of farmers. These ideas of
place-based and nature-based learning permeates all of my work, since I feel
called to help children reconnect to nature.
In the summer of 2014, I had the fine privilege in spending a week at
Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vermont attending their Cultivating Joy and
Wonder workshop for early childhood educators. It was amazing to see how a
working farm can serve as an amazing space to teach young children.
Now that I teach preschool at a public school, I don’t have a working farm to
bring my preschoolers to each day, but I have found meaningful ways to learn
and play with a farm theme in my preschool program, and these are the ideas
included in this unit. So please enjoy the unit and I welcome your feedback!
Sincerely,
2
Outdoor Activities
How fun would it be for preschoolers to kick off a “Farm Unit” by creating
a mini farm in the outdoor play space! Use what you have and be creative to
make a imaginative and engaging “Farm” right there that they can play with
every day!
Stick horses would be great for the kids to ride around the year. (See how
to make stick horses here = http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Stick-Horse )
Tractors – round up all the toy tractors and make a special area for them
to park in the yard. Gather some materials for the tractors to work with (straw,
pebbles, sticks, etc.)
Hay bales – purchase a few for the kids to sit on. There is lots of open
ended play with hay – from pretending to feed animals, building little shelters,
reenacting the three pigs, and trimming it with scissors for fine motor
development!
Scarecrow – with the children, take some old clothes and make your very
own scarecrow for the garden or yard
Pretend Campfire – ring of rocks, tripod with three sticks and a pot
hanging.
Triangle – to call in the farm hands for snack or lunch
Tin buckets or metal wash tubs – what fun it would be to read Mrs. Wishy
Washy and reenact washing the muddy animals outdoors!
Barn – try making the play house into barn by adding some barn-like
details, or take a large cardboard box and paint it red.
Pens with Sticks – maybe the kids want to pretend they are pigs or horses,
and you need to make pens with branches or twigs.
Saddle – see if you can borrow a real horse saddle. Lie it on a blanket on
the ground, and kids can climb on and ride a horse!
Rocking horse – maybe you can locate an old-fashioned rocking horse for
your kiddos to ride off into the sunset
Farm animals created from flat cardboard could be a fun collaborative
effort to make decorations for outside. There are lots of ideas on Pinterest!
Veggie gardens – maybe you have a real garden with beans, lettuce,
radishes, pumpkins, sunflowers, carrots, etc! Or you could create mini gardens in
large flower pots with pretend veggies.
Create a mural as a backdrop for outdoors– cows in a green meadow,
ducks in a blue pond, mud pit, red barn, etc. Children would have fun helping
you to create a mural, adding things as you about them in books!
3
Gross Motor Activities
Stick Horses – get the kids galloping, running, and skipping by offering them a
stick horse to ride. Cardboard tubes or pool noodles, socks, string, buttons, and
some glue and you can make a whole herd!
Square Dancing – maybe a neighbor or a parent in your program can teach the
kids some simple square dancing moves. Don’t know anyone…just check
YouTube for some kid friendly tutorials!
Chicken Dance- show kids a video clip of how to do the chicken dance. Explain
that you make your hands talk- 4 times; make your arms like wings and flap – 4
times; wiggle and shake hips- 4 times, clap hands – 4 times. Then repeat and try
to go faster!
Horsey Horsey Farmer Says Stop – kids gallop around and the teacher calls out
stop/go and the horsies respond. Then crawl on all fours (slow, fast, trot etc.)
Piggies Piggies- using pink balloons, show the children how to use fly swatters to
shoo the piggies into their corrals. Create corrals with blocks, outdoor play
equipment, or branches. As a cooperative game, all the children work together
to get the piggies into the corral. As a competetive game, make two corrals
and work as teams or individuals and see who can get the most in during a set
amount of time.
Mud Rolling- give the kids a brown blanket for kids to pretend to roll in the mud.
Practice perfecting the pig noises, squeals, and grunts!
Farmer May I- play just like you would play “Mother May I”
Farmer Says- play just like you would play “Simon Says”
Saddle Up! – lie a hay bale on the ground, put a saddle on top. Let the children
climb up and ride their pretend horse!
Horseshoes – many children have never tried this game, but often a lightweight
child’s version can be found with summer toys. You can easily make horseshoes
by cutting out cardboard shapes and covering with aluminum foil.
4
Wheelbarrow Walking – decide if this seems safe to you, but children love to
walk on their hands as someone holds their feet!
Farm Animal Sounds Obstacle Course – at each station have a plastic farm
animal (or laminated picture). The child has to do the physical feat and make
the animal sound. {ex. Chicken – squat & lay and egg, then say “cluck, cluck}
“Farmer Hide and Seek” - The “farmer” is the person it and they count up to 10
out loud while the animals go and hide. If the animals make it back to the barn
without being tagged then they are safe. (Decide on where the ‘barn’ is before
beginning.) Fun gross motor game that also encourages kids to learn to verbally
count to 10; as they master that then they practice counting to 20
Clothespin Drop
Barnyard Parade- after making a variety of masks with the children, put them on
and each child play the part of a different animals. What sounds do they make?
How do they move?
5
Dramatic Play
Transform your typical play kitchen area into a farm inspired play area!
Pick one that might be familiar to most kids and help model how it to works if
some children have never been to a farmers market or county fair!
“Farmers Market” - Make a large sign that says “Market” and gather up lots of
pretend fruits and veggies. Offer a cash register, pads of paper, pens, baskets to
display the veggies, and oversized paper for making signs.
“County Fair” – show off livestock (stuffed animals) baked goods, crafts, largest
veggie contest. Blue ribbons for all the kids.
“Pumpkin Patch” – after visiting a pumpkin farm, create an area that kids can
play ‘pumpkin patch’ indoors. Offer mini pumpkins, mini hay bales, cash register,
baskets, and signs.
“Dress Like a Farmer Station” – overalls, straw hats, aprons, plaid shirts, etc. Have
the children look in books to notice some ways that farmers dress. Maybe have
a special ‘dress like a farmer day’ when all kids can wear clothes from home!
“Dress a Sheep or Pig” – after studying an animal, offer simple costumes for the
children to try on. Tails and ears are often enough to inspire their creative minds!
Farm Animal Masks – children can make their own to take home, or make a
nice set for the children to explore in the dress up area! Free ones that are
beautiful can be printed from Jan Brett’s website:
http://www.janbrett.com/hat_animal_masks_main.htm
6
At the heart of an early childhood classroom should be an area for discovery that children have access to
for at least one hour per day. For my classroom, the “Discovery Area”, which other educators may refer
to as the “Science Center”, is often the hub of activity and is a central focus of my teaching. I like to think
of this area as a hands-on lab for ongoing observation, exploring, and investigation for the children. This
area connects to the season and outdoor environment so that children can build a connection to their
natural world. Children and families often contribute items to the discovery area, and this gives them
even greater ownership of the space. In my classroom, I have annual reviews using the Early Childhood
Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) and so I use this tool as a guide to ensure that the Discovery Area has
all the components needed. ECERS-3 suggests that there be at least 15 nature/science materials, some
from each of five categories: living things, natural objects, factual books/nature-science picture games,
tools, and sand or water.
Farm Unit & the Discovery Area – when first starting a new study, the discovery area is sparse and
accumulates more things as we learn and investigate. In my teaching, this area is child-directed, and we
bring out materials or resources based on children’s interests, questions, as well as family input. This
means that each year we do a Farm Unit, the discovery area looks different. Towards the end of the
study this area might include:
Living things, – outdoor bird feeder to observe birds, indoor house plants for observing and caring for,
wheat is a great plant to grow in connection to a farm unit. Wheat is a crop that many animals rely on
and is a staple in our diet. Growing wheat grass is simple – just pick up some seed from the farm store
and plant it in dirt. The kids can care for it and can trim it when it gets too long. Another great
connection to the Farm Unit is either planting or planning an outdoor garden. Children love to help start
seeds and to care for them until they are ready to plant. Harvesting in the fall is another great way to
connect to a Farm Unit.
Natural objects- as we take walks, we bring in nature items we find. Chewed up pinecones, broken
acorns, fallen sticks, lingering leaves, and bird feathers are of great interest to the children. Baskets and
bins of objects found in fall also continue to reside in the Discovery Area, such as dead insects (stored in
clear plastic containers), rocks, seashells, or collections of seeds. What kinds of natural materials would
we find at the farm? Take a field trip and bring some items back to study in the classroom (sheep wool,
dried wheat, gourds, sunflower heads, or foods made at the farm)
Factual books/ nature-science picture games – the discovery area must include at least 5
nature/science books, so we include books about farm animals. Often some kids prefer books about
farm equipment! Posters and photographs of real farms that are local to your area are wonderful! Invite
in a farmer and ask them to bring pictures we can display. Puzzles and games that feature farm animals
and farm themed matching games are great to include!
Tools- magnifying glasses to look at the some of the nature items, binoculars to observe the outdoor
bird feeders, a balance scale to measure.
7
Sand or water with toys – these are not included in my ‘discovery area’ but rather in the wet zone of my
classroom. During our Farm Unit, the water table & sensory table often has a farm theme – See page 14
& 15 for more ideas.
Photographs of real farms and farm animals – ask parents or neighbors if they
can bring in photos to share!
Photo of animals and what they give us: cows –milk & cheese, sheep – wool,
yarn, clothes, hens – eggs. Help children name the products that are produced
by each animal.
Photos of plants and the food they give us: tomato – ketchup; orange – orange
juice; wheat – bread) Focus on foods that children like and eat often. Many
children are surprised to find out that foods come from plants.
Seasons on the Farm (offer photographs or books that illustrate the different
seasons of a farm): Late winter – sugaring; spring seeds are planted & baby
animals are born; summer is warm and plants and animals grow, fall – harvest;
winter – the ground rests and so does the farmer
Dried corn on the cob – try sprouting the corn by lying it on a wet sponge and
misting. A great fine motor activity is to give a child an ear of dried corn and
tweezers and see if they can pull the pieces off the cob!
Carrot stumps – try to see if they will re-grow. (The leaves will sprout again but the
edible part will not regrow.)
Potato- growing potatoes in a bin a wonderful project and the kids are in awe
when it’s time to harvest the potatoes!
8
Language and Literacy
Songs: (see end of handout for printable song sheets, pages 31-38)
“Old McDonald”
“The Farmer in the Dell”
“Five Little Ducks”
“B-I-N-G-O”
“Down on Grandpa’s Farm” by Raffi
“I’m A Little Scarecrow” (sung to "I’m a Little Teapot”)
Compare city/farm
Farmer visit – ask the farmer questions about life on their farm
Where do foods come from? butter or milk ice cream Read about it, talk
about it, draw the steps, and then really make it!
Match the plastic farm animals to laminated pictures of the real animals.
Farm Riddles – “I am soft and fuzzy, and I say ‘baaah’. What am I?”
Story Sequencing:
http://makinglearningfun.com/themepages/MrsWishyStorySequenceCards.htm
10
Writing Center
11
Art Projects
Tractor Tire Painting – lay down large paper, put paint onto paper plate. The
child dips the tires into the paint and then runs the tractor making prints. Great
to do this activity after reading a tractor or truck book, such as “Little Blue Truck”!
Piggy Toes- Teach the rhyme, “this little piggy”. Paint the children’s toes with pink
paint and press onto paper. Once dry, add pig face details on each of the
piggies!
Three Pigs Houses – help the children trace three squares onto a sheet of paper.
Using collage materials, children make three different homes for the pigs.
Explore different materials that can be used for bricks, straw, and sticks – paper,
straw, dry spaghetti, sticks, etc.
Print making – slice a few root veggies and offer a couple corn cobs for children
to dip into paint and then make prints.
Farm animal tracks - with brown paint in shallow container, offer plastic farm
animals. Kids dip the animal’s hoofs into the paint then make tracks on paper.
Horse with Mane – hole punch along the mane of a horse cut out from paper.
The child threads yarn through the holes. Easier version – glue on yarn.
Handprint Horse- use brown paint, add a fence with popsicle sticks
Pink pig – paint on ‘Muddy Mixture’ =brown tempera, oats, used coffee
grounds, little bit of glue
12
Black sheep – cut out black sheep. Paint on white washable paint with sponges,
or glue on cotton balls
Yarn wrapped sheep – cut out sheep shapes from recycled corrugated
cardboard. Kids wrap with yarn until fat little bellies form on the sheep!
“Baa, baa, Black Sheets Bubble Prints” with Black water colors
http://afaithfulattempt.blogspot.com/2011/02/ba-ba-black-sheep.html
Farm Animal Detective game- read about it here, create flaps on the barn, lift
one flap at a time to reveal the animal for the children to guess the farm animal.
This is a wonderful project for older preschoolers!
http://www.yourtherapysource.com/files/animal_detectives_farm.pdf
Easel
Oversized cut out of a white barn – offer red, white, and brown paint to recreate
the “Big Red Barn” after reading that classic book.
Oversized cut out of a white pig – offer different shades of brown paint and pink
paint.
Offer stencils for kids to try to paint of farm animals at the easel.
13
Fine Motor Skills
Puzzles – peg and jigsaw puzzles make great fine motor activities and there are
so many wonderful Farm themed puzzles that you can use!
Clank Can – farm animals taped onto metal lids, cut lid of oatmeal container
Haystack Trimming – offer the kids scissors and small piles of hay to cut up. Offer
a few plastic animals to feed with the small hay pieces!
Corn Plucking - give a child an ear of dried corn and tweezers and see if they
can pull the pieces off the cob!
Poke Pictures - using a toothpick, children poke holes around a line drawing.
Offer pictures of different farm animals for kids to make into Poke Pictures. Put
thick cardboard under the paper to protect the table, or do the project on a
carpet square.
Seed Dough- offer a variety of seeds for kids to squish & “plant” into the dough
Barnyard Building- popsicle sticks and play dough can make great fences and
mini barns. Add in some plastic farm animals. We discovered the ones that
won’t stand up are perfect for play dough time, since the dough acts as
cement and makes them stay standing!
Muddy Pigs- brown dough, plastic pigs, and some plastic fencing. Maybe some
blue dough to take a bath too?
Tractors – getting stuck and making ruts in the dough! Lots of fun!
Create-a-Turkey Station – brown play dough, colored feathers (some long and
stiff, some short and whispy, googly eyes, felt pieces, fuzzy sticks, little twigs,
yellow foam cut into feet, orange foam for beaks
14
Water Table
Muddy Piggies – mix brown tempera paint, water, and cornstarch. Add small
plastic pigs. Kids can make the piggies all muddy, and then clean off in a small
bin of fresh water.
Mrs. Wishy Washy Tub – kids can scrub off mud from the farm animals from the
book (Duck, Cow, and Pig). To make muddy animals – paint plastic animals the
day before with brown tempera paint and let dry overnight. (Create several
sets, so each group has dried muddy set of their own to clean.)
Milk a Cow – use a latex glove filled with watered down white tempera paint, if
available, milk into small metal buckets
Yellow ducks - add blue flat marbles, and blue water by adding food coloring.
Float some yellow ducks. Read Eric Carle’s 10 Little Rubber Ducks!
Real Veggies – Sink vs. Float, try out a variety of real vegetables to see which
float and which sink.
Udder Art in the Water Table: Ahead of time, partially fill three different latex
gloves with one color of paint in each. Clip the gloves closed with binder clips.
Poke a small hole in the finger tips. Children milk the glove and drip onto a piece
of paper. (Be sure to place splat mat under water table.)
Webbed Feet Exploration – explain to children to try paddling with their hands,
one is a human hand and the other will become a webbed duck foot. To make
their hands webbed, place a bag over the child’s hand and gently secure with
a rubber band. Children spread their fingers apart and ‘swim around’. How does
it feel different? Webbed feet have more surface area and pull the water.
(Great to do after studying about ducks!)
Shear a Sheep – shaving cream, scrape off the ‘wool’ from the sheep with
squeegee. Use large plastic sheep or inflate small white balloons. With young
children, you could use Cool Whip & Popsicle sticks and do this on paper plates.
15
Sensory Table
“Decorative Corn” – kids pull off the kernels of corn with their hands and with
tweezers, then play with the corn in a bin.
Sunflower Heads – kids try to take out the seeds, explore with a dried sunflower
head verses a fresh one. How do they feel different? What’s the same?
Pumpkin guts- kids scoop out the guts and explore the seeds
Hay – hide a ‘needle’ (plastic beading needle) and explain the expression
“Needle in a haystack” to the children. Can they find it it? Hide it for a friend
and watch as they search for it.
Sand table – add a variety of tractors to make tracks, and compare to the
tracks of other toy cars. Farm Animal tracks can be fun in the sand table as well.
(Maybe moisten the sand a bit so the tracks are more prevelant!)
Farm animals & fences – set up in the sensory table with some straw or hay.
“Pens, Corrals, and Fences” – during a read aloud bring attention to some of the
details of these features on farms. Why are pens and fences important on a
farm? Try it out with different types of blocks: Magnatiles, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys
Add plastic farm animals to the block center to encourage ‘farm’ themed play.
The oversized farm animals from Learning Resource are great for the block area.
If you don’t have enough plastic animals, try printing out some animals and
taping them to blocks for the kids to play.
Melissa and Doug makes a wooden farm block set that is reasonably priced
and adds a lot of play potential to the block area during a farm unit.
Fisher Price Little People Farm Animal set and barn are another classic toy that
children love to play with. I often ask families to borrow theirs so I have 2 or 3 in
the classroom for the kids to explore!
16
Farm Small World Play
“Small World Play” is when you use small items to reenact stories or scenes. This
type of play can connect children to what they are reading, their own
experiences, or for retelling a classic tale. For our farm unit, it is great to set up
somewhere in the room, a farm themed small world play. It’s a great way to
increase language development and gives children the opportunity to repeat
many of the things they hear from the stories we read during the unit.
*See this blog post for inspiration! But allow the children to create it the way they
want their farm to look!
http://crayonboxchronicles.com/2013/06/16/farm-sensory-bin-a-day-at-the-
barn/
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20b. Quantifies
“Snack Counting”
Objective: Demonstrate understanding of the concepts of one, two, or more
Materials: snacks
Directions: When handing out snacks explain how many of each you will hand
out. “Here are two apple slice for each of you.” Then have conversations over
snack about one, two, more, less, etc. Start with small numbers until children are
successful. Take note of how many a child can count before they lose track or
forget the next number. Teach strategies for counting small groups, such as
lining up the objects and finger pointing.
“Dot Cards”
Objective: Recognize and names the number of items in a small set (up to five)
instantly
Materials: index cards with dots on them
Directions: Explain to the children that you want them to learn how to count
small groups without pointing to the objects. Practice with dot cards with few
dots (1,2) and then work up to 5 or more.
19
“Ten Frames”
Objective: makes sets of 6-10 objects and then describes the parts; identifies
which part has more, less, or the same (equal)
Materials: ten frame sheet, small toys (that fit in boxes on the sheet)
Directions: Children one toy in each frame and then count the total. Little pigs
are fun to use while doing a Farm Unit. Take turns putting in toys and asking how
many in all. Then try making two groups and describe the parts – which has
more, less or the same.
“Clothespin Game to 5”
Objective: identifies numerals to 5 by name and connects each to counted
objects. (As that is mastered, increase the number to 10.)
Materials: printable cards, clothespins
Directions: Children count the total number of barns on the card, and clip a
clothespin onto the correct number. Source for free printable:
http://play2learnprintables.com/Farm%20Theme%20page.htm
“Calendar Time”
Objective: identifies numerals to 10 by name and connects each to counted
objects
Materials: monthly calendar & pocket chart
Directions: Each day put the numeral up onto the classroom pocket chart
calendar. Count out a matching set of objects and discuss the numeral and
quantity. For a farm theme get free calendar numbers here:
http://play2learnprintables.com/Farm%20Theme%20page.htm
20
Materials: book – “Eggs & Legs”, number cards
Directions: Read aloud the story and explore the multiple descriptions of how to
get to a number. Practice identifying numerals to 20. Count how many objects
are on a page and match a number card that is equivalent. (This book also
explores skip counting by 2s and that might be interesting to children who have
strong math skills.)
“Tractor Directions”
Objective: follows simple directions related to position
Materials: tractor
Directions: Follow teacher’s direction to move the tractor on the table or play
bard (in, on, under, up, down)
“Shape Tracers”
Objective: Matches two identical shapes
Materials: printable shape tracers (laminate so reusable)
Directions: Children match shapes that are same. Using dry erase markers, trace
the shapes. Free printable here:
http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/2010/07/preschool-printables-shape-tracers/
22
TSG Objective 22. Compares and measures
“Comparing Sizes”
Objective: make simple comparisons between two objects
Materials: plastic farm animals
Directions: Discuss size of plastic farm animals, sort the small and tall animals into
two piles
“Ordering by Size”
Objective: compare and order a small set of objects according to size
Materials: nesting cookie cutter set
Directions: Children take the ‘nesting’ cookie cutters and order them by size
from smallest to largest. Discuss why they are sorted in that way
“Ordering by Length”
Objective: compare and order a small set of objects according to length
Materials: set of straw sticks varying in size from 2 inches – 12 inches
Directions: Children take set of straw sticks and order them by length from
smallest to largest. Discuss why they are sorted in that way.
“Exploring Weight”
Objective: compare and order a small set of objects according to weight
Materials: balance scale, plastic animals
Directions: Model how to use the balance scale and how the lower side is
heavier. Practice weighing different sized animals.
“Nonstandard Measurement”
Objective: use multiples of the same unit to measure
Materials: paper clip chain ( OR straws, cubes, links, paper chain)
Directions: Measure various objects in the classroom using the paper clip chain.
Measure different sized tractors or plastic farm animals
24
“Clapping Patterns”
Objective: Demonstrates knowledge of patterns – extends and creates simple
repeating patterns.
Materials: none
Directions: Explain that we have been learning about simple AB patterns. We
can show these patterns with our clapping hands. “Clap, tap, clap, tap, clap,
tap.” Encourage the kids to follow along, then ask someone to extend, ‘what
comes next?’
“Cube Patterns”
Objective: Demonstrates knowledge of patterns – extends and creates simple
repeating patterns.
Materials: linking cubes
Directions: Show a pattern of cubes (e.g. red, blue, red, blue, red) and have the
child add the next color in the pattern.
Pattern Tips:
At meeting time, try doing a pattern together each day. For a farm theme, you might use die cuts of
animal shapes and make a pattern on the board for children to extend.
TSG suggests: “Begin with simple repeating color patterns. Use objects that are identical except for their
color. Progress to shape patterns where objects are the same color, same size, but vary in shape.
Continue by using same-colored, same-shaped, but differently size objects. Encourage children to repeat
their patterns at least five times.”
TSG suggests: “Describe patterns with words, sounds, movements, and objects rather than with letters.
Using letters, (ex. AB, ABB, ABC patterns) can be confusing to children who are learning letters and their
sounds.”
25
Bulletin Board Ideas
Farm Animals & their babies – interactive bulletin board where children can
match the baby animals to the adult
Where our food comes from! – display pictures of different fruits and vegetables,
with the children cut out photos of different food products and post next to the
fruit or veggie it comes from. (Ex. tomatoes – ketchup, spaghetti sauce, tomato
juice)
Photographs of local farms – ask families to bring in photos of farms that they
have visited or ask local farmers if can come photograph their crops and farm
animals
Child Drawings – allow the children’s artwork take center stage. Have them
draw things that they have seen at farms, or from the books that you are
reading to them!
Family Connections
Before starting the Farm Unit, be sure to talk with families to find out if anyone
has a farm or has a relative that has a farm. If so, arrange for a farmer to come
visit!
Farm to Preschool program – many states have programs that connect farmers
to schools. Check out this website for more info: http://farmtopreschool.org/
Visit a local farm – nothing beat the real thing. Schedule a field trip and get
parent volunteers to make it a success! Document the visit with a class book that
features the 5 senses. “On the farm we saw, heard, smelled, tasted, touched…”
Saturday meet up at the Farmer’s Market – ask the families to meet up at the
farmer’s market to explore what’s in season and meet several local farmers.
26
Check with the organizer of the market to see if special tours or activities could
be offered.
There are so many great ways to tie in healthy snacks to a Farm Unit. My
personal favorite activity is to help children discover where their food comes
from. Throughout the theme, I like to bring their attention to food and mention
which plant and part of the plant comes from. By either having an interactive
bulletin board, where we can add pictures of food to the fruit or veggie it
comes from or by having something set up at the Science Center, I like to have
the kids help me document what we are learning.
Taste Tests - having children compare the flavors of similar foods, such as apples
that are red, green, and yellow is a great way to help them refine their taste
buds. Discuss which are sweeter, is one more crunchy, or do you prefer one –
are all great ways to boost oral language skills. Comparing very different flavors
of the same food, such as Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Colby is another way to
compare and contrast.
“Don’t Yuck Someone Else’s Yum” - one thing that I emphasize is that that
although you might not like something, we use our manners and say, “No thank
you.” If you were eating something that you liked, and someone kept saying it
was yucky, how would you feel. A great book to discuss this and to explore
multi-cultural foods is Yoko by Rosemary Wells.
Creating graphs – “which is your favorite dairy food: milk, yogurt, or cheese?”
and then creating a class graph is a fun way to learn about data collection and
for reading simple graphs.
Get cooking: Homemade Bread, Butter making, Ice Cream are favorites!
Farm Style Breakfast: As a culminating event, you could serve a farm style
breakfast for all kids! Breakfast foods might include (depending what’s local for
you): eggs, maple syrup, bacon, ham, toast, biscuits, butter, grits, cheese
chunks, blueberries, strawberries, apple and peach slices, jams or jellies, milk,
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and apple cider. Serve the breakfast on red and white plaid tablecloths, and a
vase of wildflowers in the center of the table. The children will know this is a
special treat!
Online Resources
Check out my Pinterest board of Farm Theme Ideas- almost 300 fabulous ideas to
inspire you! https://www.pinterest.com/azajko/farm-theme/
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Booklist for Farm Unit
TRACTORS/ TRUCKS:
Little Blue Truck (Board Book) by Alice Schertle
Little Blue Truck Leads the Way by Alice Schertle
Otis the Tractor by Loren Long
Machines at Work: On the Farm by Henry Pluckrose
PIGS:
Farmer Mack Measure His Pig by Tony Johnston (Measurement)
How Big is a Pig? By Clare Beaton (Opposites)
Little Pig by June Melser
Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore! By David McPhail
Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud by Laynn Plourde
Pigs Love Mud (Touch and Feel Flap Book) by Richard Powell
The Great Pig Escape by Eileen Christelow
The Pig in the Pond by Martin Waddell
The Three Pigs by James Marshall
The Three Horrid Pigs and the Big Friendly Wolf by Liz Pichon
COWS:
The Cow tthat Went OINK by Bernard Most
The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons
Baby Calf by P. Mignon Hinds
No Moon, No Milk! By Chris Babcock
HORSES:
Emma’s New Pony by Amy Ehrlich
Every Cowgirl Needs a Horse by Rebecca Janni
Horses by Gail Gibbons
Little Ponies by Christiane Gunzi
Touch and Feel: Ponies by DK Publishing
SCARECROWS:
Scarecrow Pete by Mark Kimball Moulton
Scarecrow’s Secret by Heather Amery
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston
The Scarecrow’s Hat by Ken Brown
The Silly Scarecrow by Danielle Denega
MATH BOOKS – not necessarily farm themed but great ones to tie in to this unit!
The Shape of Things by Dayle Ann Dodds
When a Line Bends..a Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene
Who’s Counting by Nancy Tafuri
Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
Ten Apples Up On Top! By Dr. Seuss
“Old McDonald”
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And on his farm he had a chicken, e-i-e-i-o
With a cluck-cluck here, and a cluck-cluck there
Here a cluck, there a cluck, everywhere a cluck-cluck
Old Macdonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o
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Heigh-ho, the derry-o…
The dog takes the cat
The cat takes the mouse (or rat) (2×)
Heigh-ho, the derry-o…
The cat takes the mouse
The mouse (or rat) takes the cheese (2×)
Heigh-ho, the derry-o…
The mouse (or rat) takes the cheese
The cheese stands alone (2×)
Heigh-ho, the derry-o…
The cheese stands alone
“B-I-N-G-O”
There was a farmer who had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o.
B-I-N-G-O
B-I-N-G-O
B-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o.
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(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-G-O
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-G-O
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o.
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Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But none of the five little ducks came back.
1, 2, 3
Oh, We're on our way, we're on our way, on our way to Grandpa's
Farm
We're on our way, we're on our way, on our way to Grandpa's Farm
(chorus)
(chorus)
(chorus)
Here we come.
(chorus)
(chorus x2)
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Take Me Out to the Barnyard
(Sung to: Take Me Out to the Ballgame)
by Judy Hall
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I went to visit a farm one day,
I saw a sheep across the way,
And what do you think I heard it say?
Baa, Baa, Baa!
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Moo, moo, brown cow, have you milk for me?
Yes sir, yes sir, as tasty as can be.
Churn it into butter, make it into cheese,
Freeze it into ice cream, or drink it if you please.
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