Guest Posted April 4, 2008 Posted April 4, 2008 for our topic this term I have organised some living eggs for the classroom and also changed our role play area into a farm shop/barn. what I really really really want is a visit from a farmer and some animals to come to school. Has anyone ever organised this before and how did you go about it? i would love to go on a farm visit but year 1+2 go to the farm and have requested we dont do the farm visit in foundation. I have been googling all morning! thank you
Guest Posted April 4, 2008 Posted April 4, 2008 Hi Linnet, I don't think I have said hi yet,- so Hello !! I'm afraid I can't help, apart from saying if by 'living eggs' you mean hatching them, don't foget to X and O both sides and turn twice a day. hope you can get some animals organised and have lots of fun. Sal.
Guest Wolfie Posted April 4, 2008 Posted April 4, 2008 I know that Manchester probably isn't known for its large farming community but maybe one of your parents has relatives or friends at a farm and might be able to help? Or there are a few companies around who will bring animals into the setting, though this can sometimes be quite expensive. Or how about a visit from a milkman or someone who sells products that come from farm animals? Our milkman was brill when he came in, brought all sorts of things for the children to try and let them clamber all over his milk float!
HappyMaz Posted April 4, 2008 Posted April 4, 2008 We had a visit from a farm in pre-school in September. It was expensive (£400 for the whole day) but the parents were still talking about how much their children had enjoyed in at the Mother's Day Lunch in March! It was just fantastic. We had Miller's Ark - if you're interested I could go away and find the link... The great thing was we were able to sit in the sunshine and watch the animal handler set it all up: we had donkeys, turkeys, geese, ponies, and guinea pigs, rabbits, baby chicks etc. The children got to feed them, pet them, groom them... Sorry - was off on a reverie there remembering how lovely our day was! Maz
Guest Posted April 4, 2008 Posted April 4, 2008 I would also be really interested to know if anyone knows of any companies in the Manchester area like Miller's Ark - it looks fantastic from the website Maz. The only other thought I can offer for the area is to see if any local animal sanctuaries would be able to visit you and bring some animals along, although they might not be specifically farm type animals. And there is a community farm on the Rochdale-Heywood road that some colleagues have told me of but I don't know if they do visits to you. I have bitten the bullet and booked a visit to another farm near Bolton but only for our older children as end of term treat, as we can easily cover the ratios with them, but I am less confident about the younger children going on such a visit.
Guest Posted April 5, 2008 Posted April 5, 2008 (edited) Have you tried ZooLab http://www.zoolabuk.com/. I can't speak about the Pet/Farm visit but I had the Rainforest one and it was really good. It was a little wordy but the children got to hold stick insects, a giant millipede, giant African land snails, hissing cockroaches and stroke a snake and a frog/toad - I can't remember which! Edited April 5, 2008 by Guest
HappyMaz Posted April 5, 2008 Posted April 5, 2008 It was a little wordy but the children got to hold stick insects, a giant millipede, giant African land snails, hissing cockroaches and stroke a snake and a frog/toad - I can't remember which! Oooh now that sounds interesting... the trouble is when you have a great experience you feel the need to better it the next time! Wasn't there any 'urgh I'm not touching that!' response, Moose? Maz
Beau Posted April 6, 2008 Posted April 6, 2008 Don't forget that farms also grow crops. Perhaps you could link this to a bakers and go to visit them instead.
Guest Posted April 7, 2008 Posted April 7, 2008 (edited) Wasn't there any 'urgh I'm not touching that!' response, Moose? Maz The children were all sat round in a circle and they could say 'no' if they didn't want to touch! There was one scary moment when a child with special needs decided that he didn't like the stick insect on him and flicked it off and starting jumping around. I had a vision of having to scrape legs and wings off the carpet and having to formulate an impromptu discussion about death (and how much 'compensation' would I have to pay?!) but the insect survived! Oh - and my TA has a snake phobia so had to leave the classroom when the lady was going to get the snake out. But apart from those two things it was great! Even if everyone else had hated the session (which they didn't!) it would have been worth it for the sheer glee on the face of another boy who had been virtually untouchable and unreachable for the whole of the year. He absolutely loved it and sat clapping his hands and giggling, waiting for each animal to come round. Priceless! Edited April 7, 2008 by Guest
Guest Posted April 7, 2008 Posted April 7, 2008 Thank you all for your help. You have definately given me something to work on over the holidays! I shall let you know how I get on. Thats why I love this forum everyone has such great ideas. Thanks again. X
Recommended Posts