Oh my, how we love Head Start Family Day – this is our 6th year holding the event! With 135 folks in attendance this year, we were proud to run a smooth and FUN event. The objective of the day is to give the families a restorative and adventure-filled day in nature, and also allow the parents a chance to see where their children will be attending field trips throughout the school year.
The day began with a welcome in our pine cathedral, where we talked about our farm and what programming looks like when the Head Start students come to visit. From there, we led an exploration hike across the property, to the field, pond, tipi, and back again. Along the way, we challenged the families to find forest fun: pinecones, leaves, acorns, ‘gumballs,’ hickory nuts, and more.
Once we returned to the main farm area, we released the families to our farm centers. It was a full carnival with folks using their imaginations in the mud kitchen, loving horses in the barn, enjoying the goats in the field, riding atop the 1951 Farmall tractor, bouncing in the hay playground, reading farm stories in the pavilion, playing in the riding ring, and getting down to serious business atop the tractors and other farm machinery.
At the close of our two hours together, the Head Start staff offered snacks to all the families as they departed for their cars. It was a lovely day and we owe a big THANK YOU to all the Head Start staff who supported us at the farm centers, provided navigation support at the crossroads, got waivers signed and folks checked in, and more.
Until next year…
