In anticipation of our upcoming visits from Head Start kids, we once again made our way down to Frederick with an animal in tow. These visits are designed to prepare the children for the farm in a few ways:
- Introduce us farm folk as friendly, kind, and safe people.
- Introduce our animals as friendly, kind, and safe animals.
- Teach the children what to expect when they visit the farm
- Teach the children how to behave at the farm (give animal handshakes, be calm and quiet, be gentle and kind)
These goals are accomplished through our story, Meet the Farm, our interactions with the kids, and an animal encounter. This year, we brought our Pygmy/Nigerian Dwarf goat crosses to entertain and delight our smallest ThorpeWood visitors. Annabelle, Banjo, and Mohawk received their animal handshakes, pats, and hugs with great affection (and tolerance).
All of this also allows us farm folk to get an idea of who will be coming to the farm in the coming two months and what to expect behavior-wise. At the conclusion of each visit, we invited the class to their upcoming field trip.
Wish us luck (we may need it with all these three year olds!)