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• Use a rabbit or young lamb as a prop to talk about farm animals. • Mystery tools – lay out old and modern farm tools and have the children guess what they are used for.

• Sequencing games (fertilize, seed, soil, sun, rain), (egg, wash, candle, size, package).

• Popcorn activities (look at popcorn.org under Other

Educational Resources in the list of websites on page 14).

• Erect a corn pool – a pool flled with kernels of corn, canola, or a large-seeded bean – for children to play in.

• Build a 4’ x 8’ play table with 2” x 4” edging that is 2’ off the ground. Fill to about 2” deep with a smaller sized smooth product such as corn meal, washed sand, or canola seed. Put toy farm implements in it. Show the children how they work on the farm, then let them play with the toys.

Pricing

Tours are a GST taxable service, so include the cost of GST in your price.

Many farms price their tour to a round number that includes GST. The price will vary with the length of the tour, the activities the children do and any products or food that are given to the children or the school to take home as part of the program. Add-ons could include:

• a drink

• a colouring page that relates to the farm tour

• a pumpkin or gourd

• something that relates to the crop or animal your tour featured

Some farms offer schools the option to stay for lunch. Farms can offer separate seating areas for the different school groups and allow them to bring their own lunch, or if they have an approved (inspected by the local health unit) kitchen they can offer simple lunches.

Typical prices for a partial day tour range from $4 (for the 90 minute tour) to $6 (for a three hour tour).

Full day packages range from $6 to $12. Pricing depends on whether lunch is provided, the activities included and the supplies needed.

Day-long packages might include:

• Nature walks pointing out things found in the wild. The items pointed out would vary with the age of the children and the curriculum. • Story time for younger children. • Making popcorn over an open fre. For safety, the fre should be fenced and either be properly sheltered or cancelled on windy days. Be careful burning poplar wood as it can spark. • Making a scarecrow. • Painting a pumpkin.

• Playing a game in a corn maze.

One possible corn maze game is survivor tag, where children are

divided into “critters” and “plants.” In this game, herbivores eat plants, carnivores eat meat and omnivores eat plants and meat. Explain each category and describe what animals ft into each group and therefore who can tag who.

Another possibile event for a day-long package might be a scavenger hunt. This could be related to the environment where children collect cards that represent components to life and death like water, soil, seeds, sunshine vs. diseases, insects, and weeds.

As well, some farms offer day long workshops for older children that tie into their core curriculum. Examples include workshops on soils, habitats, and weather.

Takeaways

It’s important that visitors leave knowing the name of the farm. They should leave with something that tells them where they have been, what they have learned and helps the teacher meet the school’s curriculum requirement, such as:

• Worksheets describing what students saw.