~ Ideas for learning about farms, farm animals, and crops ~
Books
Fairy Tales
Pigs
Cows
Horses
Chickens/Hens
Ducks/Geese
Sheep
Farmers
Plants
More Farm Books
Activities
"Little Boy Blue" Rhyme
[Large Group]
Little Boy Blue,
Come blow your horn.
The sheep's in the meadow,
The cow's in the corn.
Where is the boy
Who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack,
Fast asleep.
"Little Bo Peep" Rhyme
[Large Group]
Little Bo Peep
Has lost her sheep,
And doesn't know where to find them.
Leave them alone,
And they'll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them.
"I Hop on My Horse" Fingerplay
[Large Group]
I hop on my horse and go to town.
(pretend to ride horse)
I ride up high and I don't fall down.
(place arms high and then low)
I wear a hat so my hair won't blow.
(put hand on head)
And when I want to stop, I just say Ho!
(pull back on reins)
Horses Stop & Go
[Large Motor]
The children crawl around the carpet pretending to be horses as the teacher calls out "stop" and "go". This can also be played with the children
galloping.
Wheelbarrows
[Large Motor]
Children hold a partner's feet as they walk on their hands like a wheelbarrow, taking turns being the wheelbarrow. Each pair of children has about 6
beanbags to carry (on the wheelbarrow's back) one at a time to their destination.
Seed Mosaic
[Art]
Children made a picture by gluing seeds on paper in a design.
"Old MacDonald's Farm Animals" Class Book
[Literacy]
Each child made one page and we put them all together to make a class book. The children decided on a farm animal they wanted to draw and the sound that
animal makes and the children dictated the words to be written in the blanks:
"Old MacDonald had a farm.
E-I-E-I-O
And on that farm he had a ______.
E-I-E-I-O
With a ___ ___ here,
And a ___ ___ there,
Here a ___, there a ___, everywhere a ___ ___.
Old MacDonald had a farm,
E-I-E-I-O."
Farm Poetry
[Literacy]
Children chose a farm animal they wanted to draw. We glued the animal and the farm poem form onto a large sheet of paper. To make the poem, children
dictated the words to be written in the blanks:
I am a [type of farm animal].
I can [movement].
I can [sound].
I feel [texture].
I smell [scent].
I am [emotion].
I am [color].
I am a [repeat first line].
"The Hat" Characters
[Literacy]
After reading Jan Brett's book The Hat, we talked about what "characters" are in a story. The second time we read the story, each child was given a
character mask from the story. As we came to each character's part in the story, the child with that character's mask stood. After the story was read,
we named each of the characters and talked about what they did in the story and what they said. At small group time, the children cut out the characters
from The Hat and made them into stick puppets. Each child described their favorite character to the group.
"The Hat" Character Masks
"The Hat" Clipart for Puppets
Piggy Banks
[Math]
Each child used a mat with a piggy bank on it and 12 pennies. Children rolled a die, counted the amount of dots on the die, and counted out the
same amount of pennies onto the mat.
Milk Graph
[Math]
Children first mixed and taste-tested three kinds of milk: vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. Children decided on their favorite kind of milk, and
put their name on the graph. We counted to see which had the most/least/same.
Farmer Grid Game
[Math]
Children rolled the die and counted out that amount of game pieces to place on a square in the grid. The object of the game is to fill the grid.
Children can play alone or with other players. This game was made with stickers bought at Michael's.
Growth Graph
[Math]
The title of the graph was: "How do you think [watermelons] grow?" (You can do any fruit or vegetable.) The children made a guess and placed
their name on the graph in one of these columns: On a tree, On a bush, Under ground, On a vine. We checked our answers by reading a book about how they grow.
In the Barnyard Story Mats
[Math, Literacy]
Each child had a farm yard story mat and a bowl of colored counting chips to use. They listened to a math story about farm animals, and placed counters
in different areas of the barnyard on the mats as they listened. For example, there were three yellow ducks on the pond, there were five blue horses by
the fence. This helped children practice listening skills, counting skills, and position words.
Farm Animal Number Bingo
[Math]
We used farm animal counters to cover up the numerals.
Seed Sorting
[Math, Science]
Children were given a paper divided into 4 sections. They sorted a bag of 4 types of seeds and glued them onto the paper, with each seed in it's own
section.
Making Butter
[Science]
We poured whipping cream into baby food jars. Children shook the jars until a ball of butter formed in the jar. (Liquid and solid will separate).
Then we spread the butter on bread to eat.
Planting Seeds
[Science]
Children planted a variety of seeds in a seed sprouter. We planted 3 each of 4 different types, and later transferred them to clay pots.
These were to stay in our classroom, and the children planted another seed of their choice in a clear cup that they could take home after it sprouted.
We watched the growth of the plants, which encouraged lots of observation and
discussion skills. The photo shows the seedlings of four types of seeds we planted: bean, corn, tomato, and watermelon. By planting four different
types, children were able to observe which seeds germinate for shorter or longer periods of time. The bean and corn were the fastest to sprout,
while the tomato came in third, and the watermelon took the longest to sprout.
Layers of Soil
[Science]
For this experiment, we had bowls of potting soil, sand, small bits of leaves, and natural aquarium rocks set out for the children to scoop some of
each onto their plate. The children poured the sediment into a plastic bottle using a funnel, and poured some water into the bottle. We closed
the bottle tightly and taped it, and the children shook it to stir the sediment and water. Then, we put the bottles on a shelf and left them alone to let
the soil settle. Later, we went back to take a look at the bottles (without touching them) to see if the soil and rocks had settled into layers.
Seed Sorting at the Science Center
[Science]
The wooden bowl contained four types of seeds. Children picked up the seeds with the tweezers or their fingers and sorted them into the four clear bowls.
Peanuts to Peanut Butter
[Cooking]
We read a book called From Peanuts to Peanut Butter [published by Newbridge] to learn how peanut butter is made from peanuts. We made our own
peanut butter by grinding peanuts in a heavy-duty blender. (Check for peanut allergies before doing this activity).
Peanut Butter Fudge
[Cooking]
Stir one part peanut butter and one part vanilla or chocolate frosting until blended. Spread (or roll into ball) and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
(Skip this activity if any child has a peanut allergy.)
Garden Prop Box
[Creative Play]
Include: Garden gloves, Trowels, Watering can, Flower pots, Artificial plants & flowers, Bird feeder, Wind socks, Knee pads, Aprons, Straw hats, Plastic
vegetables
Farm Food
[Social Studies]
The children brought empty food packages or pictures of food from home. The children took turns showing the class what they brought. We discussed where the
food came from, and how a farm was involved in producing the food.
United Streaming Videos
[Technology]
"Big Red Barn"
"A First Look at Farm Animals"
Resources
- Character Masks from "The Hat"
- "The Hat" Clipart for puppets
- Farm Theme Cards: use for pocket charts, flannel boards, graphing labels, matching, games, beginning sounds, etc.
- Farm Theme Links: my bookmarks on del.icio.us
- Farm Links for Kids
