Kids in the Barn

Where does chocolate milk come from? Does shearing hurt the sheep? Experience two great resources that teach kids about agriculture, with loads of fun in the bargain…

PARKLAND CONSERVATION FARM

SINCE 1992, PARKLAND CONSERVATION FARM (PCF) has shown thousands of kids, parents, teachers and even farmers how to have a greater appreciation of agriculture and the environment. Located 45 minutes east of Edmonton, PCF is situated on what used to be a workable farm yard, complete with an old barn, grain bins, blacksmith shop, tractor barn, wetland area and an added interpretive center—even 30 cow/calf pairs call it home.

Throughout the year, PCF offers a variety of Agro-Environmental Education Programs (AEEP) for students of all ages at a minimal cost of $2 per half day and $3 per day. Programs directed at elementary students teach them where their food comes from, how to be safe on a farm, how to interact with animals and how to be kind to the environment. Often kids arrive not knowing that chickens produce eggs or that goats provide milk and that tails actually have a purpose (to swish away pesky flies).

Kevin Ceretze, Educational Coordinator, sums up the success of Parkland Conservation Farm by noting, “Many teachers bring their classes back year after year. It has become an established part of their lesson plan.”

A FEW OF PCF’S POPULAR PROGRAMS…

Story Book Farm Adventures is a program where young children learn all about the ingredients of a cookie. Best of all, they get to bake them! If children come back when they’re older, there’s a program to teach them about packaging, and even producing a television commercial to market these treats.

Popular with both urban and rural kids, Safety On The Farm teaches kids how to suit up for handling farm chemicals. A highlight is watching one of the kids put on the adultsized clothes necessary for safety—chemicalproofed suit, steel-toed boots, goggles, respirator, hard hat and rubber gloves—much to the amusement of the onlookers. The program also deals with farm safety: what to do if someone gets caught in a grain bin or dugout; how to prepare a farm emergency response plan; and what goes into a first-aid kit.

Get Down and Dirty With Soil not only uses ‘earthy’ games like ‘worms bingo’ to teach various animal names and crops, it also offers dirt for dessert. Yum. Thankfully, this ‘dirt’ pudding is really made of chocolate and uses different sugared materials to teach the components of soil: Oreo crumbs for organic matter, graham crumbs for sand, whipped cream for snow, chocolate sprinkles for bacteria, Smarties for bugs, milk for water, and marshmallows for rocks.

Other programs include Effective Farming which takes kids on a guided, interpretive agricultural trail to learn about GPS (global positioning satellite) direct seeding and protecting wildlife habitats, and Rural Responsibilities where relay teams compete for first place by sorting a trash can of garbage into the proper recycle bins.

The most popular day of the year for city kids and adults is the last Wednesday in May— Ol’McDonald’s Farm Day. Over 300 turn out every year to get close to animals such as draft horses, chickens, goats and miniature horses while experts describe their various uses and explain how to take care of them.

The Kid’s Country Club is a day camp that runs through July and August. Kids from the ages of 4 to 11 attend for 1 or 2 days at a cost of $10 to $20 per day, depending on the program. Each day has a specific theme and while having lots of fun, the participants learn about conservation and how to reduce their impact on the environment.

TO LEARN MORE VISIT: TELUSPLANET.NET/PUBLIC/PARIPCF
TEL: 780–764-3927

AGGIE DAYS—THE CALGARY STAMPEDE

Aggie Days are held every March at Calgary Stampede’s Roundup Centre. For 5 days, more than 50 agriculture exhibitors take over 50,000 square feet to offer fun, interactive learning for elementary school students. The stars of the show are over 200 animals—chickens, rabbits, pigs, ostriches, bees, horses and more. Over 6,000 students show up every year to discover that their food doesn’t always come straight from the grocery store.

A typical day at Aggie Days starts when kids enter the huge hall and are hit with the sounds and smells of the animals. The sensory experience continues as they are given demonstrations ranging from sheep shearing to cow milking. So many kids wanted to get as close as possible to a dairy cow and try milking her for themselves that this year, Aggie Days purchased a 6 foot tall fibreglass Holstein cow complete with full udder. Thanks to contest winner Jacob Jahns from Airdrie, her official name is now Bluebell, and she is available to everyone for hands-on learning. The day gets even better as kids learn how much a calf eats every day and, like humans, cows sometimes get haircuts too. They witness a sow nurse her dozen piglets with the help of a farrowing crate, get up close to see a very large Clydesdale horse or a very small miniature donkey, watch grain being milled to flour, taste a pancake made from ‘scratch’, shake cream to make butter, and find out that lanolin comes from sheep. The Alberta Veterinary Association is there to answer questions, and kids get to meet farrier students from Olds College who show them how horseshoes are made.

THERE’S A LITTLE AGRICULTURE IN EVERYONE

“All the exhibits at Aggie Days show kids that they can be part of the agriculture industry even though they may not come from a farm”, explains Teri McKinnon, Vice Chair, Agriculture Education Committee, Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.

Students and teachers are asked to bring a bag lunch and, while eating, are treated to mini-chuckwagon races, trick riders, youth singers and even stock dogs herding ducks (yes, ducks). They may even be lucky enough to see professional cowboys compete in a qualifying rodeo complete with clowns.

On the weekend, the whole family is invited so that parents have a chance to share the experience. Family Fun Days also include other activities like face painting, potato digging, scarecrow making and cow chip chucking (well, they look like cow chips, but they’re really plastic).

By the end, kids have made the connection between what happens on a farm and stuff that’s in their home. Everyone leaves with the understanding there’s a little agriculture in all of us. •

TO LEARN MORE VISIT: STAMPEDEAGRICULTURE.COM
TEL: 403-261-0312

(BY THE WAY, SHEARING DOESN’T HURT THE SHEEP AND... YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNEW ABOUT THE CHOCOLATE MILK.)