Posted on October 12th, 2018 - Fiona
It was the first day out on the farm for this young lad. He had the feed run to himself as our other guests had made an early get away for a day out in Cornwall in the sunshine. Everything was new and it showed in his 2 year old face, his emotions and reactions to the farm. That said Farmer Nick is very used to this and took the morning duties at this little man’s pace. You can see fear, wonder and then a growing confidence just in one morning.
Tailored to you
It is easy for us to forget how much there is to learn on a first day, from how to handle the eggs, to which animals are safe to feed from your hand. However the feed run is tailored to the visitors we have. In the school holidays the children and animals are highly interactive and for the safety of everyone we have to hold back the over brave. On mornings like this everything is much more gentle. Animal feeding is largely through the fence and very carefully supervised. This way confidence grows and with it the quest to do more. There is something for every child to take away from a farm holiday.
Looking unsure entering the farm
Finding a real chicken egg with a feather still on it
Oops, discovering what happens to eggs dropped into the bucket!
Excitement over the goats
Feeling confident to feed the goats through the fence
Give your kids farm confidence with us
With the beautiful autumn scenery, quieter feed runs with younger children, autumn is a lovely time to visit us. Check out our availability if you are temped for a family break. We are open all year and the animals love to see the children over the quieter months, I promise they will grow in confidence with just a few days here.
Posted on October 6th, 2018 - Fiona
Autumn is a time of plenty in nature. Harvest Festival teaches us of all the wonders of the land bearing gifts in autumn. From berries to mushrooms, windfall apples to acorns, autumn is traditionally a time to stock up from the land in case of a harsh winter ahead. This may all be ancient history for us in the modern era of shops and online deliveries, however in nature the tradition continues. Have you seen the spiders retreating into your house, weaving their webs, or casting them outside in the bushes and corners of your shed? As I ventured out in the week with my camera, it was an intricate spider’s web that caught my attention. Having seen one, I noticed them at every turn, especially since the deer I was hoping to capture were too busy gorging on nature’s bounty in the undergrowth to come and say hello!
A Spider’s Web at every turn
Whether it was the railings to the old bridge or a heather bush round the lake, everywhere I looked a spider’s web shone back at me. They were definitely out to capture the last of the season’s insects buzzing about their daily life. I was soon distracted from trying to spot deer to capturing a few of these intricate webs. Not the best photos I’ve ever taken, but definitely eye catching with the autumn sun glistening through.
An intricate spider’s Web over the river
Trick or Treat
Hoping to lure a victim in with these berries no doubt.
Encased in web
This thistle is a popular place for web building
Drawn into a delicate tunnel
The owner of this beautiful web will be hoping for more than just my eye to be drawn inside.
Have you noticed all the spider’s webs this season? May be it is no coincidence spiders feature in our Halloween activities. I may have to do an spider’s web counting competition as part of our activities here on the farm.
Posted on September 29th, 2018 - Fiona
Wow what a week it turned out to be. After 3 storms in one week last week we had back to back sunshine for this week. Our lucky guests were treated to the best of September sunshine. Almost frosty mornings gave way to t-shirts and looking for sun cream by lunchtime. For those beginning to toddle around we have acres of safe space to run free, learn and play.
Toddler led adventures start here
Here on the farm we have been busy with preschool children throughout September. This week they have braved the chilly mornings and been rewarded with something new to experience every day on the farm. As the sun rises over the valley so the animals wake, prick up their ears and come out to the sound of the tractor arriving. From egg collecting to goat feeding our little ones have enjoyed every minute.
Contemplating Farmer Nick’s “Gently” advice.
It takes a cracked egg or two for the little ones to understand “gently” but it’s all part of farm learning.
Hand feeding the goats
Goats can’t bite unlike ponies, it takes a while for the little ones to grasp this but the thrill of plucking up the courage to hand feed them is magical.
If you have a preschool age child who might enjoy our farm this autumn, do take a look at our website for our special low season prices and deals. It’s not just me shouting out about the fun here, this is from one of our guests in the week:
Posted on September 28th, 2018 - Fiona
What do you do to entertain an eager group of children age 3 to 12 on a soggy Friday afternoon? I had struggled all week to come up with something and knew the forecast was at best mixed. I dug back in my mind for inspiration from birthday parties with my own children here on the farm over the years and decided the three things that were always most popular were water fights, DIY piñata making and treasure hunts. I ruled out the water fight with the different age ranges and thought on the other two. Finally I decided on the Piñata but with a twist, instead of using recycled materials as we had in the past, we would use nature. It all fell into place in my mind as I created an example nature piñata to show the children.
Setting the nature piñatas challenge
I split the group into two teams with a mix of ages, girls and boys. Each were given a sealed box with sweets inside and a long piece of string out of one end, a pair of scissors and a length of wool. I showed them the example nature piñata I had made and challenged them to go between the rain showers in search of nature to do the same or better. As an extra incentive to make them try their hardest to make them secure I told them they would swap piñatas at the end and have to try and crack open the other team’s work.
Collaboration and team work
It took a little while for the teams to begin to work effectively, but with a few tips and pointers they began to organise themselves. Some ran off gathering resources while others considered how best to secure them with the limited resources available. The more they worked together and listened to one another the better the progress. It became quite frantic and competitive as each watched the other team and I began to count down the time to stop building.
I hung the finished nature piñatas up from the games room veranda.
Then the children had to think how they were going to knock them down. A stick was the obvious nature choice and they dashed off in search of the biggest they could manage. Just to spice it up again I made them give their chosen stick to the opposite team to use, though we swapped half way to ensure no one had an unfair advantage.
Ready to play
Excitement was bubbling by this point but the children all lined up for the agreed 3 whacks each before moving to the back of the queue. This rule was essential so that no one was excitedly standing in whacking range!
The nature surrounding the boxes held fast for a good few minutes before the boxes were finally reached and hacked and the sweets came thumbing out. With a little reminder to share with their team mates the team leaders ensured everyone in the team had their share of sweets.
It turned into one of my most fun activity sessions and in the excitement of it all no one cared about the showers, though having the veranda to build under was certainly a help.
Recreate Nature Piñatas at Home
This would be a fun activity to recreate with a group of children for a play date or birthday party.
|
What you’ll Need |
Nature collected from a walk keeping flexibility in mind to wrap. A measured length of string at least a meter long A box with wrapped sweets inside and a good length of string secured around it. A hook outdoors to hang your nature pinatas A big stick to hit the nature pinata. scissors. |
| Educational Benefits | Creativity Lateral thinking Team work Leadership |
| Suitable For | Age 5 – 13 |
Posted on September 8th, 2018 - Fiona
We are thrilled that after months of waiting, Sally our sow has finally had her piglets. For the past 3 weeks I have been telling our holiday makers that theirs will be the week it all happens. An eager group have peered into the pig pen each day in anticipation, only to go home having missed them. I was rather hoping they might be born before the end of the summer holidays when we were at our busiest, however nature had the last say and they arrived the morning of back to school. Not ideal timing as we grappled with 2 school runs and farm checks all ahead of the 9am tractor ride with the guests. However there is nothing quite like the prospect of piglets to make me jump out of bed and grab my camera at silly o’clock.
Giving birth alfresco
I was convinced on Tuesday afternoon that Sally was in fact in labour; however we have had so many false starts I didn’t want to get my hopes up. It has been a glorious warm September day and Sally was out in her garden, trampling down a good nest and panting away in the middle of it all.
Lapping up the September sun in early labour.
The night was clear and cold and as I woke to look at the starts shining in the early hours I wondered if Sally was still outside. By morning the answer was clear, she had indeed spent the night under the stars and given birth to 7 bouncing baby piglets that were now all squeaking and snuffling trying to bag themselves a nipple. I didn’t have long to stop and watch as the school runs were calling.
We have been returning to check up on Sally and her brood all week and I’m delighted to say they are growing before our eyes and looking healthy and well protected.
Sally allows us a little piglet cuddle while she eats her breakfast.
Piglets bring smiles all round.
Piglets are curious by nature and off to explore whenever Mum isn’t watching!
If you fancy an autumn break we now have space and flexible dates. We’d love to see you here enjoying the farm and meeting Sally and her piglets.
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