Pre-School Minors Visit Mini Meadows Farm

The children in Pre-School Minors at Daisykins Day Nursery arrived at the setting full of energy, ready for their trip to Mini Meadows Farm, on Wednesday 10th July 2019.

Parents/Carers packed their bags, the staff loaded their car seats onto the coach and the children made their way downstairs with their hi vis jackets on, eagerly waiting with excitement. On the way there, the children were asked questions about their trip. They discussed which animals they were looking to seeing the most, what they thought the animals might eat and how many of each animal they thought they might see.

The children arrived at Mini Meadows in Northamptonshire and headed through to the party room to have a quick snack before heading off to meet the animals. Whilst some of the children went to the toilet, the children decided to sing a song. The classic 'Old Macdonald Had a Farm' was adapted to 'Mini Meadows Had a Farm' and the children demonstrated their incredible sign language skills, doing the action for each animal.

Groups were split into two with one group heading to the indoor enclosures and the other heading outdoors. The children were given the opportunity to feed many animals, from chickens to pigs to alpacas etc. Discussions were had about which food was to be given to which animal and the children learnt about the safe handling of animals.

Although at first some were apprehensive, the children couldn't wait to have their turn at offering the animals food. They held their hands out flat, asked the practitioners politely for some food and stood calmly, waiting for the animals to come over to them. All children were superstars at following the instructions given by the practitioners, ensuring that they stayed safe through-out the day.

Not only did the children get to feed the animals, but they also got to step inside some of the enclosures to see what the animals' habitat was like! When visiting the rabbits and guinea pigs, the children were encouraged to stand in the enclosure, offer them some food and stroke them gently if they wished to do so.

Head of Pre-School Minors, Laura commented on the children's behaviour whilst on their trip; "The children all behaved impeccably well. Myself and the Pre-School Minors team were incredibly impressed with how kind natured the children were to the animals when handling, feeding and stoking them."

She also mentioned the importance of providing the children with hands-on experiences like these; "It's so important for the children to explore different environments. Giving them the opportunity to go to Mini Meadows meant that the children were able to experience different ways of travelling as well as engaging in experiences that they may not otherwise be able to."

We are really looking forward to the great activities that the Pre-School Minors practitioners have planned for the follow up of their trip next week! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled to find out all about the farmyard fun that lies ahead of them next week!