Farm Animals Visit Yavneh

  

 As a pre-Noach activity, Farmer Ed came to Yavneh with his assortment  of animals from Quiver Farms.  The children enjoyed petting and feeding the farm animals, including a calf, a goat, a sheep, a pig, some ducks, some very soft and furry rabbits, a guinea pig, and some chickens.  Morah Rina accompanied us outdoors singing about all the farm animals in Hebrew!

Gan Aleph's Furry Friends...

 We've had many visitors here at Yavneh Academy...but today Gan Aleph had some visitors like we've never seen before! They were furry, friendly, hungry and fun!

We were so excited when we heard that real farm animals were here to greet us and let us play with them! The children walked around petting the animals and they even got a chance to feed them !

   Some held a bunny while others pet animals that were in and out of cages. The children of Gan Aleph truly enjoyed this experience. When we got back to the classroom we shared which of the animals were our favorites.

 What a treat this was!

Ganon Bet Meets Farm Animals

The bunny was really soft to touch!

Wow, this is the second time I touched a sheep!

It's the fourth time I touched a bunny!

The calf looked at me then looked away!

This is the first time I touched a calf!

Life Long Learners

The early childhood teachers attended an amazing conference this past Tuesday on "Hands-On Jewish Early Childhood Garden Education". Outreach educators from Kayam Farm, an organic, kosher farm in Reistertown, MD, guided us in connecting the values of gardening, the goals of early childhood education, and torah. Three stations were set up for us to reflect, explore, and experience. We learned about creating terrariums to teach Parashat Bereishit; making compost in the classroom with worms and food scraps; and putting "kavanah" into our plantings. We also learned a great song, which we plan to teach for Thanksgiving. We came back to school excited and inspired to expand our nature education. To learn more about Kayam Farm, visit their website: http://www.kayamfarm.org/. And check out the song:

Food Shopping In Ganon Bet

We began our unit on nutrition with the question. "Where do we buy our food?" Some children mentioned: Shop Rite, Glatt Express, Pathmark and Stop and Shop. The next question was. "How do these stores get their food?" We looked at a map of the United States and the World and discovered that food comes from all over. The food is shipped by planes, and train from farms to warehouses, and then brought by truck to stores. The children designed their own warehouses and supermarkets. We turned our kitchen area into a supermarket, which we named the Makolet.

Gan Aleph Went to Green Meadows Farm (EE-I-EE-I-O)

Ducks, turkeys, pigs, horses, and even a cow to milk! Gan Aleph was fascinated by their hands on experience at Green Meadows Farm. Last Tuesday, the children were treated to a day on the farm that was so much more than a typical field trip. The children were able to use their five senses to learn about animal life on the farm. They were able to see, touch and smell the animals. In many cases the children were able to even hug the animals and help feed them. The children identified which animals were non-kosher and which were kosher. This was a wonderful way to lead in to our learning about Rivkah and how kind she was to Eliezer’s camels in the parsha. The torah teaches all of us to be kind to animals. The children discussed what they saw over a yummy picnic lunch. After lunch the children selected pumpkins to take home as a souvenir. Of course no trip to the farm would be complete without a bumpy hay ride! Special thanks to Kalya’s mommy and Yakira’s mommy for joining us!

Green Meadows Was The Place To Be

The foliage was glorious and the weather was great when Gan Daled visited Green Meadows Farm. Our day began with a tractor drawn hayride traveling through woods. The children observed leaves of different shapes and colors. Gan Daled had the opportunity to learn about farm animals and have first hand experiences by touching the animals. Some of the animals were cows, horses, turkeys, goats, chickens and sheep. Those who were brave, chose to milk a cow. After a pleasant picnic lunch each child picked a pumpkin to take home. The trip will be remembered by all.

Gan Gimmel Goes to the Farm!

Gan Gimmel hovered over the farm animals at Green Meadows Farm. "We were petting the goat and it didn't run or anything. It felt soft and I liked his hair," says Eric Roher, third from left in photo. We saw many animals and especially enjoyed hand feeding the goats, milking the cow and going on a bumpy hayride.