Parents and professionals agree that children are becoming more disconnected from the natural world, from the source of our food, from the life common to many of our childhoods…life on the farm. Current concerns about the overall lack of physical activity among children serve to remind us that kids need to unplug, get outside and be part of the real world of grass, bugs, cornstalks and apple trees.
Farmer for a Day, a new program for children aged six through 10, is being offered by Davison Orchards. Designed to provide an authentic experience on a real working farm, participants will spend a day outdoors getting a feel for what goes into growing the various crops of fruits and vegetables that are sold at Davisons.
The program will be facilitated by Linda (Davison) McVeigh who has 30 years’ experience as an Early Childhood Educator and is a licensed ECE. Her philosophy is that kids are happier, healthier, and more creative outside, a belief supported by current studies of outdoor preschools and daycare centres in Europe and now North America.
“Books such as Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods confirms what we all know intuitively,” says McVeigh. “We’ve simply got to get our kids outside.”
Having grown up on the family farm during the 1960s, her memories are of days spent with her siblings in mostly carefree outdoor activities, living by the seasons, working and playing at what she believed, even then, to be a very beautiful place.
“We knew that we were lucky kids,” she said. “Our backyard was just so much bigger.”
To that end, Farmer for a Day includes meeting and learning from the three generations of farmers in the Davison family, participating in real farm chores such as tending to the farm animals, and visiting the fields and orchards on the farm to observe the seasonal work in progress.
Participants will even get a taste of real farm work (which involves getting dirty hands), before enjoying a “farmhand lunch.” A visit to the greenhouse will provide an opportunity to learn some basic horticultural skills as each child plants a seed in their own mini-greenhouse. The day will wind down with a snack and leisurely playtime in the Crazy Cow Kids Corral. The seven-hour program is a wonderful opportunity for kids to get dirt under their nails and grass stains on their knees.
The first Farmer for a Day program will be held on May 18, a local professional development day, and the first seven children registered will receive a bonus of 10 free passes to the Crazy Cow Kids Corral at the farm, which is good for the entire season. Each child will also take home their own mini-greenhouse, a cowboy hat, and a Farmer for a Day name button. Gift certificates for the program are also available, and might be the perfect fit for that “hard-to-buy-for” grandchild…the gift of “a day as a farmer” comes with lasting memories! Registration is $50/day which includes lunch, snacks and all supplies.
“It is a joy to offer kids this experience,” says McVeigh, “I had a wonderful childhood on this farm. It is a place that engages all of your senses.”
To register or for more information, call 250-549-3266 or e-mail info@davisonorchards.ca
