Our second Community Helper for F was Farmer. Being in a rural area the kids see a lot of farms. They see a lot of animals and a lot of crops. But we had never really talked about what each animal did or what kind of crops they were. The knew cows were for milk, chickens laid eggs, and sheep gave us wool. They were not convinced that we ate any of the animals though. Maybe it was denial on their part, but I know for certain they know now! We also talked about some of the more common crops in the area.
Just for fun I made them 2 farming, sensory bins. I used oatmeal in one and corn in the other; then I added farmers and farm animals.
The girls were both super excited to play with them. There is just something about sensory bins that really attracts them. I personally think it is the mess factor! They dove right in! We were able to talk a little about some of the equipment farmers used like plows and rakes both the manual version and the kind pulled behind tractors.
They really seemed to enjoy playing with the substrate as much as the toys. Scooping it and dropping it, flattening it out, and just scooting it around. Eli enjoyed the oatmeal when he woke up too, but by the time I got my camera the oatmeal was across the floor!
Of course there was a lot of "Old McDonald had a Farm" too.
