This week we continue to focus our curriculum on the science area of the classroom with a unit about farm animals. Studying farm animals is a wonderful way to recap on animal studies already happening in the classroom, while giving children the opportunity to learn more about the day to day happenings on a farm.
Farm Animals
During the spring season, the farm is a busy place. Seeds are being sewn, the fields are being tilled, and animals are birthing babies and shedding their winter coats. The season of rebirth brings a busy excitement to farm life.
Begin the unit on farm life through the singing of classic nursery rhymes like “Old McDonald” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. Children will love singing along and providing the fun animal sounds needed for each part.
Next use these questions to begin a discussion at circle time:
- Who lives on a farm?
- What does a farm need in order to be considered a farm?
- Do farms across the world grow the same thing and have the same types of animals?
- Have you visited a farm before?
- Why are farms important?
Invite farm exploration and observation through the use of works like this Barn Yard Floor Puzzle, the Big Knobbed Farm Puzzle or the Foldable Wooden Farm Set. These open ended works lead to natural opportunities for play and exploration.
For more focused learning, add this Animal and Footprints work to your art, practical life, or science shelf. These versatile stones can be used in clay, mud, or a sand tray, and then can be used as a wonderful scrubbing work in practical life. They include a variety of animals and their footprints that live both on and off the farm.
Early Reading Farm Animals
Many animals on the farm have easy to sound out names of typical blends early readers will come across as they begin reading and sounding out words. Language practice can be easy and inviting by combining animal figurines with the moveable alphabet. 
This week’s worksheet gives a few farm animal language cards you can easily laminate and add to the language shelf.
