Farm animals keep preschoolers' attention.
Farm animals fascinate preschoolers. They love to imitate the clucking of chickens and the mooing of cows. Capitalize on children's love for animals by giving them hands-on experience at an early age of the science behind the production of food.
Egg Hatching
Baby chicks are a delight to preschoolers.
Incubating eggs in the classroom is a long-standing favorite activity of preschoolers. Their eager anticipation of the emerging chicks means their attention is kept on the topic slightly longer than other subjects. The various phases that an egg goes through -- from the egg laying, the hen warming the egg, the chick cracking the egg, the chick partially emerging and then fully emerging -- can all be drawn and colored in by the students.
Milking The Cow
Many preschoolers have never seen a cow being milked.
Many children think milk comes from the store. At this young age, many preschoolers do not know about lactation or that the milk poured on their cereal actually first came from a cow. To simulate a cow's udder, fill a latex glove with milk. Then carefully prick the ends of the fingers with a pin, creating tiny holes. Squeeze the fingers to demonstrate how milk is squirted from the cow. Let each child try this activity. If possible, arrange a tour of a local dairy farm.
Feathers
The feathers of farm animals serve different purposes.
Feathers are a common feature on the farm animals typically mentioned in preschooler's rhymes. Show them the differences between feathers from ducks, turkeys, chickens and pheasants. Discuss the various protective mechanisms that feathers give each animal. Determine which feathers best repel water by laying the feathers on a desk and squirting them with water.
Affecting Eggs
Hard-boiled eggs are the basis for several experiments.
Preschoolers are fascinated with chemical reactions and hard-boiled eggs, when combined with different liquids, create the kinds of reactions that keep their attention. Float hard-boiled eggs with shells still on in vinegar and watch the bubbles emerge as the acid in the vinegar eats away at the calcium in the egg shell. See what happens when soda, water, Kool Aid or hydrogen peroxide is used. Float eggs in tap water and salt water and have the children document the differences.
More Than Milk
Cheese, yogurt and ice cream all have milk as a main ingredient.
After the students have learned "milk a cow" with the latex glove, it is time to take the dairy lesson one step further. Set up a "dairy center" in the classroom with samples of milk and cheese made from cow and goat milk, cottage cheese, yogurt and ice cream. Due to potential food allergies, obtain parental permission first. Then turn the youngsters loose to sample the food, asking them to describe the different tastes and textures.
What Farm Animals Eat
Wheat is just one of many grains preschoolers can grow.
Farm animals and humans eat many of the same grains: corn, oats, wheat and rice. Fill buckets with seed samples of the various grains and allow the children to handle them and identify their different structures. Have the students paste seeds on to pictures of the animals that eat each grain. Teach them about germination by having each child plant seeds of the various grains in their own pots to grow food for a pretend farm animal. As each seedling emerges, the student will see the different type of grain.
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