Old Macdonald Had a Farm, brought it to New Richland

A taste of the country life made an appearance at the New Richland Public Library on Wednesday, Oct. 1 for an Old MacDonald Had a Farm party. With the big kids busy in school, it was a chance for the younger ones to be the focus of the day. This activity was free, with supplies provided for children 6 and under; about 20 were in attendance.

 

Kathy Kronebusch, branch supervisor for the New Richland library, ran the show. She observed,  “This is an opportunity for kids to learn about the farm. It’s also sensory for the little kiddos to get the feel of dirt on their fingers, the feel of how to milk a cow. We also have animals and letters to throw a little school learning in with their exposure.” Viv Trautman, 4 years old, already had dirty fingers at the Farm Animal Wishy Washy station; she took toys in the shape of animals that were covered in dirt and got to rinse them off. The contrast of dirty versus clean must have been fascinating because, when asked a question, she couldn’t take the time to respond, she was so focused on getting those animals washed.  

 

Noah Eiler, 5 years old, left the wishy-washy station to tend to the milking. Said Kronebusch, “We filled up some rubber gloves and poked a hole in the tips, the pushing and pulling action is similar to milking cows. Some of these kids haven’t been out to a farm yet, but this will give them the idea.” Once Noah figured out how to do it properly, he took off like a rocket, personally attending to the glove until it was empty and the work was done. Another activity station covered Farm Animal Beginning Sounds where children could be prompted to pick out the first letter of any given animal's name–C for cow, or H for horse. For the Play Dough farm, children were encouraged to make farm shapes like fences or barns, or they could just shred Play Dough and make some grass or stamp down brown Play Dough to make dirt.

 

There was also a Tinker Toy style farm set with animals and an electric truck with a little trailer attached, so the kids could drive it around the library delivering little pumpkins to each other. Near the back of the library was a very well maintained antique mini-barn with horse pens inside, and working doors. Kronebusch mentioned the vintage toy had been donated to the library by the Lady Bug Thrift Shop, which is located across the street. “The kids just love it,” she observed.