Day 59

4th February 2022

Holy Cow

Everyone was so excited this morning to get back to the farm!

When I finally caught up with them after work they were buzzing.

“Francis made me body armour!” Lincoln said excitedly.

“Wow, how did he know you’re making a helmet?” I asked.

“He didn’t know!” He answered.

Francis is a boy Linc made friends with towards the end of last term. He was so excited to be gifted the body armour. 🤺

“We picked blackberries!” Said Mila. “And we made jam!”

“Did you?” I said.

“We used frisbees to collect them. Indi rode in the wheelbarrow. She was the queen and I was the flower girl and I covered her chariot with flowers.” She continued.

“Francis and I had a secret hideout. We ate all our berries”. Lincy said.

“We didn’t eat ours, we took ours back to home base.” Mila said.

“Indi got a fringe!” Mila blurted out. 😄

“Really!” I said. Ok so, then what happened?” I asked.

“Jade helped us make a pie with the jam.” She continued.

“The pastry was so gooey and delicious.” Lincoln added.

“I cut my finger.” Linc confessed, showing me a little cut near his nail.

“Oh no, how did you do that?” I asked.

“With an axe.” He said. “I was whittling.”

“What are you making?” I asked.

“Oh nothing, just a JAPANESE SWORD!!” He roared, jumping around and waving an imaginary sword.

“Francis and I were battling with real Japanese Katana’s.” (A single edged sword I later learnt).

“I didn’t battle mama, I was playing Mississippi in the forest with my friends.” Said Mila.

“Jade bought in a baby kangaroo, called Matilda!” Mila gushed.

“She’s so tiny and we get to carry her around all day. When we walk around, she hops after us.” She giggled.

“I milked a cow today too mama!” Mila said.

“Did you? What was that like?” I asked.

“We had to tie her leg so she wouldn’t kick and we gave her a bucket of feed.” She went on.

“Did you get to drink it?” I asked.

“Yeh, it just tasted the same as the goat milk.” She said.

Watch Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeJltPkJeTs

The Importance of Play

They are so happy and excited about everything.

So confident.

And we see it most clearly after their day at Farm School.

We’re learning, that children actually need lots & lots & lots & LOTS of play in order to thrive.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined we would have to defend children’s right to play.

Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Professor in early childhood education.

Here’s another.

If we want our kids to have happy, productive, moral lives, we must allow more time for play, not less.

Peter Gray, Professor in psychology.