‘Successssful’ Snakes Day at Barleylands for Rayleigh Preschoolers
On Thursday 11th June, 40 four and five year old children from Our Lady of Ransom Pre School in Rayleigh were one of the first groups to experience a new Snakes Alive Day at Barleylands.
The day for the youngsters combined food, farming, and reptiles with the children having great fun taking a cookery workshop where they rolled up their sleeves to make delicious pizza snakes from scratch. They used ingredients including wheat grown on the farm, and learnt about how they were produced.
The children also spent time getting face to face with a selection of fascinating reptiles including snakes, lizards, and amphibians. They had the chance to touch and stroke them as well as learning plenty from the reptile experts from Snakes Alive.
The group also climbed onboard a Barleylands Tractor and Trailer to take a fun bumpy ride around the crop fields.
Said Karen Watson, Education Officer: “The addition of the Reptile House to the farm has given us a wonderful opportunity to offer very special snake themed days to our schools and groups. As farming and food education is at the heart of everything we do, our Snakes Alive Day combines ‘where our food comes from’, cooking and reptiles in a unique way. We’ve already had several bookings – it’s all very exciting.”
The innovative education programme at Barleylands is curriculum linked and the new Snakes Alive Day naturally links to science and geography and is ideal for the Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stages One and Two.
Each year, Barleylands Farm welcome 12,000 school children for educational visits and offer a range of themed days for schools. They also run an active outreach programme at schools.
