The EVC Magazine Summer 2024 - Magazine - Page 19
10 BENEFITS OF TIME SPENT
ON THE FARM
A unique and immersive
life experience
increased physical activity
and healthy lifestyle
improved connections
and social interactions
Improved mental health
and wellbeing
Reduced reliance on
technology
Enhanced sense of
environmental citizenship
Meaningful responsbilities
and acts of service
What do children learn?
With land and livestock to look after, children learn
quickly about their responsibility to care for others. The
animals must be tended before breakfast; stalls need to
be mucked-out, new bedding laid, goats milked, cattle
and sheep stock checked, eggs collected, and seeds
sown.
Embedding curriculum
learning into real life
Powerful new sensory
experiences
Analogue imaginations are
liberated in a tech-free zone
Long walks in the countryside, taking in the sights of
hedgerows, riverbanks, stunning beaches, or nighttime observations of bats and stars, helps children to
understand their connection to the natural world. They
learn where their food comes from on a field→ farm→
fork journey by growing, harvesting, and cooking their
own food, which improves food choices and longer-term
commitments to leading a healthier life.
Children are mindful and they notice their environment.
With no technology on site, their analogue imaginations
are liberated, and they enjoy arts and craft activities,
mindfulness and storytelling sessions by the fire pit and
inventing and playing games together.
What is the impact on children and teachers
who visit?
The impact of a week in wellies is wide-ranging and
profound. Teacher feedback tells us that the week
stimulates bonds between the children that endure in the
classroom.
A nurturing home-fromhome environment
Teachers tell us that children are more curious,
courageous, and compassionate because of the week on
the farm. Parents report that there has been a change in
their child’s activity levels, care for their siblings or their
pets, regular sleep patterns, and in their diet as a direct
result of the visit.
the impact of a week in wellies is
wide-ranging and profound.
Being on the farm gives each young person the space to
just be. With reduced stress levels, increased freedom,
and more meaningful interactions and connections,
children return home with greater resilience and an
enormous sense of pride as a result of being a 'Farmer for
a Week'.
Benefits include significant changes to behaviour,
attendance and punctuality, and levels of confidence and
engagement.
THE EVC MAGAZINE 3 SUMMER 2024
Donna Marie Edmonds is a former teacher
and school leader. She is now CEO at Farms
for City Children.
www.farmsforcitychildren.org
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