Winter Together

Although we had a smaller group today, we made the most of the snowy weather by building forts, sledding and caring for the animals on the farm. Check out the the tunnels that Damselfly, Acorn and Salmon made in the new snow hill!

After months of working on chores you have gained confidence in nurturing the animals on the farm. Think back to our first day at Homesteaders and how much you have improved during your time here. Did you become an expert with a certain chore, build a special bond with an animal or master one of the many skills you need to know when doing chores?

We can see a noticeable difference in bunnies and ducks since the time they arrived at the farm. They are becoming more curious and welcoming to people being around them. Think of a specific time that you had a bonding moment with any of the animals at the farm. Did you feed them mealworms out of your hand or wait patiently for them to approach you?

During our wander we explored the new world of snow at the Homestead. How did you spend your time? Did you sled, build forts in the snow hill or walk through deep snow with snow shoes. some of you found unique tools for helping build your fort. Who would have thought that a pan could be such a good shovel!

A couple of you chose to create Christmas ornaments for your activity. Walk someone at home through the steps you took to create your ornament. Did you add base layers to the wood or experiment with mixing to make new colours? How did you decide on your design, and what tools or techniques helped you the most as you worked?

We are so lucky to have artistic people like Linda (Junco) share their talents with our students. Today, Junco was back to work on a fabric project which I'm sure will be a cherished gift for someone this Christmas. Junco promises to be back for those who were missing today. She also has plans to guide the four who worked with her today on Part 2 of this project. Thank you so much Juno for driving out in a snowstorm to make sure our eager bunch of girls got a chance to do this (top secret) craft with you!

After our projects we headed up to the hay loft. Check out the swing that we made! A few homesteaders even brainstormed ideas to make it swing more smoothly and safely, since it hangs pretty high. Share your thoughts with someone at home about how you would improve our swing?

We ended our day with a celebration of our time together by sharing gifts, hot chocolate, snacks in the cabin. We also gave a big thank you to Antman, Hawk and junco for all of their hard work and help that they have given to the program throughout this year. Thanks to all of you for giving us such a wonderful season and we are excited to have you back in the new year!

Owl shared her felting creation with us. Hopefully you can teach the rest of the homesteaders a thing or two about how to create something like this in the new year!