It’s harvest time!
Do you hold a harvest festival in your school? What’s harvest all about? Take a look at the Harvest Exploring sheet which guides pupils through information on the web about this important activity in the farming calendar. A quick introductory video about harvest is available as part of the Why Farming Matters resource.
Many children now live in urban environments and don’t have the opportunity to see harvesting taking place. A farm visit at harvest time can be an exciting exploration showing the culmination of the cycle of food production. There are many farms offering visits. Try the Places To Visit section to see if there is a farm local to your school. Or contact Farming & Countryside Education whose co-ordinators will be able to put you in touch with a farmer.
If you can’t get out to the farm, how about inviting a farmer into school to tell the children what is grown or reared and how important harvest time is on the farm?
It might be fun for the children to divide into groups to research different foods, finding out how they are grown and harvested. There is plenty of scope for research using the Countryside Classroom resources. Here are a few examples, many of which contain video footage:
Pumpkins are abundant at this time of year. Consider all the activities in this e-booklet that your pupils can carry out with pumpkins from making bird feeders through to creating delicious soup.
Of course, harvesting doesn’t just happen on the farm. Harvest is a time of bounty in the garden and if children are lucky enough to have an apple tree at home or a school garden where they have grown beans or other crops, now might be the time to enjoy gathering in the produce. This might also be a good time to start thinking what can be planted in the garden next year.
Whatever way you choose to celebrate harvest, remember the farmers and growers who are so important to our food supply and enjoy the fruits of their labours and yours!
