Inaugural Homelearning Field Trip - Green Circle Eco Farm!

Last weekend was one of the most exciting weekends that I had in a long time.

Most of you readers would know by now that I am a big fan of field trips and outdoor experiential + incidental learning. I had the opportunity to organise the very first field trip for my group on Facebook: Homelearning for Preschoolers. It was through one of my blogger mummy friend's recommendation that I first heard of Green Circle Eco Farm.

An organic farm located near Sunggei Buloh, Green Circle Eco Farm is a kampung gem with a belief to treat animals / insects and plants with respect and live in harmony.

Above: "Edit": Back Sunbird nest such as above is a common sight in the farm. Evelyn and her husband (the owners of the farm) basically leave these nests as they are. Here, this nest was hanging on a metal railing and if you peek inside, you can see the baby bird in the nest.

Our morning started off with an introduction session where Evelyn, gave a talk on the importance of vegetables, organic versus non organic and facts such as parts of the plants, its uses as well as the pollination process.

We then did a warm up song which the lyrics were written up beautifully on 2 chalk boards and the group was then split into 2 smaller groups. 

And away we went!

Our guide was Wan Leng for that morning. She is a knowledgeable guide who was very patient with the children, pointing out not just the various vegetables and plants along the way but also small insects in addition to engaging them by asking questions.

Below are rows of Cai Xin and Xiao Bai Cai. To the adults, these were nothing special but when Wan Leng pointed them out to the children, I could hear the "ooohhhhh" as they could see for themselves how these were grown. (The seedlings stage was shown earlier)

Above: just some of the other plants and trees which we saw at the farm - papaya, fig tree and pineapple

After the tour, it was a hands-on session where Wan Leng let the children handle the various types and parts of vegetables we eat - root, stems, leaves, etc. I particularly like this part as it helped to reinforce what the children saw from the farm earlier. Wan Leng also showed the children animals such as an earthworm, toads, etc. and spoke about both the ecological process and food chain.

I also love the self made educational posters which were put up at the main hall

The tour ended with a simple "potting" exercise for the children. Though fairly young, the preschoolers were more than ready to step in and manage the potting almost entirely on their own as the proud parents look on :)

Top picture above: Sisters Chloe and Clariss were totally engrossed in the potting activity

Judging from the comments and feedback from the group, many enjoyed the trip tremendously. As some mummies put it, "it is a much nicer way to spend the day as opposed to the shopping centre."

On my end, Dumpling enjoyed the pollination talk and was chatting with me about the photosynthesis process as we walked through the farm. There was also a pond in the facility and I wish that we could have had more discussions around the pond animals and plants. One thing Wan Leng did highlight was the water from the pond is being used to water the plants and vegetables as part of its sustainable green practice. To all parents (namely mummies though :p) it was certainly nice meeting and catching up with all of you!