FARM SCHOOL HOMESCHOOL Experience

Hosted by The Homestead Homeschool

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Farm School is a full day of hands on homeschool learning built around real farm life, agriculture, homesteading, nature study, traditional skills, food, animals, engineering, problem solving and plenty of opportunities to get your hands dirty.

This is a field trip where kids don't just learn about farm life. They get to experience it. Kids will meet farm animals, explore traditional food skills, investigate farm mysteries, tackle engineering challenges, learn about wildlife, create projects to take home and discover just how much science, history, math and practical learning happens on a farm.

From elementary students through middle and high school, Farm School offers age appropriate experiences designed to turn the farm into one big hands on classroom. Printable PDF of the Farm School Schedule and the event map are available on The Homestead Homeschool website, please print and bring with you, printed copies will not be supplied at the event, but a copy will be posted at the Information Booth in front of the Fern Kruger Building.

Enjoy your picnic lunch or purchased roasting hot dog and bun lunch at any table in the Fern Kruger Building or at a picnic table or a blanket in the grass. Some homeschool momma vendor booths and snack/drink vendors will be open at lunch and throughout the day for browsing.

📅 Event Details

Farm School Homeschool Event

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

@ the Vinton County Fairgrounds

You may register for classes in your name or the names of your children. Adults do not need to register for a class unless it is open to adults and they are taking the class as well, and not merely watching. Stroller riders and lapsitters welcome without any class registration.

 FARM SCHOOL CLASS LINEUP

*Schedule subject to change due to an instructor emergency, weather relocation indoors for outside classes, and new additions. Possible Baby Goat Yoga class still may be added to the schedule at 1 pm.

🐄 Farm Animal Petting Zoo

All Ages

Come meet the animals! Children will have the opportunity to get up close with farm animals while learning more about the creatures that call a farm home. Farm School plans include two half hour Petting Zoo sessions, and cups of animal feed will be available for purchase.

🐴 Learn About Horses + Miniature Horse Ride

Children

Meet a horse, learn about these amazing farm animals and discover more about horse care and handling. Children will also get the opportunity to enjoy a ride on a miniature horse.

🐐 Goat Milking + Learn About Goats

Children

Where does milk actually come from? Meet the goats, learn about their care and experience goat milking up close. And, of course, there will be time for some baby goat fun too!

🌿 Sugar Scrub Make & Take

Make & Take

Explore a simple homesteading skill while creating a homemade sugar scrub. Children will learn how everyday ingredients can be turned into useful homemade products and create their own scrub to take home. The PDF designates this as a Make & Take but does not specify an age or fee.

🌱 Foraging Hike + Eat

Take learning into the field! Children will explore wild plants during a guided foraging hike and discover that useful and edible plants may be growing all around them. The Farm School plan includes the opportunity to taste appropriate foraged finds as part of the experience.

🦉 Owl Pellet Dissection + Owl Pellet Relay

$4 per child

What has that owl been eating? Children will investigate owls as farm predators by dissecting an owl pellet and examining the evidence inside.

Then they'll get moving with the Owl Pellet Relay, sorting possible food items from decoys before using their discoveries to build a food chain such as Sun → Grass → Mouse → Owl. It's biology, nature study and food web science with a hands on twist.

🍎 Harvest Hearth: Old Fashioned Applesauce

30 to 45 minutes • Make & Take

Experience harvest season the old fashioned way! Children help take apples through the process of wash, peel, core, chop, cook, mash and taste while applesauce cooks outdoors over an open flame.

Along the way, they'll investigate apple varieties, see how heat changes the texture of fruit, discover why cut apples turn brown and learn how farm families traditionally dealt with an abundant apple harvest. Adults control the cooking pot and open flame while children participate in age appropriate preparation and mashing.

🌽 Corn From Cob to Cornbread

Ages 5+ with adult supervision • 35 to 45 minutes • Make & Take

Follow corn from the field all the way to the kitchen! Children shell dried food grade dent corn and use an old fashioned grinder to experience the transformation from whole corn → cracked corn → cornmeal.

Kids will measure the dry ingredients for a sweet Farm School cornbread recipe and receive the ingredients, wet ingredient recipe and a mini loaf pan to take home. Premade mini loaves will also be baked during class so kids can taste the finished cornbread.

🌿 Nature Loom: Weave the Harvest

Ages 5+ • 25 to 40 minutes • Make & Take

Turn sticks and wild plants into art! Children construct a rustic branch loom and weave goldenrod, ironweed, grasses, seed heads, corn husks and other natural materials through baling twine.

This class combines nature study, traditional skills, art, plant discovery and fine motor skills while children experiment with color, texture and different plant materials.

Children bring their own framing sticks.

🥒 Pickle It! From Cucumber to Pickles

Ages 6+ • 30 to 40 minutes • Make & Take

How does a cucumber become a pickle?

Kids investigate the transformation while building their own jar of refrigerator pickles with cucumbers, dill, garlic and seasonings. Along the way they'll explore harvest preservation, measurement, food science, herbs, spices and the role of vinegar in pickling.

Children take home one small jar of refrigerator pickles.

Each child brings their own Mason jar, ring and lid.

🌾 Build a Mini Scarecrow

Kindergarten through Grade 5 • 25 to 35 minutes • Make & Take

Why have farmers put scarecrows in their fields for generations?

Kids will find out and then use sticks, straw, fabric scraps, twine and natural harvest materials to construct a rustic miniature scarecrow to take home.

Older elementary children can take on an additional STEAM challenge by thinking about how movement, sound and reflected light could make a scarecrow more effective.

🐾 Who Left That? Farm & Forest Animal Detectives

Elementary

Whose footprint is THAT? And who left that pile behind?

Become a Farm & Forest Detective while matching animals with their tracks and scat, investigating clues and sorting animals into livestock, predators and prey. Kids will also discover that wild animals don't recognize the boundary between farm and forest.

The activity culminates in a giant living Farm Food Web, where children use baling twine to physically connect animals and food sources and see what happens when one part of the ecosystem changes.

🎯 Predator Patrol: Farm Slingshot Challenge

Hit the predators. Protect the prey.

Kids move through a timed Farm School slingshot course where wildlife targets are hiding along the route. But they can't simply shoot everything they see.

They must first decide:

Predator or prey?

Hit the correct predator and move on. Miss and the clock keeps running. Hit a prey animal and the run ends, sending the participant back to the line to try again.

It's part wildlife identification, part outdoor target challenge and a whole lot of Farm School fun. The PDF does not specify an age designation for this activity.

🐴 LEARN ABOUT HORSES + MINI HORSE RIDE

A Hands On Farm School Horse Experience

Calling all young horse lovers! 🐴

Come spend some time with the horses during Farm School and discover what goes into caring for and riding these amazing animals.

This hands on class gives children the chance to learn some of the basics of horsemanship before finishing their experience with a lead ride on a miniature horse!

Children will:

🐴 Meet and learn about horses up close

🪮 Learn how to properly brush and groom a horse

🧹 Discover different grooming tools and what they're used for

🪢 Explore the tack used for horseback riding and learn the purpose of different pieces

🤠 Learn some basic horse handling and safety

🐎 Take a lead ride on a miniature horse!

It's a fun introduction to horses that combines animal science, farm life, practical skills, and a memorable hands on experience.

🔐 RUN THE FARM!

A Farm School Escape Room

Upper Elementary • 45 to 60 minutes

Think you could run a farm for a day? Now's your chance to find out!

The farmer had to leave unexpectedly, but the farm chores still need finished. Farm Crews work together to complete seven hands on challenges:

🐔 Sneak eggs away from the Broody Hen

🐄 Measure and mix pretend livestock feed

🌽 Shuck, shell, measure and bag corn

🥔 Dig and bag a potato order

🚜 Match farm tools with their jobs

🌾 Put haymaking steps in order and haul a real hay bale

🥫 Match vegetable seeds to the crops they produce

Every completed chore earns another clue and combination number. Finish the farm work, locate the Farm Office, decipher the farmer's chore log and crack the Farm Record Box before time runs out!

🚑 FARM FIRST AID ACADEMY

Junior Farm Safety Helpers

Grades 3 through 5

The goat hurt her leg. Something isn't right with the cow. An injured chicken needs help. And somebody left a dangerous mess in the barn!

Kids become Junior Farm Safety Helpers during a hands on role playing adventure. They'll investigate simulated livestock injuries, learn to notice changes in animal behavior, practice basic first aid concepts using models, identify hidden farm hazards and decide when an animal or person needs adult help.

The focus is on four important ideas:

LOOK → STAY SAFE → GET HELP → HELP WHEN IT'S SAFE

💧 Water the Animals!

Elementary

The animals are thirsty, but the water is on the other side of the pasture!

Young Farm Engineers use straws, funnels, tubes, cups and other everyday materials to invent a tabletop system that moves real water from the farm water tank to the livestock trough.

Then comes the test.

Did it leak? Did it spill? Did the cows stay thirsty?

Kids build it, test it, fix it and try again, learning about water flow, engineering, conservation and problem solving through trial and error.

🚜 FARM SCHOOL GAMES

Elementary

Get ready to move! Farm School also includes active farm themed games designed to mix learning, teamwork and plenty of silliness.

Beware the Broody Hen challenges children to quietly sneak eggs away from a blindfolded broody hen without being "pecked."

Pigs Got Loose! has Farm Crews attempting to herd runaway "pigs" back into their pens without using their hands.

Corn Harvest Relay sends teams racing between the field and corn crib while surprise tractors, runaway cows and rain interrupt the harvest.

The Cows Are Out! turns the group into an escaped herd while the farmers attempt to get everyone safely back into the barn.

Hot Potato Harvest combines the classic passing game with silly Farm Challenge Cards.

Don't Crack the Egg! sends Farm Crews through an obstacle course carrying eggs from the chicken coop to the Farm Kitchen.

And Farmer Says puts a farm spin on Simon Says with milking cows, gathering eggs, pitching hay, feeding pigs, shucking corn and more.

🌾 MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL FARM SCHOOL

The younger kids aren't getting all the fun. Farm School also includes challenges designed specifically to make older students think, investigate, build, troubleshoot and make decisions.

🔎 Farm Forensics: Who Hit the Homestead?

Teen Farm Challenge • Approximately 45 minutes

Something hit the homestead last night.

A hen is missing. Eggs are broken. Feed is scattered. The garden has been damaged. And several animals left evidence behind.

Teen Farm Investigators enter a staged crime scene and examine tracks, feathers, fur, damaged fencing, eggs, feed and other physical evidence. But some clues have nothing to do with the missing chicken.

They'll need to separate evidence from coincidence, determine what happened and defend their conclusion.

Then teams receive a fictional $50 Farm Security Budget and must decide how to protect the homestead before the culprit returns.

🧭 Lost on the Back 40

Middle & High School • 45 to 60 minutes

The ATV won't start. Your phone has no service. You're a long way from the farmhouse, and evening is coming.

Now what?

Teams tackle a series of real world farm survival challenges involving navigation, equipment choices, fence repair, knots, simulated first aid, problem solving, water and a STEAM creek crossing challenge.

The fastest team doesn't necessarily win. To successfully finish, the entire crew and its equipment have to make it back to the farmhouse. Nobody gets left behind.

🚑 FARM 911: Livestock & Farm First Aid Challenge

Grade 6 through High School • 50 to 60 minutes

A goat is bleeding. A horse won't get up. A chicken is injured. Someone has gone down beside farm equipment.

What do you do FIRST?

Students become the Farm Emergency Crew and work through simulated farm and livestock emergencies. They'll assess scenes, identify hazards, practice first aid concepts using models, observe animal behavior and make decisions about when an emergency requires an experienced adult, veterinarian or emergency help.

It's a role playing class built around practical challenges, communication, safety and emergency decision making.

💧 WATER THE HERD!

Grade 6 through High School • 45 to 60 minutes

The livestock need water.

The trough is 25 feet away.

And nobody wants to carry buckets back and forth all day.

Teams become Farm Engineers and receive $100 in Farm Bucks to purchase simulated supplies. They must design and build a working system capable of moving water 20 to 25 feet to a livestock trough without electricity.

Then comes the Farm Water Test.

Teams measure how much water actually reaches the trough, evaluate leaks and water loss and discover why gravity, elevation, engineering and efficiency matter on a real farm!

Schedule subject to change due to additonal classes being added and presenter emergency.

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🍄 GROW YOUR OWN MUSHROOMS IN A BUCKET!

A Hands On Farm School Make & Take Class

Ever wondered how people grow their own mushrooms at home? Come learn how during this hands on Farm School class!

Participants will learn the basics of growing mushrooms in a simple bucket or container and prepare their own mushroom growing project to take home. We'll explore how mushrooms grow, what they need to thrive, and how this practical homesteading skill can turn an ordinary container into a mini mushroom growing system.

🫙 TALLOW RENDERING: FROM FARM FAT TO HOMESTEAD STAPLE

A Hands On Farm School Class for Ages 12 through Adult

Before cooking oils came home from the grocery store in plastic bottles, farm families knew how to make use of the resources they already had.

Come learn the traditional homesteading skill of rendering beef fat into tallow and discover why this useful skill is making a comeback!

During this Farm School class, participants will see the rendering process in action and learn how beef fat is carefully prepared, heated, strained, and transformed into clean tallow. We'll also explore some of the many traditional uses for finished tallow around the homestead.

🥩 Learn what tallow is and where it comes from

🔥 See the rendering process in action

🫙 Learn how rendered tallow is strained and stored

🌾 Explore traditional homestead uses for animal fats

♻️ Discover how farm families turned more of an animal into useful resources

This is a great class for older students interested in homesteading, traditional skills, food preservation, cooking, self sufficiency, and learning how earlier farm families wasted very little.

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The Homestead Homeschool will take place at the Vinton County Fairgrounds. This is a private entity and private property with its own specific set of policies, rules, and regulations that are separate from as well as in addition to any The Homestead Homeschool rules of attendance and participation. Click on the Vinton County Fairgrounds website to read the venue's terms of service to ensure you fully understand and agree to abide by them before purchasing a ticket to The Homestead Homeschool or securing lodging during the event.

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