ANIMALS
What's It Like to Live in a Gentle World of Fertility & Abundance?
Gifts from Animals

What's It Like To Live in a Harmonious World Where
Pets Do Our Chores

What's It Like To Own a Creature that Really Multitasks?
Meet the Sheep

The World in Miniature
Baby Animals

ANIMAL- & NATURE-BASED
CRAFTS

FIBER CRAFTS
    In these hands-on travelling workshops, shear wool from a sheep and try out:
Sheep-to-Shawl: How Cloth Was Made
  (Shearing, Washing, Combing, Dyeing, Spinning, Warping, Weaving)
Snakes on Spools
Felt a Colorful Ball
Weave a Mini-Rug (tabby, skip-pattern, tapestry techniques)

MILK CRAFTS
    Milk a Live Goat or Sheep, and then learn to make:
Microwave Mozzarella Pizza
Kick-the-Can Ice Cream

HIVE CRAFTS
    Examine the inside of a honey bee hive (minus the bees), then
 Roll Your Own Beeswax Candles

METAL-SMITHING
   Bend Steel with a Real Blacksmith's Bending Jig & Make Your Own
Dinner Triangle & Clapper

   Hammer with  Dapping Blocks & Metal Punches To Make Your Own
Copper Penny Holder

   Witness Pewter Suddenly Reach Its Melting Point as You Help
Cast a Pewter Ring

Gifts from Animals

Best for ages 5 & up
How the Animal World provides us with "gifts," and how we harvest those gifts without hurting the animals we care for. Activities may include:  milk a goat, shear a sheep, feel the down on a duck, learn how to hypnotize a goose for down- gathering, pluck a molting Angora bunny, balance a peacock feather, and (in season) put baby birds down for a nap!

Length:  45 minutes for each group of 20 or fewer children and adults.

Cost without Donkey:  $7/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff. $1/mile travelling fee.

Extra:  Donkey, $150 additional

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Pets Do Our Chores

Best for ages 5 & up
Nature provides us with animals to help us with our yard- and farm-work.  Sheep are our lawn mowers; goats, our weed whackers. Ducks mow around young trees; geese feast on orchard weeds and guard ducks and hens from foxes.  Guinea fowl eat bugs--ncluding the deer ticks that cause Lyme disease--but not produce!  Guinea fowl and peacocks keep our vineyard nearly Japanese-beetle-free.  Donkeys stamp shut woodchuck holes and can protect sheep from dog attacks.  Chickens clean our crock pots and turn our compost piles looking for worms.  Meet our furry, feathery maintenance crew and learn how each species has its own special talents at keeping plant and bug life, as well as predators, in check. 

Length:  45 minutes for each group of 20 or fewer children and adults.  Options:  farm tour if available, travelling show, live show plus slides

Cost without Donkey:  $5/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.

Extra:  Donkey, $150 (or $2/person) additional
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Meet the Sheep

All ages; special for 2nd grade
Learn shepherding & sheep-calming skills, cut wool off a sheep; milk and feed a sheep; blow a shofar.

Length:  45 minutes for each group of 20 or fewer children and adults.  

Cost:  $5/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.

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 Baby Animals

Best for ages 1 & up
Dwarf, small, and baby animals to pet and, when possible, feed.  Information from some of the above workshops can be presented for older participants at your request.

Length: About 45 minutes for 20 or fewer children and adults; varies according to age group

Cost without Donkey or Horse:  $5/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.
Extra: Miniature Donkey, $150 additional.

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Sheep to Shawl: How Cloth Was Made
  (From Ancient to Colonial Times)

 Best for ages 5 & up
Play Shepherd & Shearer to learn how to calm a sheep, then shear off a bit of wool from a live sheep without hurting it. Next, learn how to wash the wool. Comb out the tangles with hand carders curved to sit comfortably in your lap, then discover how strong fluffy wool becomes when twisted--and why. Next, twirl a drop spindle to spin roving into yarn.  Program favorite: watch us gently pull molting wool from an Angora rabbit on our lap and direct it into a spinning wheel. Dye wool; learn to warp and weave cloth on a mini-loom you can keep and reuse, then learn how to load a boat shuttle and coordinate the heddles while weaving on a 10-treadle floor loom.

Length: 1-2 hours for a group of 20 people or fewer. 

Cost:  $11/person; one teacher/group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum).  $1/mile travelling fee.  Pay for any two programs listed under ANIMALS and/or CRAFTS and get $2/person off the second program (you do not have to do both programs the same day.)

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Snakes on Spools

Best for ages 7 & up
Knit a snake or colorful chain for a coaster or miniature rug.

Length: About 45 minutes for 20 or fewer children and adults; varies according to age group

Cost:  $5/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.

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Felt a Colorful Ball

Best for ages 7 & up
Felt fluffy wool into a ball that bounces for play or a necklace.

 Length: About 45 minutes for 20 or fewer children and adults; varies according to age group

Cost:  $5/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.

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Weave a MiniRug

Best for ages 7 & up
Weave a 3" by 5" rug using your choice of colors and weaving techniques:  tabby or plain weave, twill, complex skip-pattern (textured white), tapestry design (a mountain or your initial).

 Length: About 45 minutes for 20 or fewer children and adults; varies according to age group

Cost:  $5/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.

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Make Your Own Mozzarella

  All ages
Milk a goat or sheep, then learn to make mozzarella cheese from store-bought milk.  (Please contact us about whether your situation would allow the children to taste the cheese we make!)

 Length: About 45 minutes for 20 or fewer children and adults; varies according to age group

Cost:  $5/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.

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Make Your Own Pizza, Tomato Sauce, & Mozzarella
Ages  5 & up
Milk a goat or sheep, learn to make mozzarella cheese from store-bought milk, grind wheat kernels for pizza dough and turn fresh tomatoes into pizza sauce.  (Please contact us about whether your situation would allow the children to taste the cheese we make!)

 Length: About 45 minutes for 20 or fewer children and adults; varies according to age group

Cost:  $7/person as described above; $10 person to actually make the dough and put the whole pizza together; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.

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Make Your Own Ice Cream

All ages; best for ages  6 & up
Milk a goat or sheep, then learn to make roll-the-can or kick-the-can ice cream from store-bought milk.  (Please contact us about whether your situation would allow the children to taste the ice cream  we make!)

 Length: About 45 minutes for 20 or fewer children and adults; varies according to age group

Cost:  $5/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.

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Roll Your Own Beeswax Candles

Best for ages  5 & up
Examine the inside of a honey bee hive (minus the bees), then roll your own beeswax candles.

 Length: About 45 minutes for 20 or fewer children and adults; varies according to age group

Cost:  $5/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.

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Make Your Own Coppy Penny Holder & Pewter Circle

Best for ages  5 & up
Shape and decorate copper using metal punches, wooden avils and hammers, and wooden dapping blocks.  Use sand-casting techniques to turn a silver-like pewter cube into a circle.
Length: About 45 minutes for 20 or fewer children and adults; varies according to age group
Cost:  $9/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.  Fees include rental of equipment and use of materials.  You get to keep the copper but not the pewter.
Make Your Own Dinner Triangle & Clapper

Best for ages  7-11 (with help) & up
Use real blacksmith tools to bend a 3-foot stainless steel rod into a dinner triangle.  Feel how the metal gets hot at each bend by your shifting the molecules and creating heat.  Make a clapper to ring your triangle.  You get to keep the triangle and clapper (makes a great present!).

 Length: 1 1/2 hours for 20 or fewer children and adults; varies according to age group

Cost:  $12/person; one teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.  Fees include rental of equipment and use of materials.  You get to keep the copper but not the pewter.

 

Make Your Own Copper Penny Holder, Pewter Circle, and Dinner Triangle & Clapper

Combined program (see above) is only $15/person, as above. One teacher per group free; adults who have done this program before are free; $350 minimum (you may be able to be piggy-backed before or after another group for a smaller minimum). Or $400/3-4 hours for as many participants as we can accomodate in a quicker version requiring a great deal of active participation from you and your staff.  $1/mile travelling fee.  Fees include rental of equipment and use of materials.  You get to keep the copper but not the pewter.






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