Kid Farmer Newspaper - Issue 1 | Page 6

Ages 2-4 1.Allow them to follow you around the garden or farm and observe what you do. Explain why you do what. 2. Allow them to help gather the eggs with supervision. 3.   Help pull a few weeds in the garden or harvest veggies, etc. with proper supervision. 4.  Try their hand at milking a goat with supervision whenever they have the desire to do so and it is indeed milking time. Again, I don't push them to pick a lot of veggies.   When they are bored or tired of it, they can quit. 5.  They are welcome to milk a goat if they want to, but the child or adult responsible for the animal needs to be present. 6.   Help clean out stalls, coop or barn.  They should be there to help at least for a little while.   1.   Have a more responsible role in gathering eggs with an older child who is still in charge of this chore. 1.  Feed and water horses.  Put in stalls if needed. 2.  Help cut grass for animals. At this age span, you can give them sole responsibilities. 3. Have a more prominent role in garden maintenance. 1.  Responsible for milking one animal.   Around eight or nine years of age, most kids are responsible enough to handle this on their own. (If not, be there to supervise). 4. Help younger siblings if needed and guide and direct them with chores that they have passed down. 2.  Feed and water all dogs. 2.  Given a tiny portion of the garden to weed.   They should have a good idea of what a weed looks like, but it is important to give them a veggie identification lesson every time they weed. 3. Full chicken care:  Feed and water the chickens and gather eggs. 3.  Allowed to plant along side of parent.   I just let them plant until they get tired of it. When they plant something, they appreciate it more. 5. More veggie garden responsibility such as weeding certain rows, planting and harvesting with supervision. Also, at this age they should be able to identify most bad bugs and understand how to dispose of them. 4.   Harvest time is important for young children.  They need to be involved in picking produce, digging cassava, yams etc. so that they know there is a reward for their hard work. These chores are added on top of the chores for the 8-10 year olds.   Although we do not make them do all of the above chores in addition to the ones listed below, sometimes we change things up to give everyone a break from doing the same thing over and over again. Ages 8-10 Ages 5-7 Observation is still key here along with hands-on learning. Ages 11-13 4.   Full chick care:   Feed and water chicks and clean out bedding in the box. 6.   Help clean out farm other animals abode. 5. Assist with security of the property; tighten field fence etc. 6.   Help with beekeeping (if they are interested) Ages 14 and above At this age, we can teach them how to be a responsible leader with good communications skills!   The skills below can added to any above. 1.  Feed and water meat chicks and move chicken tractor. 2.   Feed and water other animals the family may have like pigs, sheep, donkey’s etc. Remember, it’s all about being responsible at this age let them know they can suggest Page 6