I want to be a farmer!

There are all kinds of farmers and all kinds of farms. What sort of farmer would your child like to be? They can imagine their own farm and make up their own farm stories. This type of play can help children to regulate their emotions as they act out different feelings.

What do I need?

• Farm animal toys (or make your own – see the ideas below)
• Items from your home and garden – sticks, grass, pine cones, leaves, stones, seed pods
• Small cardboard boxes for making animals or their shelters
• Wool or cottonwool for making the shelters

How do I do it?

If you don’t have enough toy farm animals, you can make your own using plasticine, playdough or small boxes. You can even use pictures cut out from magazines!

1. Collect things to make the farm with.
2. Talk about the items and how you could use them.
3. Set up the farm together, either inside on the floor or outside. Your child might already know what they want their farm to look like. You can follow their lead – after all, they are the farmer!
4. Talk about the farm, the different animals, and the noises they make. You might even like to sing Old MacDonald had a Farm.
5. Play with your child by pretending to be one of the animals. You can take turns to be different animals or the farmer.
6. Give your child the space and time to play and explore.

You might have some farm books and stories that you could read together as part of this activity.

No-one knows your child better than you.  So, choose and/or adapt ideas here to best suit you and your child. Remember it’s the talking and time spent together that matters most.