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FIELD TRIPS

Educational programs at Auerfarm engage students in exploratory and sensory-based learning to provide an authentic farm related experience.

All Auerfarm education programs are linked to the CT Early Learning Development Standards (CT ELDS) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and focus on agriculture, the environment and health. Choose from the programs listed here or contact the farm education manager to discuss booking a custom program built to your educational needs.

The cost is $12 per person with a $200 minimum. You are allowed a chaperone for every 10 students (teachers/paras not included). Additional chaperones are $5/each

Journey through the seasons of an apple tree from spring blossoms to fall apples.  Take a hayride to the orchard to pick an apple. Study simple machines by pressing apples to make sweet cider. The program runs in the fall only and is suitable for all ages.

Spring and summer is a busy time for farmers.  Visit the gardens, fields, and greenhouse to discover fruits and vegetables growing.  Get your hands dirty by planting. Investigate the parts of a plant and their lifecycle.  Observe a variety of plant life in our orchards, meadows, and fields on a hayride. The program runs from spring through summer and is suitable for Pre-K – 3rd grade.

Explore how wild animals around Auerfarm survive the winter. Children will walk around the farm in search of animal homes and then construct a shelter for animals in the PlayForest using natural materials. A visit to the animal barn will provide a contrasting view of animal shelters. Then it’s off to the classroom where the children will create bird feeders to hang on the farm for the year round residents. The program runs from fall through winter and is suitable for PreK – 3rd grade.

Learn how ice cream is made the old fashioned way! See how liquid changes into a solid by freezing in a hand-cranked ice cream freezer and taste the sweet results.  Explore the farm’s 120 acres on a hayride. Visit the Auerfarm animals in the barn and pastures. The program runs during the summer and is suitable for all ages.

While most of the farm is asleep during the winter, our maple trees are wide awake! Bring your class out to the farm for a winter treat! Students will visit the maple trees to see how sap is collected, followed by visiting the sugar house to learn how sap is boiled down into syrup. The children will end by enjoying a warm pancake with real maple syrup! If time allows, they will also visit the animals. The program runs from the beginning of February through the middle of March and is suitable for all ages.

Discover pollinators and the important role they play in our ecosystem.  Visit our observation beehive and explore the gardens searching for pollinators hard at work.  Become a pollinator and help plants make seeds. This program runs from spring through summer and is suitable for all ages. 

Students will explore what wild animals from CT eat and what they leave behind, scat and tracks. Students will match scat to the animal that left it and learn about herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Visit the farm animals and compare their scat to wild animals. Make your own tracks and scat in the classroom using a variety of materials. The program runs during the winter and is suitable for Pre-K through 3rd grade.

Goats, sheep, chickens, donkeys, alpacas, rabbits, and cows all call Auerfarm home.  Get to know each of the different animals, how they are cared for, and why they are raised on farms.  Compare and contrast different animal shapes, sizes, and body coverings. Explore the basics of animal husbandry. This program runs year round and is suitable for all ages. 

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