A group of children from Harmony House came to visit our farm. It is not unusual to have kids come on our tours that have never even been on a farm, let alone an alpaca farm. They enjoy the sights, the sounds, the smells, getting up close to an alpaca … experiences they have never had before. We enjoy providing that experience for them and try to make our tours fun, yet educational.
When groups of adults come visit, we spend time talking about alpacas, their history, their care, what they are used for, the business, and there are lots of questions. With kids we’ve learned it is quite different and we need to keep them moving! We took our young group into the pasture, the alpacas stopped what they were doing and all came across the pasture to see their new visitors, the timing was perfect. Shy, but curious, they came very close and the kids loved it!
Most of the herd kept out of arm’s reach. Melody and Ariella were especially friendly, and enjoyed being petted and loved on. We hadn’t fed yet, so the group got to see what feeding time is all about. It was a hot day so we got out the garden house and sprayed alpaca bellies which they all love. The youngest in the group got stung by a wasp and that brought tears, but mixing some baking soda and water into a paste and putting it on the sting, soon calmed him and he seemed to enjoy the rest of the tour.
The kids were allowed to each choose an alpaca finger puppet in the Farm Store. They watched a spinning demonstration, and each got a turn carding some alpaca fiber which was a big hit. They seemed to have fun, and I think they probably learned something while they were here.
