Farming Fun
Welcome to May's Farming Fun page from the National Farmers' Union.
What's on the page this month?
- Win a 4D cow - enter the competition NEW
- Joker's Corner - have a giggle NEW
- Year of Food and Farming update - see what's going on NEW
- Turkey tones - download yours now
- Getting fruity this summer - Fruit salad NEW
- Countryside Code - helping everyone to protect and respect our countryside
- Loads of links - fun sites to visit for farm facts and info
- Changing Attitudes - download and colour in the Cow with Attitude
Win a 4D Cow!
This month the NFU's Farming Fun page is offering you a 4D cow!
The unique toy (suitable for ages 6 and up) comes in 30 pieces for chidren to put together. We've got five to give away - as long as you enter by the end of May!
All you have to do is answer a simple question on our competitions page and you could be receiving one of our five prizes through the post.
Click here to enter the competition.
Joker's corner
Alright, alright, we've heard them all before - but as they say laughter is the best tonic. The Farming Fun team has been trawling the web for the best (and sometimes worst) giggles out there. Can you do better? Let us know by emailing them here.
Q. Why did the cockerel play in the rush-hour traffic?
A. To show he wasn't chicken.
Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?
A. Because it's too far to go round.
Q. Which side of a chicken has the most feathers?
A. The outside.
Q. What do you call a chicken wearing a shell-suit?
A. An egg.
A recent EU directive states that is no longer legal to keep chickens in the back yard.
From now on they must be kept in the back metre.
If at last you do succeed you may be a beakless hen.
What is the difference between a letterbox and a bull's bottom?
I don't know
I'll find someone else to post this letter...
Q. Why are you stuffing that sheep into your computer?
A. Because it needs more RAM.
Q. What's big, red, and might kill you if it fell out of an apple tree as you walked underneath?
A. A combine harvester.
Year of Food and Farming update
New farm animals resources
TheRSPCA has produced 12 new farm animal resources for KS1 & 2 and Early Years pupils. The free resources include fun activities to help children understand where their food comes from, the use of labeling and how they, as consumers, can make a difference to farm animal welfare. The resources can be used for science and citizenship lessons and tie in with the Year of Food and Farming. You can also order a free full-colour farm animal photo pack to accompany the resources. RSPCA Education also offers farming resources for KS4 GCSE science. All the resources can be downloaded free from the RSPCA education website www.rspca.org.uk/education.
Free interactive height chart for primary schools
The Potato Council has produced a fantastic interactive height chart for primary schools so that children can grow and track the progress of potato plants and enhance the whole potato-growing experience. It also contains weekly tips and hints on the best way to grow a large crop of potatoes! Whether your school is growing potatoes in a pot, in your school garden, inside or out, this fantastic and colourful height chart will enrich the learning experience. It can be used on any variety of potato plant and is available free of charge on a first come, first served basis. To order yours, simply email gyop@potato.org.uk with your full contact details.
The Grain Chain is a resource which offers children a fun way to learn about healthy eating and gain an insight into the 'field to fork' cycle of how wheat is grown and used to produce breads and breakfast cereals. This latest learning resource offers visual, up-to-date materials. These include activity sheets, games and quizzes, which cover the key topics of arable farming, milling, cooking and nutrition. The Grain Chain will be featuring a regular newsletter which will include event updates, new resources and an exciting recipe from the web site encouraging and educating children to live a healthier lifestyle. For more information or if you are interested in subscribing to The Grain Chain's newsletter go to www.grainchain.com
Gobble up a turkey ringtone?
The NFU's interactive turkey website is still live offering you the chance to download the hilarious turkey tones to your mobile.
There are also games, and colouring activities for you to try out.
Click on the image to the left or click here to go to the interactive fun site.
What a picture!
Farm animals, NFU events, people, places and a whole lot more - that's what you can see on our online picture galleries.
Get fruity this summer
Serves 4-6 people:
1 pineapple
1 mango
1 grapefruit
1 passion fruit
2 kiwi fruit
grapes
a sprig of mint
sugar or honey
Remove the top and bottom of the pineapple and throw them away. Stand it up and slice down the sides, removing the skin. Set the skin aside. Cut the pineapple length ways into 8. Remove the hard centre bits, and set them aside. (all these bits you are setting aside will be used later) Cut the pineapple up and put in a large bowl.
Remove the skin from the mango and set it aside. Cut away the flesh and put it in the bowl with the pineapple. Discard the stone.
Cut the top, bottom, and skin off the grapefruit, in the same way as the pineapple, and set them aside also. Cut the segments out from the skin and put them in the bowl, set the skin aside.
With 1 kiwi take off the skin, and you guessed it, set it aside. Cut the kiwi up and put in the bowl. With the other one, throw it in the blender, with all the stuff you have been setting aside, and the mint. Switch on.
Meanwhile slice the grapes in half.
Once the skins and things in the blender have been reduced to a pulp, tip them into a sieve, and force out the juices into a bowl. You should get a thick consistency. When you think you have got everything you can, tip the remaining mush into a clean tea towel and squeeze out the juice (there will be some). Add the sugar or honey to your own taste.
Scrape the insides out of the passion fruit and mix in to the rest of the fruit. Tip the sauce over the fruit and arrange the grapes on top.
Make Old Macdonald an all-time great!
Dancing on Ice star Suzanne Shaw has launched a search for the nation's favourite nursery rhymes in support of children's communication charity I CAN.
Simply by voting for your favourite nursery rhyme on www.rhymestars.co.uk, you can help unlock a £50,000 donation to the charity - an easy way to contribute free of charge towards helping children. But please hurry, 50,000 votes are needed by the end of April.
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" has already earned a top vote from Celebrity Mum of the Year, Suzanne, who posed as her favourite rhyme for the launch of the campaign. She said: "Some of my most memorable moments as a child involved singing. I guess I never outgrew it, and now my son loves singing nursery rhymes too"
The charity is calling on farmers across the UK to rally support for Old MacDonald by voting and inviting friends and family to do the same.
Log onto www.rhymestars.co.uk to vote now!
Countryside Code
The Countryside Code applies to all parts of the countryside.
Most of it is just good commonsense, as it's designed to help us all to respect, protect and enjoy our countryside.
Download special wallpapers to decorate your desktop, send an E-card or play the game on the Countryside Code website.
Loads of Links
The aim of FACE (Farming and Countryside Education) is to educate children and young people about food and farming in a sustainable countryside.
Visit the FACE website
The Year of Food and Farming will run through the academic year from September 2007 to July 2008. A series of national, regional and local events and learning resources will be supplemented by a wide range of other activities for children to participate in.
Visit the Year of Food and Farming website.
Farm, Food and Countryside is a comprehensive easy to read booklet that puts the case for British farming, counters some of the negative spin and presents information in an easy and informative style to be read by non-experts.
Click here to download a copy
FFS (Farms For Schools) aims to ensure that school trips to farms are safe, enjoyable and educationally worthwhile.
Visit the FFS website
The YFC (National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs) is all about fun, learning and achievement.
Visit the YFC website
The NFU (National Farmers' Union) champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members.
Visit other areas of the NFU's website
