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We have organised a full schedule of activities for families in the February Half Term (13^th to 17^th February).  The theme of the week is Books, Cooks and Scarecrows. In addition to our usual daily timetable of animal interaction, we have also included a free cookery workshop in the entrance fee to the Farm Park.  There are three daily cooking sessions - we will be making healthy pizzas on Monday and Tuesday, carrot and orange muffins on Wednesday and Thursday and cheese scones on Friday.   These sessions are bookable online when you buy your ticket which we would advise as there is limited space in each one.

The Hungry Caterpillar Trail will guide our visitors young and old around the Farm Park and a free additional Scarecrow Trail will showcase the creative talents of the studios, galleries and workshop within our large Craft Village. 

For the first time this year we will be making scarecrows.  The kits are just an additional £5 each and we supply everything that is required, except clothes.  Visitors are encouraged to bring along some old clothes, gloves, shoes, scarves etc and make their own in the comfort of our barn.  The finished scarecrows will be displayed around Barleylands for a while before being taken out into our fields to work.

Chris Philpot, Director of Barleylands said “Scarecrows are a fantastic bird scaring device for us, they help keep birds such as pigeons from eating our emerging spring crops. We grow peas and spring beans which are particularly vulnerable to bird damage.  All of the activities and workshops that we have at Barleylands, whether as part of a school visit or in the school holidays, are designed to be both fun and educational.”

The Barleylands Farm Park is home to the Discovery Centre, a hands-on interactive museum that showcases farming tools, machinery and techniques both traditional and modern.  The scarecrow would be one exhibit that has not changed over time and is still used in modern farming as it would have been hundreds of years ago.

Book your tickets, cookery workshop and scarecrow kits online.  Choose the day that suits you best on www.barleylands.co.uk/calendar and go to the booking page from there.  Alternatively you go directly to http://www.barleylands.co.uk/online-booking.

We know that the British weather can be unpredictable (as we have seen with all the snow recently) so the cookery workshop, craft activity and scarecrows are all taking place inside and we have two indoor play barns too so the weather can't ruin our half term fun!

If you have any questions or would like more inforamation about what we have planned for the week please email info@barleylands.co.uk or call us on 01268 290229.