Natural Play Archives | Treinen Farm

At Treinen Farm we have one major goal: to create a place where people can escape from their everyday lives and stressors, and just have fun outside. We want our customers to feel like the Treinen Farm exists outside of the real-world. There are a lot of ways we work to accomplish this.

First, our 15 acre corn maze is a natural challenge that can keep maze-goers of all ages busy for anywhere from 45 minutes to several hours. And did we mention that there are prizes? Stop at the Prize Station to pick up your souvenir sticker–and maybe this year you’ll get the highly-coveted maze pen as well! The Victory Photo Station is also an important stop. We want everyone to be proud of their accomplishments.

The fun found at Treinen Farm, we believe, extends far past the corn maze itself, and we have many more acres of playgrounds, games, and activity areas included in your admission–and we try to add new things every year! After the maze closes in early November, we start planning for new attractions to create for the following year, with an emphasis on finding things for all ages. For inspiration we visit other farms that offer agritourism, attend conferences and conventions, and we check out amusement parks, playgrounds, and any places that people seem to be enjoying themselves. (Yes, it is indeed a sweet gig to be assigned to “find fun things” as your actual job.) We try to find unique attractions that you might not find elsewhere, and we try to build a lot of things ourselves so we can put our own touches on them. Friends in Pumpkin Patch at Treinen Farm

We think that it is a real shame that adults are often not allowed to have fun and “play” the same way we did as children. We are always on the lookout for attractions and items that make adults smile and relax enough to enjoy themselves. Kids are pretty easy to entertain (a big pile of dirt is always a huge hit…) but adults sometimes need a little prodding to go down a 40 foot slide or bury themselves in corn. But if everyone is doing it, most people will give it a try.

So this year, come shoot hoops in our gravity bin basketball, enjoy our new giant corn pit, make some of the world’s largest bubbles, or climb around on our natural playgrounds. Maybe challenge a friend to a game of giant chess, Wall Ball, or the hand pump duck races! We promise that everything is meant to be for everybody, and that we play around on all of it when nobody is here 😉

We feel like we have succeeded when everyone is tired but still smiling at the end of the day!

In our educational world of one-to-one devices, educational apps, interactive internet-connected boards, and the firehose of information we are trying to teach our kids to navigate, more and more teachers are looking to balance the digital experience with authentic, tactile, and tangible experiences. For instance, many teachers are seeking an outdoor, real world experience of a real farm, where the kids can explore, get a little dirty, and go home with stories to tell. We are that place!

STRUCTURED VS UNSTRUCTURED TIME

Here at the Treinen Farm, we tend to lean toward child-led discovery and learning. We try to provide that right balance: enough structure (the hayride + pumpkin or the maze) to keep things from descending into chaos, but also enough freedom for kids to explore all the farm has to offer and to make up their own ways to learn and interact with the environment and each other.

UNIQUE PHYSICAL EXPERIENCES

A slippery, green, mossy log. The rough surface of a jute rope. Echoes in a vast, empty silo. The actual oinks of actual pigs and the clucking of chickens. Farmyard smells and autumn leaves.

We often think about how sensory experiences can stay with us for a long time, and we love the idea of creating these intense memories for children (and adults!) An incredible amount of learning can take place when multiple senses are engaged–it’s not the kind of learning that will necessarily show up immediately on a test score, but it’s real and visceral and and good in the long-term for both mind and body.

INTERESTING THINGS

You never know what’s going to happen at the Treinen Farm. Will the goats escape and require the field trip kids to help corral them? How big a pumpkin can that determined Kindergartner carry? Will you remember to have the kids empty their pockets after playing in the corn pit, or will your class bring back shiny yellow kernels of corn to use for math manipulatives next week? The discovery of a salamander might slow down the pumpkin picking, but A SALAMANDER!!!!

As we design experiences, we prefer to provide enough predictability to keep the field trip running smoothly and to keep teachers relaxed, but also enough flexibility to let interesting things happen. That’s what life’s about, right? Interesting things…

DO REAL THINGS. OUTSIDE. BRING FRIENDS.

The Treinen Farm hosts thousands of Wisconsin school children each year during the fall and we are committed to creating captivating experiences for them, and friendly service to the teachers.

And be sure to visit us on fall weekends–all the above applies to weekend guests, including adults, as well as field trips!

Angie Treinen

Creating Fun for Everyone at the Farm

The Value of Doing Real Things in our Digitally-Focused World — Our Field Trip Philosophy

Archive for category: Natural Play

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