Kendall Hodge, 4, sits on a tractor as part of Farm Day at Woods Elementary School

After spending a few weeks learning about farm animals, the youngest wranglers at Andy Woods Elementary School got to have hands-on, interactive experiences Friday morning with the very animals they learned about.

“We learn about cows and what they give us and pigs and what they give us and chickens and what they give us,” said Pre-K teacher Jana Slaughter. “Now we get to see them all in person and we get to ride a horse and we get to grow some corn and ride a tractor and so do some crafts. It’s just really fun.”

The pre-K students spent three weeks on farm unit studies, and were treated to learning more by interacting with cows, chickens and piglets.

“They’ve learned it in the classroom and, I mean, what better way to learn it than touch the animal that you just learned about and see it in person while you hear from somebody who cares for that animal, how they care for it?” Slaughter said. “I think it will be in their memories forever.”

In its fifth year, Farm Day originally started with just a tractor and corn in the first year and then added live animals the next.

“We kind of get a little bigger every year,” Slaughter said. “I reach out to the community and see who can help out.”

Konner Bennett is a former Tyler Legacy High School student who works on a farm and has come each year as a volunteer by bringing some of his animals.

“I came up through the FFA program in high school and Ms. Slaughter came and asked me my senior year of high school, or just after, to come up and help out with Farm Day because I had the animals and I was happy to do it.”

The students rotated in different sections of the interactions, many started with arts and crafts, learned to grind corn, sit on a tractor and got to ride horses — a favorite of many.

“Our community just really comes together and I just love that everyone is willing to share what they do and who they have at their house,” Slaughter said. “It’s the best part of my job getting to see them, see what we’re learning in person. It’s so cute and so much fun.”