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Goofy Goats

Summary:

All the farm animals at Hidden Villa are provided with the four things they need to survive: food, shelter, water, and space. When we take good care of the goats by giving them these four things, there are many things they will give us in return. 

 

Know-It-All
1. Where is the water and food for the goats located?

2. What makes the goats’ space different from the other animals we have at Hidden Villa? Why do they need these different items?

3. Why do the farmers put the goats in their shelter (barn) at the end of the day?

A. To go to bed
B. To eat their dinner of alfalfa
C. To be safe at night
D. All of the above

4. Goats are part of a group called “ruminants”, that means that their stomachs have four parts. They can only eat plants, which can be hard to break down, or digest. The four parts of their stomach helps them to digest their food, which is much harder to digest than some of the food we eat.

• What would it be like to only eat plants? No cheese, no eggs, no meat, just plants?

• Have you ever felt your stomach move around or make gurgling sounds as you digest? Describe how that feels.

• Lots of farm animals like cows, sheep, and goats are ruminants. What else do they have in common?

 

 

Digging Deeper

• Check out how goats use their amazing hooves to climb! Are you impressed by their balancing skills? Bonus points if you can identify which salty treat they are looking for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0jMzdbEui0

• Many people have been trying out “Goat Yoga”. Have you heard of this goofy activity? To check it out for yourself, watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KWmbbQkyy8

•If you thought the goat yoga video was silly, you can also participate in this farm-themed Cosmic Kids Yoga class! Just follow along with the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKmRB2Z3g2s

 

Try It

    1. Time to use those creative brain muscles! Find a family member or loved one to enjoy this activity with. Find a trusty pencil and paper and list all the words you can think of that rhyme with “goat”. Do you have a finished list? Great! Now create a unique poem using your rhyming words. Your poem may be silly or serious. No matter what, have fun with it!

 

  1. Remember the goats’ playground equipment? As you learned, goats are fantastic at balancing and jumping, even on super steep surfaces! Now is your chance to try out what it’s like to behave like a goat with an awesome obstacle course. With the permission of someone in your home, you can try this inside or outside. Start on one side of a big room or your backyard and finish on the other side after you accomplish all your goat exercises. (Try making your best goat noises while you participate!)
      1. Start by jumping as high as you can in the air.
      2. Take three big jumps forward, push yourself to jump as far as you can.
      3. Stand up on your tippy-toes and pretend to reach for a branch that you want to nibble on!
      4. Get down on your hands and knees and crawl to the end of your space (take breaks to stretch your body!)
      5. Now spin around a few times on all fours. 
      6. To finish up, gently fist-bump someone else in your home. Goats bonk their heads together when they want to play, but that would hurt us!

 

Print out the guide by downloading the PDF

#322 Student Guide