HOUSTON — Going to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with the whole family can be expensive when you add up the price of admission, food and carnival tickets, but there's plenty of free fun once you get in the gates.
That list includes Fun on the Farm, a unique and interactive exhibit with the goal of showing kids how products make it from the farm to the store.
"They get to do all sorts of different farm chores," says Laura Lambert, HLSR's Director of Auctions & Attractions. "I hope it just teaches children the importance of agriculture and helps them realize that we do need agriculture to provide all the things they eat and drink, as well as the clothes that they wear."
The "chores" start with getting seeds, which come in the form of coins. Kids get to plant those in the corresponding garden (tomato, carrot, pepper or onion) and add that veggie to their basket.
Young visitors can then learn how to milk a cow in the dairy barn before they head over to the sheep barn to learn about wool. They’ll pretend to sheer a sheep while a couple real sheep hang out a few feet away. They can also feel the wool when it's raw all the way through the process of becoming yarn.
Over at the hen house, the real deal supervises while visitors feed stuffed chickens, getting an egg in return.
The farmer’s job done, he or she gets to head to the farmer’s market, maybe making a pit stop to play in the corn or to say hello to the residents of Goat Mountain.
"At the end, they can sell all their goods to the farmer’s market," Lambert shares.
The going rate for all those goodies is one Howdy Buck, which kids can spend at the Grocery Store. So they walk away with a treat and, volunteers hope, an understanding of how important agriculture is in our everyday life.
"If it’s not fun, you’re not going to want to do it," says Lambert. "So we try to make it fun and enjoyable for them."
Another perk of Fun on the Farm is that it’s a free experience for kids. You can find it right off Kids Land in the Carnival. It's open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the rodeo.