Yesterday Piopio Primary School held its annual "Calf Club Day." I haven't been in Piopio during the week previously to be able to attend, so was really looking forward to seeing what went on. It's an annual opportunity in this small rural community for kids to bring their farm pets to school. All sorts of other interesting class projects are on display with prizes awarded for creativity/execution.
There were more lambs than calves in attendance, along with goats and horses too. Baking categories included cakes, cupcakes, Maori bread, plain scones, plain and iced gingerbread, and pikelets (pancakes). Crafts included "Aqua Jars" (flowers suspended upside down in water filled jars, might need to try this with Ella and Livvy..), "Vegetable Characters," and "Sand Saucers" and other types of floral arrangements.
As you might expect, I spent most of my time watching the pet lamb contests. High cute and chaos quotient. They were judged in pens by the ages of the owners, starting with pre-schoolers. Categories included leading, coming when called and following. It was actually pretty easy to see which were true pets vs. those recruited for the day, and those owners with real bonds with their animals. The judges had their hands full keeping everyone on track, did a great job wrangling kids and animals.
Here are some photos from the morning:
What a great rural experience and tradition--long may it continue!
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