Lucky kids have fun at Luckey Barn
FEEDING THE ANIMALS – Olivia Pratt feeds an alpaca a carrot stick during the Humboldt Public Library field trip to Luckey Barn.
by ARIEL McRAE | Associate Editor
amcrae@hchronicle.net
The Humboldt Public Library has a summer calendar full of fun activities for kids, teens and adults. There has been an escape room, a science experiment and lots of crafting. Last week, the library took the fun on the road as they traveled on a field trip to Luckey Barn.
At Luckey Barn, there are tons of things to do. You can hand feed animals lettuce and carrots, go on pony rides, walk with lamas or even go on an inflatable water slide. The Humboldt Public Library took advantage of the full facility for their trip and the kids truly had a barn full of fun.
“When we started planning for the summer reading program, we wanted to try and get someone to bring animals and do a program at the library, but this year’s ‘All Together Now’ theme focuses on bringing the community together, so I thought it would be a great idea to utilize a unique and fun place that we have right here in Humboldt,” explained
LETTUCE FEED THE DONKEYS – Natalie Young feeds three donkeys some lettuce out of her hand inside of the barn at the farm.
Humboldt Public Library Children and Youth Services Librarian Ashley Niven on why she chose to take the kids to Luckey Barn.
As kids arrived, Niven gathered tickets and passed out armbands to all those in attendance. At the beginning of the excursion, Niven sang a rendition of “Old MacDonald had a Farm” instead opting to sing “At the Luckey Barn today.” The kids had a blast yelling out animals they would see at the barn and their animal sounds during the song.
Next, Niven used this opportunity to do a pop up story time with the kids. She read a book called “Five Fuzzy Chickens,” where in the story the chickens were visiting barn animals and fell asleep one by one all across the farm until the mother hen had to come collect them for bed. The children loved counting the chickens and again helping Niven call out the correct animal sounds for the pictures on the page.
Once story time was completed, Niven turned the attendees loose for them to feed animals across the farm. Cups were collected and all types on animals were blessed with tiny hands feeding them goodies. There were chickens, goats, baby sheep, piglets, geese, bunny rabbits and more. While the kids were busy making friends with the animals through food, the handlers got the horses ready for pony rides. The library friends gathered in a line by the pasture once they were done with their feed in order to be the first ones put on horseback. Other kids, while pony rides were happening, were trying their luck on the water slide.
All in all, the children had a wonderful time on the farm and are looking forward to what else the Humboldt Public Library has in store for them for the rest of the summer.
