While any age group is welcome to tour at Hollabaugh Brothers, our tour most consistently meets the curricular needs of pre-K through 3rd graders. Our tour is specifically designed so that our youngest guests can relate to some of the more basic concepts presented in a fashion easy to understand, while with our 2nd and 3rd grade groups can learn about how we do our part to protect the environment, practice water conservation, control soil erosion, and still grow all of the great fruits and vegetables we do on our farm!
Our tour begins in what we call our educational bee room. Here, students can see our working beehives up close to learn about the different kinds of bees that make up a hive, how they help us to pollinate our crops, and even sing a fun song to learn how bees communicate! Children will also learn how we use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on our farm to grow safe and healthy fruits and vegetables without harming the environment around us. A new addition to our tour this year, students will also be able to participate in a hands-on activity where they will learn the different parts of an apple, a tree, and learn how different elements in the environment all affect our orchards and farmland.
Then, students will board onto our handicap-accessible tour wagon where they'll take a driving tour of the farm. Our driving route allows tour-goers to see some of virtually every facet of our business! Concepts discussed in the bee room will be pointed out first-hand, and plenty of new ones will be introduced as well. Then, our wagon will dock in the orchard, and students will be able to become expert apple pickers, picking 5 of their very own apples off of our trees! Loading back on, the wagon will return to the farm market where the tour began.
After unloading, children will have the opportunity to try a sip of ice-cold apple cider and experience first-hand what it's like to be an apple in one of our cold storage buildings. At the conclusion of your tour, leaders have the option of allowing students to shop in our retail market or returning directly to the buses.
To take back to the classroom, each teacher will be provided a teacher kit all about apples, educational coloring and activity books for each of the students, and a honey stick for each tour participant to sample - the fruits of our hardworking bees!
Interested in a tour for your class at Hollabaugh Brothers? Call today (717-677-9494) or email us to schedule a tour or to find out more information!
