ock-a-doodle-do! It's time to rise and shine for some nifty videos about life on the farm. For many kids it's hard to imagine a time when lots of families in our country lived on working farms where they raised livestock and food crops. Today, farms are often better known as the settings for books ("Big Red Barn," "Old MacDonald's Farm," "Charlotte's Web") or movies ("Babe," "Chicken Run").

Our video selections give kids an up-close look at how some real farms work today. Some of our reviewing families used the videos as a preview to real farm visits.

"Apple Farming for Kids" was a huge success with one upstate New York family. Mom Allison said she "learned some things from it, and it inspired us to go to an orchard with the kids last weekend." The LaClairs, also in New York, go every fall to "visit a nearby pumpkin farm, go on a hayride, get lost in a corn maze, and pet the animals."

Young viewers will enjoy going on these fascinating and fun virtual field trips.

Vrrrooommm! 3: Apple Farming for Kids [0] (ages 2-10)
Farmer Bill shows viewers how crunchy sweet apples get from orchards on his New York farm to the supermarket (and how they become applesauce and apple juice, too). Baby, Jamie R. (14 months) especially liked the music in the apple video. According to older siblings Kyle (5), Laura (9) and Joe (11), he "enjoyed every note of it." The upstate NY orchard visitors said seeing how apples were processed into other forms really hit home: "We have a cider mill here that is very old, so apple pressing on the video was quite a bit more automated than we are accustomed to. The cider mill is a big part of fall here and has been operating for as long as anyone can remember." In addition to getting lots of apples that the family "just likes to eat," Allison hopes they will like apple crisp this year, "but they are real purists."

Wilbur Visits the Farm [0] (ages 6 mos.-4 yrs.)
Wilbur, a friendly and curious calf puppet, introduces kids to 14 different barnyard pals and encourages viewers to imitate the sounds the animals make. Moo!

Charlotte's Web [0] (Paramount, ages 4-up)
In this animated adaptation of the classic book by E.B. White, Charlotte the spider proves to be a very special friend to Wilbur, the Zuckerman family's soon-to-be-famous pig. "Charlotte's Web" remains a family favorite, even 25 years after it was first made into an animated film. "We have watched 'Charlotte's Web' several times, and the book has been read to the kids at school as well. It's one of my favorite classics," said Tracy, mother of Christian (7), Nick (6) and Allie (3). "We have a friend who owned a pig farm, and two years ago we were able to see baby pigs and feed the adult pigs as well."

Let's Go to the Farm [0] (Vermont Storyworks, ages 2-up)
Get ready for some beautiful scenery and plenty of fun when you follow a family through a year on their Vermont dairy farm.

The farming topic was a good fit for Tracy's family, who also has visited the real thing a few times. "We have all gone to a farm in northern Kentucky," she said. "It is a very cool working farm. The kids plant seeds, hoe soil, and water the plants. They grind corn meal, gather eggs, hold chicks, feed sheep and goats, and milk the goats. It's a real neat afternoon. We get asked every night at the dinner table about which animal(s) the evening meal has come from."

The Charlotte's Web gang also brought bundles of fun into the Hannan household. "I read this book at least 20 times as a kid, and I liked watching the video as much as Jack (4) and Katie (1 1/2)," said mom Lynda. "It was a little long to hold Katie's attention, but she stayed with it for at least half an hour. Jack was glued the entire time. He was so impressed by Templeton looking for words for Charlotte at the fair, he crawled around and imitated him. I cried as usual at the end."

The Hannans have had a taste of farm life, too. "We go to a farm every October where we can take a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, drink apple cider, visit animals, buy mums, etc. When the kids are a little older, I would like to take them to my grandfather's dairy farm," said Lynda. "I grew up visiting him and hanging out playing hide-and-seek in the hay bales. I would like Jack and Katie to see how a real farm operates."

Take It From Me: "Charlotte's Web" is a good video for the whole family to watch together--a good starting point for discussing qualities of friendship and loyalty." --Lynda Hannan

This article © 2001-2005 Studio One Networks.