As part of our study of animals and where our food comes from, we take some time to learn about animals that live on a farm, how they help us, and how farmers take care of them. My students put on a small production each year to showcase a few things they have learned about the farm. This year, we invited all of our other kindergarten classes to come and watch our production, which turned out to be a hit!
We practiced our songs and skits for a few weeks before our big performance. Depending upon the abilities of my readers, some students sang songs, some helped act out songs, and others read aloud from more complex scripts. To make our classroom feel more authentic, we used the Barnyard Backdrop and Cow Cardboard Stand-Up to help set the scene. We wanted to feel like we'd been transported to the farm!
Hanging the Barnyard Backdrop was super simple! I used large binder clips and had the three pieces of backdrop hung and ready to go in a matter of minutes. I clipped the backdrop to the drop ceiling in my classroom using just 4 large binder clips. I did put a few smaller binder clips at the bottom of the backdrop to give it some weight overnight and to help get some of the fold lines out of the backdrop. I also used a few very small binder clips behind the backdrop to bring the three backdrop pieces together. We were not able to see them from the front and it helped the barnyard to appear more seamless from the front. Clipping the pieces together also helped to keep my kiddos from running in and out of the backdrop. Mollie Moo (as my students named her) the Cow Cardboard Stand-Up was just as easy to stand up and move around in front of the backdrop. She became a great photo prop and each of my students was able to take a keepsake photo with her.
We performed "The Living Song", "The Nonliving Song", and two other favorites; "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and "BINGO." We used the Farm Party Photo Stick props as our masks and each student wore a Red Bandana as part of their farm attire. Additionally, when we sang "BINGO", 5 of my students held up the appropriate letter as we sang them together. During "Old MacDonald Had a Farm", my students each held up a speech bubble with their animal noise! 
To help speed up the passing out of props and scripts, I laid each child's materials in a pile on the floor, so when it came time for their turn on "stage", all they had to do was pick up their pile of props and go.
After our big production, I asked each of my students to share with me what they had learned about the farm using the All About Farms posters. I was quickly able to see just how much they had learned!
We had a great time learning about the farm and had fun performing our barnyard play for all of our kindergarten classes!
