The students have recently been on a field trip to dig up sweet potatoes on a farm. This is one of the main annual trips that the children make as a part of their course. Year 0 and year 1 students travelled to the farm on Monday, and year 2 and year 3 students went on Tuesday.

Students had to wear their colour caps, and take their drink flasks. Also, each child was given a white plastic bag with their name on to collect the potatoes in.

The groups were transported to the farm on two school buses.

After arriving at the farm, everyone departed from the buses and walked along the lane to the field. Children lined up in rows by the furrows, and were allocated sections of ground. Each section had been marked out by white lines and contained three sweet potato plants.

Everyone started to dig away the soil with a small shovel; being careful not to chop into the potatoes! They could then use their hands to remove the loose soil and pull out the sweet potatoes.

The students were excited to see how many sweet potatoes were on each plant, and were hoping to get large sized vegetables. Some of my students even told me that they were excited to see what insects they could find in the ground!

After filling their bags with many sweet potatoes, the students cleaned up, and had their photos taken in groups. Everyone showed off the largest or best potato that they had collected.

The trip concluded with a walk to find items of nature alongside the small lanes. We found items such as: leaves, twigs, grass, flowers, acorns, and some bugs. There was even a grasshopper, although it was very difficult to catch!

The field trip was enjoyed by all and it made an interesting break from a regular school day.

I hope everyone could enjoy to eat the sweet potatoes that the children took home.

How did you cook yours?

– Mark –

 

（先日芋掘り遠足があり，みんなで勸修寺農園へ行きました。芋掘り遠足は，子ども達にとって大きな行事の一つです。チューリップ組，たんぽぽ組，ラビット組は月曜日に，そしてもも組，ベア組，つばき組，ライオン組は火曜日に行きました。

子ども達は紅白帽・カラー帽子をかぶり，水筒を持っていきました。そして，自分の名前が書いてある，サツマイモを入れるための袋をもらいました。二日とも，学年ごとに2台のバスに分かれて乗り，出発しました。

農場に着いたらバスから降り，歩いて畑へ向かいました。子ども達は畑の畝（うね）の間に並び，先生と一緒に掘る場所を決めていきました。畝には目印の白線が描かれており，それぞれの場所に3株ずつ植えられていました。

子ども達は小さなスコップを使い，傷つけてしまわないようにと気を付けながらサツマイモを掘り始めました。時には両手を使って周りの土をよけ，サツマイモを引っぱって掘りました。

子ども達は「たくさんとれるかな」「大きなサツマイモがとれるといいな」と，とてもワクワクしていました。ライオン組の子ども達は，土の中にどんな虫がいるのか楽しみだと教えてくれましたよ！

たくさん採れたサツマイモをカバンに入れた後，片付けをしました。そのあと自分で採ったお気に入りのサツマイモと一緒に，クラス写真を撮りました。

芋掘りの後は，農園の中を散策しました。子ども達は，葉っぱや小枝，草，花，どんぐり，虫などを見つけました。バッタを見つけたのですが，捕まえるのがとても大変でした！

子ども達はいつもの保育とは違う，楽しい時間を過ごしました。お家に持って帰ったサツマイモを美味しく食べていることと思います。

サツマイモ，どんな風に食べたのかな？

Mark先生より）