The fun and games have begun at The Jungle Farm in Red Deer County.
The farm opened its corn maze and back play area for the fall season on Saturday. There are a couple new activities to keep visiting families busy.
A music trail and new games in the corn maze are two of the biggest additions to the play area.
“We put something new in it every year and keep expanding it so there’s something to keep the families excited,” said Leona Staples, Jungle Farm owner.
The Jungle Farm has been in Staples’ family for 120 years. One of the major goals of the farm is to teach children, she said.
“Over 5,000 children come to the farm each year for educational purposes. I think my great-grandfather would have been excited to see what we’ve done here.”
Both the music trail and new games will create learning opportunities for children at the farm, Staples said.
The trail has been something Staples wanted to do for years and after seeing the Kerry Wood Nature Centre’s new trail, she decided to move forward with the idea.
“Music was a really important part of my life,” she said. “We know music directly connects to positive education in other parts of the math, science, reading world. It’ll be a good fit for schools and families.”
In the corn maze there are treasure hunt and “tracks” games, which are both geared towards children.
A new company designed the corn maze last year, but due to rain not a lot of people got the chance to finish it, Staples said.
“I don’t think people really got to enjoy it, so in essence it’s new for most people because so few people completed it last year because of the miserable weather.”
Farm favourites, such as the picture barn, farm animals, fruit and vegetable picking and strawberry mountain, are returning this year.
Seeing new and familiar faces every year is a joy for Staples, she said.
“Some of them have come for years. One woman I know used to come when she had one child and now she has three. It’s really gratifying we’re meeting a need,” she said.
Visit www.thejunglefarm.com for more details.