What’s the perfect way to start your morning at the Iowa State Fair?
Getting to cuddle baby animals just as they’re waking up.
With the rising sun streaming in through the windows of the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center, it’s one of the most peaceful scenes you’ll find at the fair. But it’s not just about getting to squeal at the cute lil’ piglets. Cuddles and Snuggles Chore Time also helps families pass down their agricultural roots to their kids.
“I grew up on a farm, so having access to animals and teaching my kids about the agricultural side of Iowa is really special and really important,” said Caine Wood of Huxley. “This is a great gateway for them.”
In fact, Wood was the Iowa State Fair Queen in 2009. When she was a kid growing up in northwest Iowa, her family would drive four hours to get to the fair every summer.
“The fair holds a special spot for me in my heart, in my family’s heart, so it’s fun to come back and share it with my kids,” Wood said. “Not every state has access to something like this.”
Cuddles and Snuggles Chore Time is a VIP experience where families can stop in an hour before the Animal Learning Center officially opens. They can spend time with FFA students, who answer their questions about the different animals, and parents can sit with a goat kid and their own kid on their laps.
Wood said the event helped her kids understand what farmers do in Iowa. Getting to simply play with the animals helps frame agriculture in a way that they can understand.
As for the FFA students, because the learning center now pays them for their work at the fair, said Claire Jankowski, a student at Southeast Polk High School, her FFA chapter brings in students from other chapters to get more hands-on experience working with animals.
“Some of us haven’t had a lot of experience working with animals, and it’s a little difficult to make that experience,” she said. “This building is a great way to get that experience and enter into the world.”
This is the first time she has been able to work with larger baby animals, like calves. She shooed away one named Minnie who was chomping on the zip tie of her feed bucket.
“It’s such a great way to interact more closely with people who may not know a whole lot about animal agriculture,” she said. “It’s a great way to connect with them and educate them on a more personal level.”
Lucia Cheng is a service and trending reporter at the Des Moines Register. Contact her at lcheng@gannett.com or 515-284-8132.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Families share agricultural heritage while cuddling baby animals
Reporting by Lucia Cheng, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Lucia Cheng, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
