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REVIEW: RANCHO ALEGRE FARM (DACULA)

Great for groups of all kinds, and all ages!

By Angie Appoo, MacKidAngie July 30, 2013
My daughter and I were recently invited to Rancho Alegre Farm at 2225 Givens Rd Dacula, GA 30019‎, for a field trip with several other Macaroni Kid Publishers and their kids ranging in ages 4-9;Macaroni Kid ConyersMacaroni Kid Gainesville, and Macaroni Kid Sandy Springs-Dunwoody.

Because this isn't a typical attraction, they only accept groups at this time, and only with advanced reservation. Field trips can be scheduled from Tuesday – Friday and lasts approximately 1 ½ hours. A field trip costs $7 per child (with a minimum of 10 paying children) and includes:

1) A talk about the farm and how it evolved (Ms. Pilar and her family visited the farm for a Birthday Party and when the farm went up for sale, they decided to purchase it, although they had no prior farm experience - that was 9 years ago, they've learned a lot since then!), basic rules such as how to handle the animals (don't walk behind horses, use hand sanitizer and wash hands after handling animals, etc), and a talk about their dairy collection process and a list of things you can make/do with milk, which leads to a cheese making demonstration that the kids were very interested in.

2) A walk through the garden to learn about how food is grown without chemicals, what grows in every season, and facts about our ecosystem.



3) Learn fun facts about horses, as well as groom and pet one. We groomed/petted Miss Daisy who is still considered a pony because of her size. (Pony Rides can be added for an additional $5.00 per child,make these arrangements in advance)



4) Tour the farm via a hay ride, with a stop at the worm composting area (wonder worms). A lot of the kids had a kick out of holding a worm in their hands. I passed on the offer. 



5) You can also Pet/Feed the farm animals which includes goats, donkeys, sheep, rabbits, chickens, roosters, and a pig - which one Publisher called cute, but I'm not sure I would. You can be the judge for yourself, check out the picture below! The kids loved feeding carrots to the animals!



6) You can visit the dairy parlor and get to hand milk a goat, which was a great experience for the kids. You can visit many petting zoos but it's very rare you get to milk a real goat. My daughter was especially excited, because she had always "milked" the fake cow at The Children's Museum of ATL.

>http://youtu.be/JgVMBnbcz8Q

7) Picnic Pavilions are available for Lunch afterwards but we did not have lunch there. 

Rancho Alegre Farm offers birthday parties (which is more fun-based than educational), corporate events, social gatherings, and weddings.  They also offer field trips for day care centers, private and public schools, home school, scouts, moms groups, church groups, as well as offer summer day camps.  

Rancho Alegre Farm also operates like an online Farmers Market. The Gwinnett Locally Grown Market opens every Thursday morning at 9:00 am for easy online ordering, and closes the following Monday morning at 9:00 am. You can then pick-up your farm goods at Rancho Alegre Farm on Tuesday from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.

I would definitely come back to Rancho Alegre Farm, and actually my daughter as well as many of the other Macaroni Kids have already requested to come back, for various reasons such as for a birthday party, scout trip, to go on a pony ride, and so on.  

All of the kids were entertained, educated, and slightly exhausted afterwards.

Rancho Alegre Farm can be found at 2225 Givens Rd  Dacula, GA 30019 (770) 339-3065.  You can find Rancho Alegre Farm on Facebook and Twitter and via their Website

Let Ms Pilar know you've heard about it on Macaroni Kid! and if you've been or plan on going, feel free to share your experience with us, we love Reader's Reviews. AND please feel free to forward this article about Rancho Alegre with your child's School Principal or PTA, - makes for a fun, educational, unique, inexpensive, and local field trip. 

*I received complimentary admission to help facilitate my review of this venue, but all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.