Download "Make a Farm" (285k)

We have an educational activity based on Make a Farm:

Go to Make a Farm Activity Page

Download Instructions:
     Click on the Download link above.  If your browser offers you the choice of Opening the program or Saving it to Disk you should try Opening it.  If things go right the installation program will run.  If your browser will not open the program then choose the option Save to Disk to save it to your hard disk.  Remember which folder or directory you save it in.

Installing the software on your computer:
     If your browser ran the installation program then "Make a Farm" is already installed and you may skip this portion.  If you saved the installation program, FOLDINS3.EXE, to your hard disk then it needs to be run.

Windows 95:  use Explorer to navigate to the folder where you saved the installation program.  (You can use FIND, FILES OR FOLDERS to locate the installation program if necessary.)   Double click on the installation program to run it.  You will be prompted for a folder to install "Make a Farm" into and a Program Group for the icon to appear in.  The default choices that you are offered in the dialog boxes are recommended.

Windows 3.1:  Use File Manager to navigate to the directory where you saved the installation program.  Double click on the installation program to install "Make a Farm". You will be prompted for a folder to install "Make a Farm" into and a Program Group for the icon to appear in.  The default choices that you are offered in the dialog boxes are recommended.

Running the Program:

Windows 95:  After the program is installed there will be a folder in START, PROGRAMS with the name chosen in the installation program.  The default name is "Owl & Mouse".  Click on the folder and you will see "Make a Farm".  Click "Make a Farm" to run the program.

Windows 3.1:  After the program is installed there will be a Program Group in Program Manager with the name chosen in the installation program.  The default name is "Owl & Mouse".  There will be an icon in the program group for Make a Farm.  Double click on the icon to run the program.

     When you run the program you will see a list of buildings you can print.  Click on one and click the print button.  You will see a dialog box that allows you to select your printer and the number of copies.  When you click OK the building will print.

Making the Farm:
     Print out the patterns for the barn, silo, farmhouse, chicken coop, pig sty, sheds and fence. Note that many of these buildings need a roof printed out too.
     It is best to color the buildings before cutting them out. When coloring, you should turn the building around so that you are coloring each side "right way up". You can decorate and add things to the buildings, especially the farm house (curtains, a doorknob, a cat in the window, houseplants, and flowers and bushes). Barns are traditionally red, sometimes with white trim. Most of the other buildings are typically white or wood colored, but you don’t have to be limited by that. Maybe your chickens would like bright designs on their coop.
     Cut out the patterns on the heaviest black outline, cutting around the tabs where they occur. You can cut the doors on one side and across the top, so that they open. Notice the door for the chickens on the chicken house--on it, cut the two sides (vertically), as it swings from the top.
     Fold the house on all the lines, including the tab lines. When you hold the buildings with the colored side toward you, all folds are away from you (blank sides of the paper together), and at 90 degree angles. Fold everything, then glue or tape the tabs on the inner (flat) roof to the sides of the house. Then fasten the back of the house to the sides. The sides will stick up to hold the roof. The tabs on the side piece can be used to hold the roof in place (or cut off, if you prefer). The top of the barn fits onto the bottom of the barn, with a narrow strip on the front and back of the bottom piece to hold it on. The top piece can be secured with glue or tape if you like. If you want the doors to open, be sure to cut the doors before you assemble the barn. Younger children may need help assembling the buildings.
     The silo and silo cap are different from the other buildings. The silo is rolled into a tube and fastened with tape or glue. (If you are using tape, you will need to put a piece on the outside). The silo cap is folded (as if you were trying to put the circle back together) so that the tab is under the opposite edge, and glued or taped. The silo goes next to the barn (either side); you may want to use glue or tape rolled into a circle and pressed flat to join the silo to the barn. If you use glue on the silo and silo cap, you may need to fasten it temporarily with a paper clip while the glue dries.
     Use butcher paper or pieces of construction to make the fields and yards for the farm. If you use construction paper, use brown and green to represent fields in various stages of growth. Brown might be plowed fields, while green represents crops already coming up. Tape or glue together as many pieces as you want to make a farm the size you want (3 pieces by 2 pieces works well).
     You will need enough fence to fence in your cows and horses. Decide what fences you want for your fields, and print out one copy of fence for each three fence pieces.

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