DOWN ON the farm at Bursledon they have been keeping the youngsters busy.

Manor Farm Country Park has been a hive of half-term activity as the farm gates opened to scores of school kids.

They have had fun making scarecrows in Mrs Earwicker's Victorian farmhouse.

There have been demonstrations of sheep-shearing in the farmyard and traditional wool crafts.

And there has also be an entertaining interactive guided walk around the traditional working farmyard with Victorian woodsman Walter Stubbs.

Children have been able to help collect the hens' eggs and lend a hand with the daily care of the smaller farm animals while learning about life on a farm in 1900.

They have watched the cows being milked in the milking parlour and taken part in daily sessions of close-up encounters with some of the young farm animals.

There was also an insight into what school life was like in olden days with schoolmistress Miss Stubbs taking lessons in the farm's Victorian schoolroom.

Just a reminder for the young visitors that going back to school was just around the corner.