Playing with Tractors

For the past few days and nights, Gavin has been farming. He takes his combine and tractor and moves them along side one another, imitating what takes place during harvest. I’ve even heard him say things like, “I’m coming to get the corn,” “I’m all full,” “Gotta go get the beans.” I’m proud of his imagination and his ability to take what he sees when he visits Daddy and Papa in the field and apply it to his playtime at home. 

Earlier this week, we went to eat dinner in the field with Grant and we all crowded in the tractor with him. Our tractor ride didn’t last long because Layla likes to touch every button, honk the horn, and try to manipulate the steering wheel. Layla and I got out to wait in the car so Gavin could continue his ride in the tractor while they harvested soy beans.

That same night, Gavin refused to go to sleep because he wanted to farm. I let him stay up a bit so he could farm in the house. I took a picture and text it to Grant with the caption, “Farmin’ before bed!” I can only assume he had a proud Daddy moment upon receiving that picture. That night, he brought home an ear of corn for Gavin. I had been careful to keep it up high, for fear that Gavin would discover that the corn kernels actually come off the ear. While I knew the corn kernels would complete his tractor playing, I knew it would be a mess (and choking hazard). 

I should have known that it was only time until he discovered it himself. This morning, I walked into the kitchen and he had the corn cob in his hand and corn kernels in the back of his tractor. He looked up at me with the biggest smile, and said, “Mommy, look! It’s corn!” I knew I couldn’t keep him from this treat any longer, so I showed him how he could use the kernels to go on the ground, drive over them like he’s harvesting corn, pick up the kernels and put them in the back of the combine, and then drive the tractor alongside the combine to then put the corn into the tractor wagon. (If you aren’t familiar with farming, you may now be confused, but that’s okay.)

Gavin is two hours into his morning of harvest and only about half way down the ear of corn as he continues to pick off the kernels to use for his own farming operation. Layla is also enjoying the corn kernels, but for different purposes: throwing them around the house, finding toys to put the kernels in, trying to eat them, etc. What fun it is to play with tractors with real corn to harvest!