"Life On The Farm" Game

"Life On The Farm" Game 30-6-8 A "reality game" created by a farm family attracted attention recently when it was honored by educators with a "2006 Teacher Choice Awards for the Family" by Learning magazine. "Life on the Farm" was created by Ev Johnson and her brother, Keith Gohl, of central Minnesota as a way to explain dairy farming to a city cousin. The prototype was made with poster board and purple markers. Once it was perfected they had it professionally designed to go onto store shelves. Similar to Monopoly ù follow the cow path and pass the barn for your milk check ù players negotiate through various true-to-life situations. The winner is the first to retire, with $10,000 and 60 dairy cows. That sounds simple enough until you land on a space that saysù"Pay taxes: $100 per cow." Cards and board spaces reflect real incidents, Johnson says, such as the time an unknown deer hunter shot the only brown cow in their farm's herd, then cut the fence to escape on a four-wheeler. The other cows found the opening, of course, and got out. But the game captures farming's rewards too. One card says: "Creamery awards you bonus for butterfat content." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ev Johnson, We R Fun Inc., 16915 235th Ave, Pierz, Minn. 56364 (ph 800 937-3864); evjohnson@werfun.com; www.werfun.com).

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