βDoes anyone know how butter is made?β asks Farmer Anne-Marie. The children ponder. βIn the supermarket!β, replies a boy about 6 years old.
We're going for it today: making butter! And, of course, that real, farmhouse butter. The children sit at a long table and are all given a jar of milk. Behind them are all the parents watching what is about to happen. βNow you all get to shake well. For 10 minutes at least,β the farmer's wife says.
The children begin in good spirits. Shake, shake and shake again. 1 girl hands the jar to her mother after a minute or so. Then the boy next to her follows. And our children also reach for the jars to the back. In the end, about 15 parents are shaking rock hard and all the children are sitting at the table chatting in a relaxed manner. It's a bit of a struggle, 10 minutes of shaking doesn't seem like much, but here we had a bit of a surprise.
Eventually a lumpy ball appeared in everyone's jar. Wring it out in a clean tea towel and tadaa: real butter. The children quickly pick it up and proudly tell us that THEY made this butter. As a surprise, the farmer's wife offers everyone a rusk with their own butter and sprinkles. And the parents? They will be sore tomorrow... ;)