As the sun shined, more than 200 people including children and their families wore color coated T-shirts in accordance to their child-care group as they lined the grass in front of the children’s stage to watch “Trisha and the Toonies” Thursday morning at the Freeborn County Fair.

For the past six years the fair staff has set aside a morning for local day cares to enjoy animal viewing, a puppet show and the Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Zoo show.

A group from Back Acres Daycare in Manchester were in attendance strutting homemade tie-dye T-shirts.

“It is a wonderful way to introduce kids to the fair, and I am hoping it encourages families to get out with their kids and go to the fair this week,” said Back Acres Daycare provider Laura Back.

The nine children of Back Acres Daycare look forward to the Freeborn County Fair every year. According to Back, it is something the children talk about all year round with excitement.

“My favorite part is seeing the kids’ faces light up once we get here,” she said. “It’s great.”

The day care group’s adventure began when they arrived at the fairgrounds at 9 a.m. They started with the Kiddie Farm Yard, where they saw a unique variety of baby animals including pot-bellied pigs, puppies, ponies, piglets, peacocks, rabbits and goats. They even had the opportunity to feed goats.

After the Kiddie Farm Yard, the group went through various barns. A favorite of the children’s was the horse barn.

“I like the horsies,” said 5-year-old Taya Jeffrey of Back Acres Daycare. “I like them because I get to ride them, feed them and look at them.”

Other children among the day care enjoy different parts of the fair, the rides. The rides are a favorite for 9-year-old Caitlin Olson from Sioux Falls, S.D, who’s attending the fair for the first time while visiting family in the area.

“I like the bumper cars a lot because you get to bump people around and sometimes people get stuck,” said Olson.

At 10 a.m. the group watched “Trisha and the Toonies” puppet show where they were educated on keeping the planet green by recycling and reducing the amount of hazardous waste products used. All the children invited by the fair staff were provided with animal crackers and a fruit punch juice box for snack.

Following the puppet show, Back led the children to view the fish in the conservation building. After viewing the fish the children raced over to the drinking fountain.where they engaged in a small water fight, leading to wet shirts while watching the reptile and amphibian show. According to Back, the water fountains are always the children’s favorite thing at the fair.

“This day is a great promotion for Freeborn County as a whole,” said Back.

Saturday is Kid’s Day at the Freeborn County Fair. For more information or have any questions about the fair, call the fair office at (507) 373-6965 or visit www.freeborncountyfair.com.