Kindergarten Dairy Days returns to Southwest Washington Fairgrounds

Kindergarteners from across Lewis County visited the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds on Tuesday morning for Dairy Days. Eleven schools arrived at the fairgrounds eager to see the cows.

Each kindergarten class rotated through multiple stations learning about the process of a dairy cow.

Kindergarten Dairy Days ran for decades until its last year in 2019. Now, it’s back in full swing with five dairy cows and a 2-month-old calf at the fairgrounds for kids to get an up close look.

Volunteers such as Pete Dykstra, who has volunteered with Dairy Days since 1974, were ecstatic to see the annual event return.

“It’s always fun to see the kids that may not see this every day,” Dykstra said. “Their faces always have the best expressions.”

Students started in the dairy and beef barn talking about what cows eat and how it’s digested while seeing cows up close. Then they headed to the milking parlor where the kids observed the process of milking a cow. Each kid was then able to pet Lizzie, a 2-month-old Guernsey calf.

Miss Lewis County Katelynn Guenther and Lewis County Dairy Ambassador Riley Martin were there to greet the classes at the end of the stations with ice cream.