Self-Guided Farm Fun Adventure

This is a self-guided tour, so I highly recommend checking out the list of farming projects ahead of time and planning your itinerary thoroughly!

Cooking

1. Cook a seasonal recipe as a class and create a "how to" recipe book to take home.
2. Make applesauce in a crockpot...with local apples, of course!
3. Put local spinach and cream cheese in a blender. You just made local

edible paint. Spread it on a large cracker or piece of bread. Use bits of carrots, cucumbers, and celery. Eat it.

1. Treasure hunt at the farm. Go on a hunt for a purple vegetable. Buy the vegetable. Cook it. Eat it.
2. Become a chef on the farm field trip. Buy stuff from the farm. Take it home and cook use it for a chef master piece.

Taste Testing

1. Taste two kinds of local apples. Which do you like more?
2. Cut up a local sweet potato into lots of little sticks. Give someone a stick to taste and ask them to guess what vegetable it is.
3. Hold a below-ground-veggie-growing taste test.
4. Share a taste test of a local product with another class. Compare taste preferences.
5. Try radishes 5 ways: whole, sliced, grated, pickled, used as crayons.
6. Look at a local cucumber really closely through a magnifying glass. Then eat the cucumber.
7. Get a chicken. Take care of it. Eat its eggs.

Gardening

1. Make a list of all of the vegetables you can think of. Use a yellow marker to highlight the ones that grow in your region (or in the summer, or in the fall-you get the idea). Plant the seeds that suit the current season.
2. Plant a garden.
3. Make a worm bin and feed them scraps from snack.
4. Plant a mystery seed. Can you guess what it will be?
5. Package, market and sell bulk seeds as a fund raiser.
6. Dig up a bit of soil from the garden. Mail it off to get it analyzed. Ask a Cooperative Extension agent to explain the results.
7. Look at a seed catalog to determine which plants can be grown and harvested this year. Plant those seeds.
8. Plant a sunflower house.
9. Do the "Soil Test" to determine if a soil has the proper level of moisture (have three tubs of soil: one that is too dry, one that is too moist, and one that is "just right").
10. Grow non-edible plants, like flowers: they are lovely, good for pollination, and can be sold to raise money.
11. Make "Beanie Babies": Use a small ziploc bag, add a cotton make-up pad, a bean seed, and a few drops of water. Put on a string and have students wear them around their neck. Talk abut how body heat helps with seed germination.

Reading/Literature

1. Read "Tops and Bottoms." Make a list of veggies that grow above ground and then another list for veggies that grow below ground.
2. Eat some local blueberries and read "Blueberries for Sal."
3. Make a scarecrow family (mom, dad, baby) for your garden. Read "Scarecrow" by Cynthia Rylant.
4. Use "Cabbages and Kings" to teach point of view.
5. Read "Food Rules" and discuss it.

Math

1. Weigh raw greens and calculate their volume. Cook them, and remeasure.
2. Chop an onion and count the rings.
3. Scale up a recipe to feed the whole school.
4. When you harvest something, weigh it and calculate how much money you could make if you sold it at different stores/markets.
   

Logic/Comparison

1. Go on a color hunt in the garden. Which colors can you find in the spring? Which ones can you find in the fall?
2. Compare and contrast seeds. Can you sort them by size? by color?

Science

1. Compare and contrast different types of greens.
2. Have each student become an expert on a fruit/vegetable
3. Trace your lunch back to its sources.
4. Interview a member of your group about growing food or cooking.
5. Keep a log of what kinds of plant parts you eat for a day. Did you eat more leaves, roots, or stems?
6. Happy cabbage day! How many types of cabbage are there? Have you ever had a stirfry with local cabbage?

Crafts/Creative Activities

1. Make a paper crown. Draw or glue on pictures of vegetables to become a veggie king or queen.
2. Write a garden song and teach it to another class.
3. Write a garden song and teach it to another class.
4. Celebrate National Poetry Month (April) by writing poems about the garden or local farms.
5. Create a poem or song about your favorite local food.
6. Make mobiles from recycled silverware, bile tier, and CD's to decorate your garden.
7. Create promotional materials for local fruits and vegetables served in the cafeteria.
8. Make up a menu for a restaurant that sells local food.
9. Make up a week's menu for your school's cafeteria, highlighting the locally grown products.

Farmer Connection

1. Visit the farm and pick fruits and vegetables.
   
2. Visit the farm and pet the animals.
   
3. Visit the farm and learn about bees.
4. Invite a farmer to come talk to your class.
5. Interview our farmer. Ask about his or her business, favorite vegetables, favorite aspect of farming, etc.
6. Visit the farm and help with a farm chore.

Host or Publisher Excellent Montessori