Intro to Life & Learning on the Urban Farm

Intro to Life & Learning on The Urban Farm

​ ASK US ABOUT OUR INTRO TO LIFE & LEARNING ON THE URBAN FARM WORKSHOPS & CLASSES ! 🧑🏽‍🌾🎉💕

In our society today, 1 in 3 children are on a fast track to develop Type 2 Diabetes. And an overwhelming majority of the children in our cities have never actually seen a real farm animal.

An “Intro To Life & Learning on The Urban Farm” field trip will offer an introduction to healthy organic nutrition and it’s benefits via our Edible Forest, Grant a meet and greet with some of our selected animal family a host of classes and workshops and provide a stress free break on the farm from life in the big city.

Our aim is to teach children about natural and healthy food choices which will lend itself to better life choices as they grow and continue to learn.

It all begins now, with our children and education. This enables minds to open and grow for a better tomorrow.

Some of the activities that the visiting children will participate in include:

• Making their very own butter/jam
• Engage in selected arts & crafts
• Harvesting and tasting treats from our Edible Forest
• Visiting our animal habitat sanctuary, to learn about common farm animals like the chickens, pigs, rabbits, goats, etc.
• A meet an greet with selected animal family

Some of Our Experiences

Eating the Rainbow

Students will learn to identify new fruits and vegetables. Students will use magazines and marketing ads to cut out various fruits and vegetables to create a rainbow art installation. Students will work together to select fruits and vegetables of varying colors from the art installations to create a fruit salad. The students will associate fruits and vegetables with a positive experience making a fun art project.

Students will:

• Identify Fruits and Vegetables
• Learn the importance of variety in eating
• Learn the vitamins/ nutrients that various fruits & vegetables offer.

Time Required For Lesson: 3 Days

Materials /Resources:

• Construction paper
• Magazines,
• Marketing ads
• Photos of different healthy fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors for each child
• Scissors
• Glue

Pre-activities: Students should discuss and identify fruits and vegetables in the varying colors of the rainbow.

Scissor Safety Activities: Each student will receive a piece of construction paper with a pre-printed rainbow on the paper. Students should determine and locate various fruits and vegetables in the magazines and marketing ads, cut them out and paste.

Post art project. Students will collaborate to select one fruit / vegetable from their art installations to represent each color of the rainbow. The instructor will prepare (Clean/Cut) the selected fruits prior to next class. In class the instructor and children will combine the selected fruits to create a rainbow fruit salad. Enjoy eating the rainbow!

Resources:

• Eating the Alphabet – by Lois Ehlert
• A Bad Case of Stripes – by David Shannon
• Rainbow Stew – Cathryn Falwell

Life Cycles

Students will plant their own seeds in potting soil and measure plant growth. Before the students’ plants are visible above the soil, students will explore the parts and functions of classroom plants and compare growth between the classroom plants. Using the weather channel website, students will predict whether the day’s weather conditions are excellent, good, or poor for plant growth.

Students will:

• Identify parts of a plant.
• Plant their own seed and foster it’s growth.
• Compare data to produce class graph of plant growth.

Time Required For Lesson: 2 weeks

Materials / Resources

• potting soil
• seeds
• clears plastic cups
• water
• crayons/ marker
• poster board
• post-it notes
• ruler

Pre-activities
Students should evaluate various environments and determine which types of environments promote plant growth. Students should also be introduced to the various parts of a plant and their purpose/ duty in plant survival .

Activities
Students discuss the different parts of a plant. After the introduction students plant their own seed to evaluate plant growth. Each student uses resources to plant their own seed. Each student will care for and observe the seed that they have planted. They will use their own plant to, discuss and identify the parts of the plant. Discuss each part and how it helps with the survival of the plant. Discuss the needs of the plant. As the class begins to observe plant growth, correlate and compare plant growth and weather conditions each day.

If students are comfortable with the measurement process, introduce the ruler. Students will become familiar with the inch and will measure their plants using a ruler daily.

At the conclusion of the unit, students measure their plant and record their plant height and place it on our class graph.

Resources

Seed Germination Time Lapse

Farm Animal Exploration

Students will learn about the various animals that are commonly found on a farm and discover their purpose to the farm and the community, along with the benefits that each animal offers.

Students will:

• Identify various farm animals.
• Discover what each animal produces/ Its benefit to the community.

Time Require For Lesson: 2 Days

Materials / Resources:

• plastic containers with lid
• whipping cream
• sea salt
• bread
• spreading spatula / butter knife
• paper plates/ paper towels

Pre-activities: Students should discuss animals that are commonly found on the farm and be introduced to the product that each animal yields / Its benefit to the community. Utilize education props to teach what each animal looks like and sounds like.

Activities: Students discuss the different animals on the farm.

• Make Butter – Make some homemade butter with your children. Fill container about 1/4 full with whipping cream, add a pinch of sea salt and secure the lid. The children will have a blast as they shake the containers until the cream turns to butter. Spread the butter on whole wheat bread for a delicious snack.

Resources:

On The Farm

• Animals & Their Sounds
• How Big Is A Pig – Clare Beaton
• Big Red Barn – Margaret Wise Brown
• G Is For Goat – Patricia Pollaco
• The Grumpy Morning – Pamela Duncan Edwards
• Farm Animals

The Good, The Bad, The Bugs!

Students will learn about the various insects that are commonly found in the garden. They will use their imaginations to identify whether various insects are beneficial or destructive within the garden.

Students will:

•Identify various garden insects. (Include: Lady beetles,gypsy moth, cabbage worm, aphids, caterpillars, praying mantis, etc.)
• Discover whether each insect is beneficial or destructive within the garden.
• Understand how to eradicate pest (without using dangerous/ harmful pesticides) or distribute insects within the garden.

Time Required For Lesson: 2 Days

Materials / Resources

• Good Bug Photos
• Bad Bug Photos
• Construction Paper with preprinted insect images
• 10 X 10 Plexi Glass
• beads / glitter
• fabric pieces
• glue / tape

Pre-activities
Students should research and be introduced to insects that are common to the region in which they live. Make sure that children know what to do if they encounter any insects covered in the lesson. Make note of the insects and the plants that it targets. Learn how to eradicate pest in the garden without the use of dangerous and harmful pesticides .

Students will compare the various insects and plants that they target. Students will have the prints placed behind the Plexiglas using a piece of tape. The print will be placed so that it is viewable through the Plexiglas. The children will decorate the insect prints on the actual Plexiglas using, glitter, beads, fabric, etc. The shinier and more eye catching the better!

Encourage the students to use their imaginations to illustrate and decorate the insect. Consider things like camouflage and blending in, intimation to scare predators by use of bright shiny color, etc.

Allow each student to present his/ her art discussing why they chose the various elements included within their design. Reveal and compare with actual photos of various insects and share facts about each. Emphasize whether each insect is beneficial or harmful to the garden.

Resources

• Planet Earth Insect Video
• 50 Pictures of Insects
• Beneficial Garden Bugs
• The Bug Files
• 10 Common Garden Pest

The Rot Way to Garden!

Students will be introduced to the idea of composting and learn the basic principles of biodegradable resource conservation and recycling. The students will learn about building a compost pile, the creatures that may dwell in a compost pile and the benefits of compost for plants.

Students will:

• Learn the basics of composting
• Discover the benefits of composting and recycling
• Learn about the creatures that live in the compost pile
• Understand what biodegradable materials are

Time Required For Lesson: 2 Weeks

Material / Resources

• biodegradable samples (Paper, Leaves, Cardboard boxes)
• non-biodegradable samples (Juice can / Soda bottle, Plastic cups)
• bucket
• trowel/ spade
• soil
• compostable materials ( Grass clippings, leaves, Paper, Food scraps from participants)
• water
• earth worms
• magnifying glasses

Pre-activities:
Students should discuss materials that we use every day and what could be considered biodegradable or non-biodegradable. Some of the materials, such as metals and plastics, are non-biodegradable. These materials do not decompose, although many of them can be recycled. Biodegradable materials decay. Examples of biodegradable materials include wood, food scraps, paper, and grass clippings.

Activities:
Students discuss compost, what it is, how its made and why its beneficial. Teach the students, that with the help of micro-organisms and insects, we can take our biodegradable materials and turn them into a rich, dark soil amendment called compost. In this way, valuable nutrients are returned to nature rather than shipped away to a landfill. Composting is an excellent way to demonstrate the cycle of life: life, death, decomposition, and rebirth.

The four essential ingredients of compost are the BIG FOUR:

• browns
• greens
• air
• water

“Browns” are dry and woody plant trimmings, such as wood chips, dried leaves, and straw. Browns are rich in carbon. “Greens” are moist vegetable and fruit scraps, green leaves, and fresh manure. Greens are rich in nitrogen. In a compost pile, you want approximately half brown materials and half green materials by volume. Decomposer organisms need air and water to break down organic matter.

Turning and watering your pile provides it with the air and moisture needed for microorganisms. The pile should be as moist as a wrung out sponge. These four ingredients create the perfect environment for the main decomposers: fungi, bacteria, and insects.

Discuss the anatomy of an earthworm

Make Compost in a Bucket

The entire class can follow the composting process taking place in a single bucket. You could also have several buckets with different types of materials. It is important to maintain the buckets by opening and turning the material with a trowel every few days to keep the compost aerated.

You may want to collect materials from students a few days before the presentation. It is also a good idea to add more browns than greens to your bucket. It will not heat up as fast, but it will avoid potentially bad odors. Discuss how composting is nature’s way of recycling. Talk about why people would want to compost and why it is important. Explain that the class is going to perform an experiment recycling compostable materials by making compost in a bucket. Ask the students for materials they collected for the compost. Add about one gallon of soil, compost, potting mix, or sawdust from untreated wood to the 5-gallon bucket. The bucket should not be more than 3⁄4 full. Keep material moist but not completely wet.

Have participants write their predictions about what will happen to the contents of the bucket and the individual items.

Will it smell bad? Will it decay? Will things grow in it? What will happen to the banana peels?; the plastic cups? The teacher may wish to keep a classroom chart recording the temperature, odor, texture, weight, and other observations about the compost. Discuss the outcome with participants. What happened? How was it different from what they expected? Explain that, with the help of bacteria and other organisms, all organic material can decompose into a rich, dark compost. Compost helps make healthy soil and can be used on lawns, gardens, or house plants.

Use magnifying glasses to observe life & creatures living within the compost.

1. What color is the worm?
2. What shape is the worm? Describe it.
3. How does the worm’s skin feel?
4. Is there a difference between the top side and the bottom side of a worm? Describe what both sides are like.
5. Can you tell which is the front end of a worm and which is its tail? How do you know?
6. Does an earthworm have… EYES? EARS? LEGS?A NOSE?A MOUTH?
7. How does your worm move? Describe it.
8. What’s the name of your worm?
9. Why are worms important to life on earth?

The structure of soil is improved when compost is added. Compost increases the soil’s ability to hold water, helps soil to achieve a good airflow, and adds nutrients for plants. Compost will reduce the risk of plants getting diseases and will give life and vitality to your soil. Healthy soil means healthy plants. Healthy plants mean healthy animals and people.

Resources
How Compost Is Made

Art & Bites Around The World

Grab your art passport! Each week, students will explore a different country through a hands-on art project. They’ll find the country on a map, learn about the people and traditions behind the featured artwork, and try a technique or design inspired by what they’ve seen and learned. Students will discover and sample foods associated with the geographic area, how art can tell stories, celebrate traditions, and honor loved ones. Students will be given an authentic looking passport to fill each page with stamps & stickers from the various countries explored.

Students will

Locate each featured country on a world map or globe.
Learn the stories and traditions behind selected works of art.
Experiment with color, pattern, line, and texture using different art materials.
Create original artwork and share what inspired their choices.
Record each stop in an art passport with a country sticker or stamp.

Time Required for Lesson
1 Class Session

Materials / Resources

World map or globe
Photos and examples of artwork from each featured country
Art passports and country stickers or stamps
Country activity sheets and sample projects
Drawing paper, cardstock, markers, crayons, and colored pencils
Washable paints, paintbrushes, glue sticks, and child-safe scissors
Additional supplies for each week’s project

Pre-activities
Students will find the featured country on the map and look closely at an example of its artwork. They’ll share what they notice about the colors, shapes, and patterns, then learn how the artwork connects to a story, tradition, or celebration.

Art Activity and Tool Safety
The instructor will demonstrate the featured technique and show students how to use and share the supplies. Students will then create their own pieces. For the Ukraine lesson, they might draw repeating designs on paper egg shapes. For the Mexico lesson, they might create a paper marigold collage after learning how marigolds are used in Día de los Muertos remembrance traditions.

Post-project Activity
Students will share one artistic choice they made and one thing they learned about the featured country. They’ll add a sticker or stamp to their art passport. At the end of the series, students will select pieces for a showcase and tell families the stories behind their work.

Resources

Illustrated country activity sheets
Art passport and world map

Country Stamps and Stickers
Instructor-created project samples
Images of artwork by artists and makers from each featured country

Little Chef’s Kitchen – Cooking Classes

Students will learn to cook by making simple vegetarian dishes they can help recreate at home. Working individually or in small groups, children will read & follow picture recipes, measure ingredients, crack eggs, whisk, and mix. They’ll make mini vegetable quiches,  no-bake deserts, fruit and yogurt parfait, etc. Then share what they discovered about the flavors, colors, and textures of the foods they prepared.

Students will

• Identify ingredients and follow a recipe in order.
• Practice measuring with cups and spoons.
• Build confidence using kitchen tools to scoop, pour, whisk, and mix.
• Learn how to wash hands, prepare a clean workspace, and tidy up after cooking.
• Take turns with kitchen jobs and describe what they notice when they taste their creations.

Suggested Time Required for Lesson
1 class session

Materials / Resources

• Illustrated recipe cards
• Measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowls, whisks, and spatulas
• Cutting boards, child-safe kitchen tools, muffin tins, and liners
• Food ingredients
• Aprons, handwashing supplies, and cleaning cloths

Pre-activities
Students will explore the ingredients, match kitchen tools to their jobs, and use picture cards to put recipe steps in order. Each group will choose jobs such as ingredient measurer, mixer, or recipe reader and rotate so everyone gets a turn.

Kitchen Safety Activities
The instructor will demonstrate handwashing, safe tool use, and how to clean work surfaces after handling raw eggs. Students will practice cutting soft ingredients with age-appropriate tools under supervision. The instructor will handle the oven and hot pans and check ingredient labels against students’ food allergies before class.

Cooking Activities

1. Measure, Mix, and Layer. Students will practice measuring and scooping as they layer fruit, yogurt, and oats to make their own no-bake parfaits.
2. Make Mini Vegetable Quiches. Students will whisk eggs, measure ingredients, and choose vegetables to add to their muffin cups. The instructor will bake the quiches, and students will observe how the egg mixture changes from liquid to firm.
3. Create a Recipe. Students will choose their own recipe, draw or write the steps on a recipe card, and share their creations with the class.

Post-cooking Activity
Students will take home their recipe cards and share one kitchen skill they feel ready to try with their families.

Resources

• Recipe cards
• Picture guide to kitchen tools and measurements
• “My Little Chef Recipe” take-home worksheet

Doll Making Studio: Stitching A Special Friend

Students will explore creativity, storytelling, and handwork as they create a simple Waldorf-inspired doll using soft fabrics, wool, and yarn. Students will choose colors, help shape and stuff their dolls, and practice beginning sewing with instructor guidance. Through this hands-on experience, students will build patience, confidence, and fine motor skills while creating a special friend for imaginative play.

Students will:

• Explore natural materials and their textures.
• Practice measuring, cutting, stuffing, and beginning stitching.
• Strengthen hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
• Express creativity through colors, clothing, and doll details.
• Practice patience, following directions, and caring for their work.
• Develop storytelling skills through imaginative play.

  3 Days; may be adjusted for student age and sewing experience.

Materials / Resources:

• Cotton knit fabric for doll bodies in a variety of skin tones
• Wool stuffing
• Yarn for hair
• Cotton thread and embroidery floss
• Simple doll patterns and pre-sewn doll bodies
• Fabric scraps or felt for clothing
• Age-appropriate sewing needles
• Child-safe scissors
• Measuring tapes or rulers
• Fabric pencils
• Sample handmade dolls

Pre-activities:
Students will explore a finished doll and feel the different materials used to make it. The class will discuss how handmade toys can reflect our creativity and become part of our stories. Students will choose materials and draw a simple picture of the doll they would like to create.

Scissor and Sewing Safety Activities:
The instructor will demonstrate safe handling of scissors and needles, including passing tools safely and returning needles to a designated holder. Students will practice stitching on a fabric sample before working on their dolls. Younger students may use pre-sewn bodies and complete stuffing, wrapping, and clothing activities with adult assistance.

Day 1 — Creating Our Little Friends:
Students will explore their materials, plan their dolls, and help stuff and shape pre-sewn doll bodies. The instructor will assist with shaping the head and securing seams.

Day 2 — Adding Personality:
Students will help attach yarn hair, add simple facial details, and create clothing from fabric or felt. Each child will choose a name for their doll and imagine what makes their little friend special.

Day 3 — Bringing Our Stories to Life:
Students will finish their dolls and participate in a storytelling circle. Through pretend play, children will introduce their dolls and practice kindness, friendship, and caring for others.

Post-project Activity:
Students will draw a picture or tell a short story about an adventure with their handmade doll. Families will be encouraged to continue storytelling and imaginative play at home.

Resources:

• Doll patterns and stitching guides
• Demonstrating basic sewing steps
• Natural fiber and fabric samples
• Storytelling prompts about friendship, kindness, and caring

Other Examples of Class & Workshop Experiences

🔬Farmyard Field Scientists -Observe animal behavior, learn about habitats, and create illustrated animal journals.

💰 Young Farmstand Founders- Create a pretend or small supervised farmstand, practicing pricing, budgeting,  creating signage, and customer service.

🧵 Stitch, Weave & Create- Learn basic sewing, weaving, and fabric art while making useful projects.

🧚 Fairy Gardens & Tiny Worlds- Design miniature gardens while exploring plant needs, scale, storytelling, and construction.

🦋 Pollinator Detectives- Study butterflies and bees, map flower visitors, and design pollinator gardens.

🍓 Kitchen Chemistry- Explore measurements, mixtures, and changes through breadmaking, fruit recipes, and other cooking experiments.

🌱 Seed to Snack/ Farm to Table- Plant vegetables, track their growth, harvest ingredients, and prepare simple snacks.

🛠️ Little Builders, Big Ideas- Design birdhouses, paint garden stones, garden signs, and simple structures using age-appropriate tools and materials.

📖 Forest Tales & Story Trails- Write and illustrate stories inspired by the garden, then turn them into an outdoor story walk.

🎭 Woodland Theater Company- Make costumes and puppets, write short scripts, and perform nature-inspired plays.

📸 Through a Wild Lens- Learn about and Practice photography by capturing textures, colors, plants, and animals, then curate a small exhibit.

🏡 Life Skills Lab- Practice cooking, organizing, simple mending, table setting, and planning a household budget.

🧭 Outdoor Explorers Club- Practice mapping, compass skills, weather observation, and outdoor preparedness.

🧘 Mindful Makers- Combine gentle movement, sensory observation, journaling, and calming art projects.

🎶 Sounds of the Sanctuary- Listen for nature’s rhythms, build instruments, and create music inspired by the outdoors. Drum circles