8 Ways to Teach Your Kids about Agriculture

Bob Evans believed in the importance of agricultural education. He saw the many benefits of teaching kids about where their food comes from – including how it can help raise compassionate individuals who take care of the land and one another.

Planting the seeds of respect for the land at an early age is key. Wondering how you can teach your kids about agriculture? From books to crafts, we've rounded up several easy activities to instill these important life lessons at home and have some fun, too!

1. Read All About It

Make books about farming and gardening a part of your next library haul. Here are some great gardening books for kids 12 and under to check out and get the conversation started.

2. Game On

Let your kids enjoy some educational screen time with My American Farmcomputer games from the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. All games aregeared toward K-5 students and cover a wide range of subjects, each explaining where our food comes from and how it gets to our plates.

3. Garden Together At Home

Already have a garden? Have your kids help with planting, watering or harvesting. They can even paint rocks to help label plants or simply decorate the garden. Another fun idea is to organize a scavenger hunt and encourage your kids to take photos of different colors, insects, leaves and more. If you’re interested in starting a garden, check out our at-home gardening tips.

4. Shop Around

Next time you're at the grocery store with your kids, see what fruits and veggies they can name as you go through the produce aisles. Better yet, stop by a farmer’s market to support and talk with local growers about their gardens and how they harvest andsell their crops.

5. Bee Friendly

Teach kids about the importance of flowers and how they provide nectar to bees, which in turn help pollinate food crops – everything from avocados and broccoli to berries and melons. Birds, butterflies and bats are also pollinators. Consider adding a bird feeder or butterfly feeder to your yard to nourish nearby pollinators.

6. Plant A Legacy

A fun and meaningful activity for the whole family is to plant a family tree in your yard. Talk about how the tree and its leaves help the environment by adding oxygen tothe air through photosynthesis. Celebrate your planting anniversary by taking a family photoin front of the tree each year so you can monitor the growth of both your kids and the tree.

7. Visit A Nearby Farm

Depending on the season, plan a visit to a nearby farm so your kids can see firsthand how local growers produce fruits and veggies on a large scale. Many localfarms offer “you-pick” produce, such as berries in the summer and apples and pumpkins in the fall. Purchasing local produce is a great way to directly support local businesses and thefarming community, too.

8. Channel Their Curiosity

If you have a kiddo who's really interested in the outdoors and gardening, help them expand their knowledge by joining a youth organization that focuses on agricultural education and leadership development. 4-H has chapters nationwide for kidsages 8-18, with a special Cloverbud group for ages 5-7. High schoolers can consider the National FFA Organization, which provides students hands-on learning experiences to prepare them for future careers in agriculture.

Okay, your turn! Have some great ideas you'd recommend? We'd love to hear them. Share any pictures with us by tagging @bobevansfarms in your photos on Instagram and post with #BobsFarms!