Bringing the same primary tenets of farm to school to our youngest eaters
Farm to Early Care is a nationwide movement, to support early care providers in incorporating three main elements:
- Nutrition Education
- Local Purchasing
- Gardening
Especially with young kids, family engagement is another critical component of farm to early care.
For more information and resources, click the images below.
For at-home activities and other farm to early care ideas, check out our blog.
|
|
|
|
|
Not sure where to start? Use books!
Many programs have already integrated a variety of best practices in farm to early care - do you read books about gardens or growing? Do you eat together and taste new foods? There are so many easy ways to integrate farm to early care concepts.
One easy place to start is through books. There are so many great books that can help children learn about gardening, local food, and where our food comes from.
Check out any of these great places to find great books:
- Our growing list of farm to early care books by BIPOC authors: https://bit.ly/BIPOCbooksf2ece
- Pennsylvania's Ready, Set, Grow! book collection: http://www.pareadysetgrow.org/book-list/
- A list of winners from the Growing Good Kids - Excellence in Children's Literature Book Awards: https://jmgkids.us/bookawards/
A few of our favorites:
|
Grandma Lena gets lots of help pulling up her big purple turnip. |
Right This Very Minute: a table-to-farm book about food and farming Highlights the role of farmers in growing the food on your plate! More words mean this is probably best for older preschoolers. |
|
A classic - simple and easy to read aloud in larger preschool rooms. Also available in Spanish. |
Rhyming book about how vegetables grow - beets, onions, green beans, and more! |
|
I Will Never NOT EVER Eat a Tomato Charlie feeds Lola, the picky eater, while making up fun words for vegetables. |
Simple text and bright pictures make this an easy read-aloud book. |
After books, start exploring the main tenets of Farm to Early Care! Check out the specific webpages above, and a handout highlighting some of our favorite resources.