Farm to Summer

Promote and serve locally grown produce, build connections to local agriculture, and engage participants to gardening activities.

Nutrition Education and Fun Activities

  • Use lessons and parent newsletters from the Read for Health to engage participants using books and fun, interactive nutrition and gardening activities. Select from the list below for a theme that fits with your program:
  • Engage participants in fun and educational lessons from the Growing Healthy Habits curriculum.
  • Garden Survivor Game – Through a game and discussion, students will learn and remember the importance of variety to a healthy diet, to a healthy garden, and to good taste!
  • Gimme Some Space – Students will set up an experiment that will demonstrate that plants need a certain amount of space to grow as an example of growing conditions that must be planned for in the garden.
  • Seed Dissection – Students will dissect a bean to observe the parts of the seed that allow it to germinate, or start growing and learn how seeds store energy that not only help baby plants grow, but are also a good source of energy for us to eat.
  • Planting Container Gardens – Students will discuss plant needs and plant a small garden using recycled material materials for containers.
  • Gardening Activity Handouts
  • Help kids make the connection to where their food comes from by inviting a farmer to your site, planning a field trip to a farm, or visit a farmers’ market.  To get started, visit The Maryland’s Best website to locate a farmer and farmer.
  • If you would like to plan a field trip to a farmers’ market, visit Maryland’s Farmers’ Market Association to locate a market.
  • If you would like to plan a visit to your site with a farmer, use this FSNE Invite a Farmer to the Classroom.
  • Use this Farmers Market Field Trip guide to plan and pay for a farm field trip.
  • Contact Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation (MAEF) to arrange for the MAEF mobile science lab to visit your site for on-site agriculture education and for assistance with setting up a pop-up farmers’ market:  

Spread the Word

Family Engagement

Build Your Know How