theHword.com

I’ve been spending a lot of time with preschoolers lately. Getting off the bus for their field trips, they are sometimes excited, sometimes shy, and always wide-eyed with wonder at being outside of their schoolroom, in a place just bursting with potential for new adventure.

At the beginning of these visits, I usually start with make-believe. We pretend we are the sun, and we make rain, complete with thunder. Then, we pretend to be seeds that put down roots and stretch and grow in to plants.

“Let’s be plants that grow food on a farm. What kind of plant are you?”

“I’m a strawberry!”

“I’m a carrot!”

“I’m a pizza!” …

“Well, okay,” I say, thinking quickly. How do I turn this into a teachable moment – without squelching the poor kid’s enthusiasm?

“What’s on a pizza?” I ask. We talk about wheat in the crust. Then it takes them a minute to remember what tomato sauce is made of, but we figure it out. We even make the connection that cheese is made from milk, milk comes from cows, and cows eat plants that farmers grow.

“So, does everything on a pizza come from farms?”

“Yeahh!!”

“Ok. What other kinds of plants do we have?”

“Corn!”

“Tomato!”

“Hamburger!” …

Ah, well. At least we all understand that plants and food are related. “Let’s go find a cornfield and some gardens.”

“Yeahh!!”

About the author: Amy Sandeen

Amy Sandeen is the Executive Director of Prairie Loft Center for Outdoor and Agricultural Learning. Amy grew up in Hastings, then lived in Minneapolis/ St. Paul for 18 years before returning to her roots. She is fascinated by the nature of humans and our relationship to the world.