extend beyond the learning setting, with activities encouraging families to serve more local foods at home( Cravener et al. 2015; Sharma et al. 2015; Smith 2025).
Encouraging gardening is the second core component. Gardening— indoors or outdoors at any scale— is an experiential activity that engages children’ s senses and can help them begin to understand how the plants in their diet grow( Lux & Stephens 2020). In addition, it offers many opportunities to connect with core curriculum areas and to strengthen connections with families. Working with families’ schedules and capacities is key. This could include weekend garden help, pre- or post-harvest care, donations of seeds or plants, or sharing community or cultural food knowledge.
Finally, facilitating learning about food, nutrition, and agriculture is at the heart of farm to early care and education. This can take many forms; for example, reading about farms, food, eating a varied diet, and sustainability; role-playing a transaction at a farm stand; cooking; and exploring different foods. Sharing information about food origins on menus can create connections between home and early learning programs, fostering transparency and respect for different foodways. Educators can further encourage families to share favorite foods and traditions.
While individual learning activities have value, integrating multiple elements, like growing their own food, visiting farms, and learning about food preparation and nutrition, maximizes children’ s engagement and learning( Lux & Stephens 2020).
Connections to Environmental and Climate Change Education
Early childhood educators may already support both environmental education and farm to early care and education without necessarily identifying them as such( Wong & Shedd 2023). Both movements lend themselves to hands-on learning that can be integrated across content areas to support early learning goals.
Gardening and other nature-based experiences can help make learning about the environment and climate change feel immediate and relevant( Beaver & Borgerding 2023). They can develop children’ s appreciation for the interconnectedness of their communities and the natural world as they learn how food is grown. These activities can enhance children’ s understanding of environmental issues( Gambino et al. 2009), their attitudes toward the environment( Gambino et al. 2009; Samur 2018), and their awareness of how their actions impact the world( Kos et al. 2016; Samur 2018).
A common theme is learning where food comes from. Farm to early care and education elevates it to another level by including the classroom or program cafeteria and the community to support a comprehensive learning experience. Educators may take children to local farms or farmers markets or invite farmers to visit and share seasonal produce and lead tasting activities— thereby helping children develop vocabulary, critical thinking, and science skills and concepts. Children build social and emotional skills when they mind a garden seedling or patiently wait to view a baby chick.( Recognizing that some children may have direct connections to the food system through family work, educators should be mindful of how topics are presented and how they engage children and their families in activities.)
Indeed, hands-on learning can support learning about the environment because children can become active participants in it, fostering their sense of connection and stewardship. For example, by planting and tending a garden, they gain an understanding of the life cycle of plants and the conditions they need to thrive. Composting scraps from their meals helps them see how organic matter can be recycled into nutrient-rich soil in a healthy ecosystem, teaching them about waste reduction. Activities like planting native flowers to attract pollinators directly demonstrate biodiversity and the relationships among plants, animals, and the environment.
Moreover, educators can implement these activities across the curriculum— through art, manipulatives, kitchen / cooking activities, dramatic play, sensory play, math, and literacy— to align with early learning goals. For example, reading an informational text about vegetables can be paired with designing a structure to grow bean plants. This encourages children to problem solve and use engineering skills to support climbing plants while also helping children learn about a plant’ s life cycle and essential needs. Measuring and documenting plant growth reinforces scientific observation skills and highlights the natural process of growth and change. By later sampling and preparing
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