Even though we get more than our fair share of beaches living on an island, there are also tons of farms here too! My kids love anything in nature, and we try to visit a farm at least once a month. In the past six months we’ve been to a butterfly farm, dairy farm, bee farm, hydroponic farm, chicken farm, and several fruit and vegetable farms. In fact we’re going glamping on an organic farm this weekend! We love everything about farms, so here are 10 reasons why you should visit them with your kids too!
1) Exposing children to dirt and farm animals reduces the risk of asthma and allergies, improves their immune system, and increases bacteria diversity in your gut microbiome.
That’s probably not the first thing you think of when it comes to visiting farms, but I believe in the hygiene hypothesis — we’re too clean now and as a result allergies have greatly increased. There have been many studies done that show people who grew up in rural areas have less allergies and more diverse gut bacteria. I rarely get sick and have no allergies, and I attribute that to living near farm animals when I was a child and being exposed to tons of dirt, so I encourage my kids to do the same!
the eggs we collected and took home
2) It teaches children where their food comes from.
When we visited a chicken farm and collected our own eggs, we learned that chickens lay one egg almost every day and that the egg size can vary greatly. We learned about irrigation systems at a papaya farm. We tasted honey straight from a beehive. We milked cows and drank milk and ate ice cream made with their milk. We saw the entire process from how seeds are planted to when fruit is harvested. We’ve learned the perfect ripeness to pick various fruits and vegetables. We’ve seen compost at various stages of decomposition. We have learned so much about the food that we eat every day from visiting farms!
did you know this is how pineapples grow?
3) It encourages them to try new foods.
The first time Olive tried lettuce was when she picked it herself at Brooklyn Botanical Garden. We stayed at a farm recently here where the kids picked arugula and tried some. They didn’t like it (too spicy), but if they hadn’t picked it themselves, they wouldn’t have tried it if I served it at home. When they collected eggs, they wanted to eat them as soon as we got home. They cooked the eggs themselves and of course they were extra delicious! Being involved in the food preparation process really sparks kids’ interest in food!
picking organic arugula
4) It teaches them about the life cycle.
At a local butterfly farm, we can see butterflies in every stage of metamorphosis. Caterpillars chomp away on leaves, chrysalis are collected and you can watch them in various stages of emerging from their cocoon. You learn so much about biology on a farm!
5. It teaches how to care for animals.
We’ve milked cows, fed chickens, pigs, sheep, and goats, rode horses. We learn what they eat, how they sleep, how they live, whether they’re friendly, and so much more!
3 day old baby goat!
very friendly goats and sheep
6. It teaches them about growing flowers, plants, fruits and vegetables.
We grow mulberries and sunflowers in our yard, and the kids are responsible for watering them daily. We were inspired to plant sunflowers after visiting a sunflower field on a farm, and they told us that sunflowers grew very quickly. It took about 2 months for them to flower, and now they’re almost 3 feet tall at 3 months!
7. It’s a sensory learning experience.
There is so much to see, touch, do and all your senses are engaged on a farm! No need for ipads ever when you’re on a farm!
8. It increases their appreciation of nature.
Visiting farms has cultivated a deep appreciation for composting, the plant life cycle, the animal life cycle, the hard work that goes into farming. Kids should spend time in nature every day — it’s a panacea!
bananas and a huge banana heart
9. It encourages physical activity.
Farms have so much open free space to run around and explore. We always come home tired and dirty after visiting a farm.
10. I asked Charlie why he liked farms so much, and he said, “It’s just fun!
picking papayas
Adding dead papaya leaves to a compost bin.
Worms and their vermicast
Hopefully you’ll take your kids to visit a farm after reading this post!
guest
This all look SO fun! The nature/animal loving child within me is so envious! I actually never knew pineapples grew like that till I was an adult; it’s funny how I grew up in a really dense city but still came to love nature/animals. We have a good array of farms within an hour or so car ride from us; during the summer we love going fruit picking!
pomelo / 5866 posts
Love it and I think this is so wonderful for children!!
cherry / 150 posts
I completely agree with everything you have written. I took the kids to a local farm, and they loved the entire experience. We picked vegetables, eggs, and fed many different animals. Just being outside all day was wonderful, and they loved doing all the farm “work”.
pomelo / 5621 posts
There is so much for kids to learn on farms. We spend a lot of time outdoors in the summer months, our friends have some animals and land and our DS loves to help and learn. We do a big garden which he helps with from planting to canning. He eats so many more veggies because of this.