Early Childhood

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Activities For Students

Early Childhood

Farm to School

The Joy & Lessons of Butter Making

June is National Dairy Month, and we’re sharing a new how-to video showing one of our favorite activities: making butter!

Three Garden Activities for Early Learners

Garden Olympics, soundscapes, and planning activities from our collaborators at Mass Audubon.

Food & Farming

We Are the Starter Cultures of Social Change

We share author, food activist, and fermentation guru Sandor Katz's fervor for getting everyone involved with the food we eat. Inspired by Katz's work, we brought fermentation into the outdoor classroom with our preschoolers.

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August 16, 2024

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Leveraging Federal & State Funding for Innovations in Farm to Early Childhood

Sarah — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 20:46:56 +0000

Leveraging Federal & State Funding for Innovations in Farm to Early Childhood Sarah Mon, 03/04/2024 - 15:46

Farm to early childhood encourages children to investigate their food systems, adopt nutritious eating behaviors, and develop deeper connections to their communities. How can early educators make the best use of federal and state funding to connect their children to local food and nutrition and agriculture education? Watch a recent webinar from Association of State Public Health Nutritionists (ASPHN) to explore current approaches from early educators and policy specialists.

Watch the webinar from ASPHN

Presenters:

[1:53] Katrina Kefalas, Program Analyst CACFP Policy Branch, USDA Food & Nutrition Service
The Child Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a federal program funded by the USDA providing reimbursement for meals and snacks provided to children and adults enrolled in various settings (child care, family childcare homes, adult day cares, after school, emergency shelters, etc). Katrina shares how this program can support and bolster FTEC opportunities.

[14:53] Brenda Tourangeau, Farm to School Coordinator, Milton Family Community Center
Milton Family Community Center cares for and feeds nearly forty children, serving them breakfast, lunch, and snack daily. Brenda shares tips for getting kids outside in the garden, and how she has worked with local farmers to help kids understand who makes their food and fiber. “Putting the plant into the dirt is such instant gratification, but they also love planting the seeds in the dirt and waiting for it to sprout. It’s just so much fun watching their reactions when they pull a vegetable out of the dirt.”

[29:00] Laura Butler, Owner & Educator, Imagination Island
Laura operates an in-home early childhood center in Milton, VT, and has been a CACFP participant for over 29 years. Gardening with her kids quickly took root with the families. “Families are now growing gardens and we’re swapping foods. I have one dad that is really good at growing squash, so he grows the squash for us. We have a salad garden, and it produces so much more than what we need to eat in a week—it is actually feeding all of the six families, too.” Laura is a longtime Shelburne Farms collaborator and professional learning participant.

[39:47] Melanie Tran, Farm to Early Childhood Education Specialist & Registered Dietician, Michigan’s Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities
10 Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids and Farms is working to bring more local, nutritious foods to Michigan children, which reached approximately 590,000 children in SY2022-23. This reimbursement program supports local purchasing, and can offer additional funds on top of CACFP. Melanie shares how the program gained traction and the difference it is making.

Original webinar date: January 9, 2024. Download the slide deck.

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The Power of Food to Connect Across Cultures

Sarah — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 14:47:40 +0000

The Power of Food to Connect Across Cultures Sarah Wed, 11/08/2023 - 09:47

The Janet Munt Family Room Supports Young Learners & Families

Momos & Samosas!

On the day before the Family Supper, the bustling kitchen of the Janet Munt Family Room is filled with the enticing aroma of spices and freshly prepared dishes. Parents, community members, and staff work side by side, crafting traditional momos and samosas, while laughter, conversations, and storytelling in various languages create a vibrant atmosphere. The children, supervised and engaged by attentive staff, explore the gardens and participate in outdoor activities, as they share in the anticipation of the upcoming celebration. This year's preparations are extra special, as a local family has generously donated a goat to be shared and savored by all.

As the day of the Family Supper arrives, excitement is in the air. Families gather at the picturesque Ethan Allen Homestead, laden with their homemade dishes, ready to share their culinary heritage with the community. A long, inviting food line forms, as everyone eagerly awaits the chance to sample the myriad of flavors from around the world. The festive atmosphere is amplified by the rhythmic sounds of live music, the sweet scent of freshly pressed cider, and the smiling faces of old friends and new acquaintances mingling together. As the evening unfolds, the party carries on into the night, a heartfelt testament to the power of food, culture, and community in bringing people together.

The community gathers for the Family Supper at Ethan Allen Homestead, a chance to sample the myriad of flavors from around the world. Photo courtesy Janet Munt Family Room.

A Community Resource for All Ages

The Janet Munt Family Room is a parent-child center located in Burlington offering a range of services to families with young children, such as early care, playgroups, parent support and education, home visits, and community development.

Many of the center's programs involve farm to early childhood activities, including the Family Play at the Gardens program, which provides care and activities for children, gardening support and workshops for adults, and access to shared or individual garden plots for the season. To ensure accessibility for all families, transportation and meals are also provided. These community garden programs provide families with control over their own food production, promoting food sovereignty and building strong networks of mutual support. English classes or tutors are also sometimes available, which enables families to learn gardening, food, and cooking vocabulary in a real-life context. This immersive approach can improve fluency and engagement in language learning.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Family Room stepped up to support families in need by delivering locally sourced and gleaned food to over 150 families per week. This service has since transformed into an on-site pantry to increase food security within the community. It offers a wider range of produce and farm shares, including culturally relevant items like green amaranth, bitter melon, and African eggplant. The pantry offerings were informed by research conducted during the food box distribution, which identified items that were meaningful to New Americans and reminded them of home. These specialty vegetables are now grown by Digger’s Mirth and Intervale Community Farm.

Through partnerships with Feeding Chittenden, the Vermont Land Trust, and the Vermont Food Bank, the Family Room has been able to provide families with a unique resource: a goat certificate that allows them to have a goat slaughtered in a culturally relevant way for religious or cultural festivals. These goats are raised at Pine Island Community Farm by a Bhutanese family who came to Vermont as refugees in 2009.

Outdoor activities keep everyone engaged during the Family Supper, including the opportunity to press apples for cider. Photo courtesy Janet Munt Family Room.

The Secret Ingredient

The Janet Munt Family Room has a secret ingredient that makes its programs truly exceptional: a deep understanding of the importance of food in sustaining health, community, and culture. Through its farm to early childhood initiatives, the Family Room provides families with access to culturally relevant foods, which fosters a sense of belonging and helps to sustain the unique cultural practices of New American families. The Family Supper and other food-related events promote intercultural exchange and celebration, bringing families from all backgrounds together to share in the joy of food in a community where all can feel supported, valued, and empowered. By recognizing the power of food to connect people across cultures, the Family Room is building a stronger, more resilient community that authentically celebrates diversity and helps all families to thrive.

Janet Munt Family Room

Take Your Next Step

Are you an early educator looking to connect your students with hands-on learning opportunities about food, farming, and nutrition? Visit the Vermont Farm to School & Early Childhood Network's website to learn more!

Learn more

The Association of State Public Health Nutritionists' Farm to ECE grantee programs are supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as one of several projects funded by cooperative agreement number NU38OT000279 (total of $6,320,000). This resource was supported by ASPHN's Farm to ECE grantee program, which is funded by the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO)/ National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)/CDC/HHS. The contents of this resource are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by DNPAO/NCCDPHP/CDC/HHS, or the U.S. government.

For Educators

Early Childhood

Farm to School

Sharing a Love of Food to Foster Community

Laura Butler's commitment to building community among her families and children is a central theme of her farm to early childhood program.

Growing Farm to Early Childhood Programs

Educators Jed Norris and Cynthia Greene share about their work supporting educators in bringing food, health, and agriculture learning into early childhood classrooms.

The Joy & Lessons of Butter Making

June is National Dairy Month, and we’re sharing a new how-to video showing one of our favorite activities: making butter!

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November 8, 2023

Letting Go of the Recipe: Hands-On Cooking with Kids

Sarah — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 12:35:17 +0000

Letting Go of the Recipe: Hands-On Cooking with Kids Sarah Mon, 08/14/2023 - 08:35

Video by Andrea Estey

For kids, cooking is all about the senses: feeling the sticky squish of dough between their fingers, sniffing the sweet aroma of fresh-torn basil leaf, or keeping an ear out for the gloopy sounds that signal cream is solidifying to butter.

Precise measurements, times, and temperatures… not quite as exciting. If you’re cooking with a classroom (or home kitchen) full of young kids, it’s best to have a flexible recipe that’s up for some twists and turns.

And those are just the kind of “recipes” educators Hannah Corbin and Jed Norris shared with participants in Cultivating Joy & Wonder, our annual professional learning workshop for early childhood educators. On a rainy summer day in the Market Garden, the group harvested what was ripe in the fields and hoop houses, and, along with some basic pantry items and camp cooking equipment, they had all they needed to make a feast.

“Kids are so much more open to trying new foods if they see how it is made,” shares Oklahoma-based kindergarten teacher and 2023 workshop participant Jo Anna Perdue.

Back in Oklahoma, Jo Anna Perdue's students learn about the full food cycle as they cook in the classroom during "Foodie Fridays" and tend to the school compost program. Photos by Jo Anna Perdue.

“When you’re cooking with kids, especially younger kids, the goal isn’t to create elaborate dishes,” shares Educator Jed Norris. “It’s more about encouraging them to have fun eating vegetables—chopping, grating, smushing, charring—using cooking as an opportunity to experiment, and giving them a chance to be brave and safely try new things.”

Not Exactly Recipes

Consider these good starting points—use what you have in your kitchen and garden, make substitutions, and use your senses the whole way through (and a little tasting as you go never hurts).

Sarah Webb

Program participant Joy Emone (Nigeria) cooks up the zucchini fritters until golden brown.
Sarah Webb

The final product, served up to fellow Cultivating Joy & Wonder participants.
Sarah Webb

Program participants Jo Anna Perdue (Oklahoma) and Peju Okungbowa (Nigeria) make butter by hand — a favorite early childhood activity for connecting kids to where their food comes from.

Zucchini Fritters

Ingredients

3-4 medium zucchinis
1 egg
¼ to ½ cup of flour
1 Tbsp cornstarch
Salt and pepper to taste
Sliced herbs of your choice
Olive oil as needed

Method

Shred the zucchini, and add in the egg, flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and herbs.
Once the ingredients are well mixed, form the mixture into patties. You can add olive oil to the mixture or use your hands to make shaping the patties easier.
Heat up more oil in a skillet. Once hot, drop the patties into the pan and fry until golden brown on both sides.

How the educators adapted: They added scallions to the fritter mix and whipped up an herby pesto dip for dunking. Some sautéed squash blossoms were added for good measure.

Sarah Webb

Participants Sam Lyons (Vermont) and MariaSole Kaine (Connecticut) show their culinary creation with ingredients fresh from the field: Eggplant Tapenade over Flatbread.
Sarah Webb

The group cooked over the campfire. Here, eggplant tapenade, berry flatbreads, and popcorn are being prepared to share with everyone.
Sarah Webb

The final product, served up to fellow Cultivating Joy & Wonder participants.

Flatbread

(adapted from a recipe by Buddy Oliver)

Ingredients

1 cup self-rising flour (make by mixing 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder), plus extra flour for dusting
Several pinches of salt (or to taste)
4 Tbsp Greek yogurt

Method

Pour the flour into a bowl, make a well in the middle, then add the yogurt and several pinches of salt. Use clean hands to mix it together, until you have a dough.
Wash and dry your hands, then dust your work surface and hands with flour. Split the dough into equal pieces. Stretch each piece of dough with your hands or roll it out with a rolling pin to about ¼ inch thick.
Put a large nonstick frying pan on medium-high heat.
Once the pan is hot, carefully add the dough pieces to the dry pan and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, or until golden and puffed up. Use tongs to turn the flatbreads over, and cook for the same time on the other side.

How the educators adapted: They created a fire-roasted eggplant tapenade for smearing over the top. Chopped eggplant was wrapped in tinfoil and stuck in the campfire embers to roast. The eggplant was then mixed with garlic, herbs, shallot, onion, and tomato and cooked down in a cast iron pan over the fire. The tapenade was spread over the flatbreads, and sprinkled with edible flowers and chopped basil and drizzled with olive oil.

For Educators

Early Childhood

Farm to School

Recipes

Sharing a Love of Food to Foster Community

Laura Butler's commitment to building community among her families and children is a central theme of her farm to early childhood program.

Growing Farm to Early Childhood Programs

Educators Jed Norris and Cynthia Greene share about their work supporting educators in bringing food, health, and agriculture learning into early childhood classrooms.

Family Activities

Compost Cake - A Project Seasons Activity

We're sharing this favorite activty from our publication, Project Seasons, to dive deeper into the fascinating topic of compost!

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August 14, 2023

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Sharing a Love of Food to Foster Community

Sarah — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 16:49:07 +0000

Sharing a Love of Food to Foster Community Sarah Tue, 08/08/2023 - 12:49

Imagination Island Brings Farm to Early Childhood to Life

Written for the Vermont Farm to School & Early Childhood Network, of which Shelburne Farms is a coordinating partner.

Laura gets kids involved in learning about all aspects of how food gets to the plate, including getting hands-on in the soil and planting squash. Photo by Sarah Webb.

Delivery Day

Every Thursday morning at Laura Butler's early childhood program, children gather by the window, eagerly waiting for a very special delivery. As the clock ticks closer to 10:00AM, they keep a close eye on the driveway, excitedly guessing which vehicle might arrive carrying their weekly farm share from Blue Heron Farm.

The truck arrives! As the bags are unloaded, the kids head outside to greet the farmer. This personal connection to the source of the food we eat is important to Laura, who believes that learning about the whole food system is crucial to the children's education in her program.

Back inside, the kids take turns reaching into the bags to unpack their farm-fresh discoveries. It takes them anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to empty the bag, as they carefully examine and discuss each item, from handfuls of kale to bags of peas, sometimes pausing to look up new foods they haven't seen before. With the help of Blue Heron Farm's shared recipes, the kids have been able to taste new and delicious foods they haven’t experienced before.

1 Minute of Joy: Imagination Island Unboxes Their Local CSA

Digging into Tools & Resources

For over 25 years, Laura Butler has operated her child care center, Imagination Island, from her home in Milton. In 2019, Laura participated in a farm to early childhood professional learning program at Shelburne Farms and immediately recognized the potential to integrate food systems learning into her work and bring her vision of integrated community, family, and meals to life.

Soon thereafter, Laura applied for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) grant from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets. She needed to find a farm to work with, and she was happy to discover that Blue Heron Farm in Grand Isle was already delivering to her neighbor just across the street. Laura describes the CSA as “fantastic”— it even included extra food to send home with families.

Laura and her class developed a close relationship with Blue Heron Farm Farmer and Owner Christine Bourque, and after the grant year was over, Laura continued the CSA membership, adding egg and chicken shares to her order. The weekly deliveries and local foods became a way for Laura, and the families, to deepen the kids’ understanding of the circle of life and how it relates to the foods we eat.

The Imagination Island crew greet Farmer Christine Bourque as she delivers a farm share on a crisp autumn morning. Photo by Sarah Webb.

The Magic of Community

Laura Butler's commitment to building community among her families and children is a central theme of her farm to early childhood program. Her program not only focuses on providing nutritious meals and snacks for the children in her care, but also on sharing the love of food and cooking with their families.

She includes kids in the kitchen and making meals; over the summer they made pickles, stews, and spaghetti sauce. With every culinary creation, each child received a container of food to take home that evening. Laura explains, "We're not only eating the food in the program, we're sharing the recipes and the food with our families."

The learning and sharing continued in the garden, too. Two families with kids in Laura’s program grew extra crops in their home gardens in order to share the bounty. Laura's garden produced heirloom tomatoes and footlong beans, one family grew a salad garden with cherry tomatoes and lettuce, and another grew butternut and Blue Hubbard squash. Laura says, "To me, the lesson for the kids was that we're all growing things. They're helping in my garden. They're helping in their own gardens. And we're sharing, and that's what a community does: share and help support each other."

Sarah Webb

Take Your Next Step

Learn more

For Educators

Early Childhood

Education Impact

Farm to School

The Joy & Lessons of Butter Making

June is National Dairy Month, and we’re sharing a new how-to video showing one of our favorite activities: making butter!

Growing Farm to Early Childhood Programs

Educators Jed Norris and Cynthia Greene share about their work supporting educators in bringing food, health, and agriculture learning into early childhood classrooms.

The Power of Food to Connect Across Cultures

The Janet Munt Family Room in Burlington has a secret ingredient: a deep understanding of the importance of food in sustaining health, community, and culture.

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August 8, 2023

The Joy & Lessons of Butter Making

Sarah — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 21:46:23 +0000

The Joy & Lessons of Butter Making Sarah Tue, 06/13/2023 - 17:46

June is National Dairy Month, and we’re sharing a new how-to video showing one of our favorite activities: making butter!

Connecting kids to the food they eat—where the ingredients come from, how it is made, and who makes it—helps children understand how we’re all connected, which is fundamental to education for sustainability.

But you don’t have to be in preschool to appreciate the magic of turning cream into butter. At a recent gathering to thank supporters of the farm, we invited people of all ages to pour some cream into a jar, sing a song, shake a jar, and taste butter freshly made by their own hands (most for the first time!).

Educator Susie Marchand teaches guests how to make butter at a recent gathering showcasing the food systems work we do with youth.

“I love to share butter making,” shares Shelburne Farms Educator Susie Marchand, “and so many people don’t know how easy it is. There's something for everyone to connect back to their own learning. For high school students, we’ll often talk about what’s happening to the proteins as we shake the cream, for kindergarteners we’re talking about where milk comes from. But the process is always a little magical, no matter the age.”

For Susie, making food together is an opportunity to connect ourselves back to the land and the impact we have on it. “As an educator, I really want to give people the chance to think about the source of their food,” she explains. “Butter comes from a cow, who is cared for by a farmer. That cow eats grasses grown in the soil, so the farmer’s work is just as much about tending to the soil as it is tending to the animals. If you’re not caring for the land, you’re not going to have delicious butter, cheddar, or ripe summer tomatoes.”

Watch how our educators make butter with early learners, and try the activity in your own home this summer:

Farm to Early Childhood Activities: Butter Making & Compound Butters

This video is one of a three-part series highlighting some of our favorite farm to early childhood (FTEC) classroom activities inspired by our publication for early educators, Cultivating Joy & Wonder. The videos are a project of the Vermont Farm to School & Early Childhood Network, of which we are a member.

More Farm to Early Childhood Activities

Watch the full series on the Vermont Farm to School & Early Childhood Network, including quick pickles, making flatbreads, and more.

Are you an early educator looking to incorporate more place-based learning and farm to school activities into your program? Join us this summer for Cultivating Joy and Wonder, July 10–14.

For Educators

Activities For Students

Early Childhood

Farm to School

Making Butter Activity, and the Power of Food Memories

Food holds a lot of power, and it holds a lot of opportunity for us early childhood educators to help set attitudes for life.

Growing Farm to Early Childhood Programs

Educators Jed Norris and Cynthia Greene share about their work supporting educators in bringing food, health, and agriculture learning into early childhood classrooms.