Farm kids
Agricultural learning center for children unveiled
How does that carton of milk or bag of carrots get to a grocery store near you?
Back
That's one mystery more than 1,000 Brainerd lakes area young children, their parents and other chaperones solved last week as they got a sneak preview of Kid's Kountry, a mobile interactive agricultural learning center that will become a permanent attraction at the Crow Wing County Fair in August.
Kid's Kountry was on display May 8-10 during the annual farm tours at the Brainerd Community Ag Center, formerly known as the Brainerd High School farm. It's a $40,000 exhibit owned by the Crow Wing County Fair with support from Brainerd FFA and Education, Agriculture and Technology, or the nonprofit EAT organization, and many other sponsors who have provided funds for the project.
Anna Carper, 2, Baxter, collected plastic eggs at the Kid's Kountry exhibit Thursday at the Brainerd Community Ag Center in Brainerd. Carper joined several other children enrolled in Brainerd Early Childhood Family Education classes for a farm tour and to visit to Kid's Kountry, a new mobile interactive agricultural learning center. Brainerd Dispatch/Nels Norquist
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
The exhibit, geared mostly for children ages 3-10, provides a hands-on learning experience, allowing children to become farmers who eventually may purchase homegrown produce at a grocery store. Children are given an apron and a bushel basket and are invited to visit 10 learning stations. They scoop corn from a grain bin to feed the "animals" they encounter along the way. They learn how to milk a mannequin cow, collecting a small milk carton in their bucket after they feed the cow. They also collect a plastic apple from the apple orchard, an egg from plastic chickens and are able to feel how soft sheep's wool is when they feed the pretend sheep in the sheep barn, collecting a small bag of wool. They also plant and harvest plastic carrots and other produce by pulling them from the ground, placing them in their baskets to take to the marketplace.
The children are invited to ride pedal tractors around a small track, hauling a straw bale as a real farmer would do.
Eventually the young farmers end up at the market, where they separate their goods they've produced in different collection sites, earning a pretend dollar bill. This bill is then used to purchase real produce and other wholesome snacks at the grocery store.
The idea for Kid's Kountry originated from Bonnie Hillman and Gwen Pierzinski, EAT members also active at the Crow Wing County Fair. A similar children's exhibit, Little Farmhands, is a popular feature at the Minnesota State Fair. The county fair board received a $1,000 donation to be used for children at the fair, which spurred the idea into action, said Hillman.
"We thought it would be great to show how the food gets to the grocery store," Hillman explained.
Chad Edelman, a Brainerd ninth-grader and FFA member, gave 3-year-old Reed Boeckermann of Baxter a push on a farm tractor at the Kid's Kountry exhibit Thursday during the Brainerd Community Ag Center's farm tours. Brainerd Dispatch/Nels Norquist
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
While not all of the small portable buildings that will make up Kid's Kountry are completed yet, they will be ready in time for the EAT fundraising picnic June 29 at the fairgrounds, said Hillman.
BHS FFA members gave farm tours to the young children, as well as operated Kid's Kountry.
"They really like it," Molly Thesing, a BHS junior and a FFA member who helped coordinate Kid's Kountry, said of the young visitors. "Their favorite part is milking cows and plucking carrots. It should be a big hit at the county fair."
Hillman said many children don't realize how their food makes it to their homes. Several children asked where chocolate milk comes from as they milked the pretend cow. The pedal tractors also were very popular, said Hillman.
Children who visited the Brainerd Community Ag Center included kindergartners from Brainerd, Pequot Lakes and Staples, as well as children from area day cares, preschools and Early Childhood Family Education classes, along with parents who individually took their children to the farm. FFA members also gave tours of the barn, allowing children to see baby farm animals and they gave a puppet show about animal safety.
"It's been a really big success," Denise Reeser, BHS agriculture instructor and FFA adviser, said of Kid's Kountry. "It's been awesome."
Max Holmstrom, 2, Baxter, played the role of a farmer, harvesting plastic carrots at Kid's Kountry, a mobile interactive agricultural learning center on display Thursday during preschool farm tours at the Brainerd Community Ag Center. Kid's Kountry will make its official debut at the Crow Wing County Fair in August. Brainerd Dispatch/Nels Norquist
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
Reeser said FFA members also enjoyed helping the young children as they explored Kid's Kountry and the farm. FFA members and other volunteers will operate Kid's Kountry at the county fair in August, which will be a free event.
Reeser said Kid's Kountry is also available for community events, since the exhibit buildings are portable, much like a fish house. While grants and other partnerships have helped pay for the expensive exhibit, there is still a need for additional sponsors. For $2,500, an individual, group or business may sponsor a "barn" or building in the learning center.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.