Access to age-appropriate, culturally relevant resources is at the heart of a successful farm to school program. Lesson plans, a bedrock for implementing farm to school, build the capacity of administrators, educators, nutrition professionals, and other school-based staff to implement farm-to-school in their setting.
Over the past two decades, Growing Minds has developed hands-on, engaging farm to school activities and lessons that incorporate state and national curriculum to ensure that the objectives of these activities are aligned with the academic requirements of educators. Teachers are currently using these plans throughout Southern Appalachia and beyond.
Browse lesson plans by grade level or take a look at our Local Food in Schools materials to find lesson plans, recipes, books, and other resources for each month of the school year.
Lesson Plans by Grade Level
Early Care and Education (ECE)
Exploring local food and farms with your young learners doesn’t have to be challenging! Our ECE lesson plans are an easy way to build connections between the outdoor environment and the classroom while introducing children to new fruits and vegetables.
Curriculum alignment (NC Foundations for Early Learning and Development) for all ECE lesson plans.
ECE Lesson Plans – Our lesson plans provide students with opportunities to learn about seasonal foods through hands-on activities, inquiry, and exploration.
“I Tried Local…” Lesson Plans and Resources – gives ECE through 2nd grade educators tools to connect kids with how food is grown and the farmers in their communities who grow it.
Reach for the Stars – This resource was created to help child care centers and family child care homes integrate farm to preschool activities into their curriculum while simultaneously addressing the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, revised edition (ECERS-R) and Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale, revised edition (ITERS-R).
K-2 Primary School
Curriculum alignment (Common Core State Standards & NC Essential Standards) for all K-2 lesson plans.
Recipe Lesson Plans – Kid tested and teacher approved recipes for each month of the school year. These lesson plans include full step-by-step instructions for cooking in the classroom and include literature connections and other activities to complete the lesson.
Garden Lesson Plans – School gardens provide students of all ages with opportunities for hands-on learning activities. Our garden lesson plans provide a framework for outdoor exploration regardless of the color of your thumb.
Food and Farm Lesson Plans – Our lesson plans provide students with opportunities to learn about seasonal foods and local farms while meeting Common Core and NC Essential Standards.
“I Tried Local…” Lesson Plans and Resources – gives ECE through 2nd grade educators tools to connect kids with how food is grown and the farmers in their communities who grow it.
3-5 Primary School
3-5 Grade Lesson Plans – Students explore the science of food with these inquiry-based lesson plans. Each lesson plan includes student worksheets and literature connections.
Middle and High School
For middle and high school grades farm to school lends itself to looking at a broader view of agriculture. It often includes topics such as industrial vs. small scale food systems, public health, environmental impacts of agriculture, and food equity issues.
Growing Minds @ Community College
North Carolina is creating a model for integrating farm to ECE into community college curriculum. By incorporating farm to ECE into your curriculum, your students will enter their careers equipped with the knowledge and skills to impact children and families through local food and farm to ECE activities.
#GoOpenNC
Growing Minds lesson plans are also available on #GoOpenNC, North Carolina’s open educational resources platform! Teachers can explore a rich database of standards-aligned resources on the site—searchable by keyword, subject, grade level, and NC Standard Course of Study. With the addition of Growing Minds lessons, educators now have access to high-quality, farm to school content designed to engage students across multiple subjects. Each lesson includes curriculum connections and links to helpful external resources to bring real-world learning into your classroom.