Take your little ones to fun on the farm this summer with the Maryland Agricultural Resource Council's Farm Sprouts Preschool Program.
If you're looking to get your child away from the TV or out from under the iPad, the Maryland Agricultural Resource Council (MARC) has created a program specifically for children to teach them about nature and different aspects of farm life. Their Preschool Farm Sprouts program is geared towards kids 5 and under and features a one-hour session on two Fridays per month, from April through November. For 2019, each program day contains two sessions, to keep class sizes small and to better accommodate different schedules, I'd imagine.
Session A is from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., and Session B is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. They encourage you to pack a lunch and stay afterward to "enjoy and explore the Farm Park." According to their website, each class features "a different farm or nature topic each week," "experiential investigation and learning," and "movement, stories, & arts and crafts." Parents are free of charge, while children over the age of nine months are $8. With taxes and fees, it comes to a little less than $10 per child.
Courtesy of Facebook
I took my own son to their April "Welcome to the Farm: Hay vs Straw," and we had a blast. After learning about the differences between hay and straw, we listened to a story, had a snack, attempted some crafts, jumped on a toy cow, crawled through a maze, and played some games. Tickets do sell out fast, and we, unfortunately, missed their Tractor session in June, but are hoping to catch another one this summer or fall.
The rest of the year's lineup includes:
July
7/26: Chickens and Ducks
August
8/23: Sunflowers
8/30: Ponies
September
9/13: Grains
9/27: Goats
October
10/11: Sheep
10/25: Pumpkins
November
11/1: Alpacas
11/15: Turkey
This bi-monthly event is held at the Baltimore County Ag-Center at 1114 Shawan Road, Cockeysville, MD 21030. The gorgeous 150-acre farm is open from sunrise to sunset and features forests, fields, and trails. Due to the popularity of this event, walk-ins are not accepted, so be sure to purchase your tickets ahead of time! Find out more information here.
Have you taken your little one to Farm Sprouts before? If so, what did you think? Let us know in the comments!
