Community enhancement and educating the public about the contributions of agriculture are two of the cornerstones of Kent County Farm Bureau’s mission—rarely do they come together in such a playful way as in the Wonder Workshop at the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum (GRCM).
We are proud to sponsor the activities for the GRCM Rapid River Farm exhibit. Kent County land hosts a wide variety of agriculture, including urban, suburban, and rural farms; muck farms in the south that grow vegetables; the Fruit Ridge in the north with apples and cherries and all kinds of tree fruits; dairy farms; corn and grain farms; beef, pork, and chicken operations; honey and maple syrup all over; and greenhouses that provide us with all kinds of floriculture. Not to mention apple packing, turkey processing, and flour milling. Farm Bureau members include farmers of every commodity, every size of operation; new farmers, veteran farmers, century farms. We want to make sure that Kent County children know where their food, fuel, fiber, and floriculture come from—because it’s often from their neighbors.
We are excited to partner with the Children’s Museum to bring that breadth of local agriculture to hundreds of child and adult visitors.
On Tuesday, February 11 a team of Board of Directors members and Farm Bureau members met the team from the Children’s Museum, took a tour of the facilities, and got to try out some of the apple-themed activities. Well, we mostly ate applesauce and watched the children make prints out of apple halves, cut apples with safety knives, and check out the compost and sensory bins.
Programming specialists Lacey Ahmed and Sarah Butler have designed fantastic activities based on the agriculture that happens in Kent County. County Board President Bruce Klamer and Promotion and Education Committee Chair Annie Link met with the GRCM team in January to share their knowledge and perspective as people in production agriculture, and the Museum team put together a program that teaches children about ag and exercises their motor skills and creativity. Here is what visitors can expect while the Rapid River Farm exhibit is up:
Explore apples from core to compost (2/4 & 2/11) – Use kid-friendly kitchen tools and magnifying glasses to explore the parts of an apple, try apple stamping, help make and taste homemade applesauce with locally grown Michigan apples, and play in an apple farm sensory bin.- Washing & MOO-ving Cows (2/18 & 2/25) – Scrub the cows clean, churn butter with dairy from Michigan cows, and *MOOOve* the cows to their habitat in a sensory bin.
- POPcorn (3/4 & 3/11) – Roll corn in paint to make prints, use magnifying glasses to examine corn kernels, pop Michigan-grown corn while learning the science behind it, and dig into a corn sensory bin!
- Soil Science (3/18 & 3/25) – Plant Michigan-grown crops, examine different types of soil under a microscope, and get messy exploring the properties of muck in a gooey oobleck sensory bin.
- Pollinators at Work (4/1) – Discover the important role of pollinators through a sensory bin, observe real caterpillars as they transform, and learn how Michigan’s crops depend on these tiny workers.
Once the ground thaws, Bruce Klamer will be scouring the county for different kinds of soils for the late-March soil science unit—he’ll get the muck from his own operation, but if he comes knocking with a shovel and a bucket, know it’s for a good cause.
Through this sponsorship KCFB will receive free tickets and be able to rent the museum for an evening event. Members, watch your email or mailbox for more information as it becomes available!
Thank you to GRCM Chief Development Officer Natalie Hall and CEO Maggie Leonard for being a joy to work with. As Bruce said a number of times, “We’re building something good here.”