At-Home Activities: Gardening and Agriculture

We have created sensory-friendly at-home activities related to gardening and agriculture that will keep your family engaged and learning beyond our sensory-friendly programming. These resources have connections to The Henry Ford, as well as a variety of related activities. They can be used at any time and in any combination. Please email accessibility@thehenryford.org with any questions or suggestions.

• What kinds of foods do you like to eat? Do you ever wonder where they came from?
• Can you imagine how your favorite food grows? What makes you curious?
• How do farms work and why are they important?
• How do you think the tractor changed the way we get our favorite foods?

• Preface this activity with the question: “What tools help farmers grow our favorite foods?” Refer back to the video that you watched about tractors being a revolutionary tool in agriculture.
• For this craft, you will cut out shapes that make up the word “Tool,” which your child can construct into a tractor.
• This activity allows practice for word recognition as well as shape organization.

• Choose a vegetable or a herb that is relatively easy to grow. One possibility is basil, as it grows quickly and does not require much maintenance, but also has a fragrant aroma that stimulates our senses.
• Here are some other foods that are easy to grow indoors
• During this process, encourage your child to think back to what they learned about tractors. Though they may not need tractors inside, what are some other tools they may need to grow their plant?
• This activity is also a way for your child to practice patience in watching their plant grow as well as responsibility in taking care of their plant.
• Celebrate when the plant has grown and you can use it in your own food.

Here are some places in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village that you can visit to learn more about gardening and agriculture:

Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

Agriculture (Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation: Agriculture and the Environment)

Greenfield Village

Firestone Farm
Cider Mill
Soybean Lab Agriculture Gallery
Dr. Howard’s Office and Garden
Cotswold Cottage
Garden of the Leavened Heart
Daggett Farmhouse
George Washington Carver Cabin
Luther Burbank Garden Office and Garden
Mattox Family Home
Susquehanna Plantation