A Childhood Growing Up in the Fields: An Urban Child's Farm Learning Journey

In the bustling cities of skyscrapers and traffic, children's daily lives are often spent in classrooms, cram schools, and screens. Nature seems distant, soil a nuisance, and insects a formidable threat. Yet, every bite of food comes from the soil, and every changing season is inextricably linked to nature. If our children cannot experience these most authentic processes firsthand, how can they learn to cherish and understand life? The "Nature Play - Be a Little Farmer" program for children was born with this in mind—to allow children to step out of their urban confines, personally work in the fields, experience the hard work of farmers, feel the warmth of the earth, and, in the process, rediscover their own connection with nature.

The "Be a Little Farmer" program at Nature Play has been running since 2017. The curriculum consists of six progressive, hands-on sessions, guiding children through tilling the soil, sowing seeds, watering, fertilizing, nurturing seedlings, weeding, harvesting, and sharing. This process not only incorporates the practicalities of farming but also carries deeper meaning in science and education, allowing children to transform textbook knowledge into tangible experiences and observations in a real-world setting. While learning to turn the soil, children are often amazed at the rich ecological world hidden within: earthworms burrowing, soil particles changing state depending on moisture—details that are truly life-like natural science lessons. We hope that children will not only learn about natural science on the farm, but also appreciate the important values of patience and responsibility in nature, helping them grow.

The farm offers a different scene depending on the season. In spring, butterfly breeding season, the children discovered that caterpillars were easily found on the farm. In just one morning, the young farmers were able to find butterflies, eggs, caterpillars, and pupae, witnessing the entire butterfly life cycle firsthand. In summer, our young farmers encountered many small animals: grasshoppers, stink bugs, tadpoles with legs and tails, small snails, and even earthworms slithering beneath the soil. The young farmers learned how to find earthworm tracks in the mud. Handling these small animals up close and personal for the first time was both exciting and thrilling for both children and adults.

Every experience on the farm is a challenge to the city kids' lifestyles. They put down their usual video games for a small watering can, learning how to ensure adequate water for their crops. When weeds take up nutrients, they bend down and physically pull them out. Only then do they understand that "labor" isn't just a forgone arduous task, but a necessary sacrifice that yields results. These experiences teach the children firsthand that nothing in life is free; every reward is the product of hard work and dedication.

For urban children, farm learning offers a crucial window connecting the real world and future education. Free from the pressure of grades and exams, children rediscover the joy of learning amidst laughter and sweat. Collaborating with their peers on the farm, they learn communication, mutual assistance, and division of labor—social skills that will be valued in a future society. Farming also requires patience and perseverance, qualities that can only be truly experienced through the process of personally planting and waiting for crops to mature. Farmland doesn't yield immediate results, but children learn to take responsibility and manage expectations—a profound experience unmatched by video games or fast-food culture.

For the future, farm learning is a form of life development. When children understand that food comes from the soil and experience the hard work of growing food, they will be more grateful for every meal and less likely to waste it. When they witness the unpredictable nature of weather, pests and diseases, they will also learn to adapt and flexibly adjust. This reverence for nature and the ability to adapt will subtly shape their resilience and confidence in facing future challenges.

"Be a Little Farmer" offers more than just a farm trip; it's an enlightenment about nature, education, life, and the future. It reminds us that even in the city, we must never forget our connection to the land, for it nurtures us, shapes us, and influences how we approach the world of tomorrow. Allowing children to experience the true warmth of the land from a young age, learning to cherish it, to be grateful, to give, and to wait, is perhaps the most precious wisdom we can impart to the next generation.

*Nature Play reserves the right to change the program content without prior notice. The growth of crops in the self-picking activity may be affected by weather. If the growth of crops is not ideal, other crops will be arranged for self-picking.

For more information on nature play activities, please visit the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/natureplayinthecity
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Nature play allows children to learn through play, guiding spontaneous learning and fully activating their creativity, social development, motor development, cognitive and sensory abilities! For enquiries and registration, please email natureplayhk@gmail.com or call 9883 9423.
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