Preschoolers
For the 2026-27 school year, our preschool program will be offered 4 times a year. Our preschool program is designed for 3- and 4-year-olds. These visits include a tour of the farm to see what is growing, a tasting of food from the field, a craft that reflects our mini lesson (depending upon the month, our mini lessons present concepts like insects, roots, seeds, pollination, etc.) and an opportunity to share prepared vegetables in a salad or garden “taco”. We will enroll 20 students each session on a first come, first served basis. Families or schools can sign up through emailing Miss Hickory directly, with the names and ages of the learners in your group. Our preschool session typically lasts a little over an hour. The cost is $5 per learner.
Sign up at misshickory@agritopiafarm.com
Please note that we don’t have the space or resources to accommodate families as chaperones, only the enrolled 3- or 4-year-olds can attend. Farmhands staff includes a team of educators who will support and assist learners during their visit with us
Kinder-6th Graders
Our core program is for elementary aged children, kinder through 6 th grade. These visits include a tour of the farm, a tasting of food from the field, an art project framed in some aspect of the farm or the season. We learn about growing food through gardening activities of either planting or harvesting. We learn how to use the planting guide for Maricopa County. Together, we prepare and enjoy a delicious snack using farm food. We work best with up to 60 same age/grade students but can accommodate grade combinations as well. Our time together is about 2 ½ hours, and we invite school groups to bring their lunches and stay to eat in the garden after our activities. The cost is $5 per learner.
Middle and High Schoolers
Our program for older students is framed in career exploration, specifically, Culinary Arts programs and Early Childhood Education classes. We start each visit with a tour or the farm and a Q and A session with our lead farmer, who offers career insights from her experience in business and in farming, and all the aspects her job entails. Next, we move into exploring the garden to include sampling fresh vegetables and digging for worms! The second part of the visit is differentiated by interests; culinary arts students work with James Johnston and Gloria Mazzola in creating a meal using fresh farm food, and they work with Miss Hickory in preparing a “take away” food sample from the garden. Students enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program will expand upon their exploration of the garden by creating an outdoor lesson for their preschoolers We will provide the framework for the lesson, plus the materials for the high school students to make an example of craft the preschoolers can do that reflects some aspect of whimsy in the garden! With Miss Gloria, students will prepare a snack with fresh garden and farm food as an example for a fun snack their preschoolers would enjoy. Ultimately, we would like the teachers to return to Farmhands with the preschoolers to teach one of the lessons they created
Seasonal camps
Home Schoolers
This year, we will offer our core program to elementary aged children, kinder through 6th grade four times: Friday October 17, Friday November 21, Friday February 13, and Friday April 17. These visits include a tour of the farm, a tasting of food from the field, an art project framed in some aspect of the farm or the season. We learn about growing food through “gardening” activities of either planting or harvesting. We learn how to use the planting guide for Maricopa County. Together, we prepare and enjoy a delicious snack using farm food.
Our time together is 2 hours, and we invite families to bring their lunches and stay to eat in the garden after our activities. The cost is $5 per learner.
To secure your student’s spot, please email Miss Hickory directly at misshickory@agritopiafarm.com with the names and ages of your learners and the date(s) you would like to attend (choose from the four listed above).
5$ payment is made via credit card in the Farm Store at the time of your visit.
Official, established Homeschool Co-ops serving kinder through 6th grade, with a guaranteed minimum of 15 students (max of 25) will sign up via the website.
BEFORE YOU SIGN UP:
Please note that we don’t have the space or resources to accommodate families as chaperones, so enrolled students will be dropped off to learn with our Farmhands staff that includes a team of educators who will support and assist learners during their visit with us.
Victory Garden
specific to 5th grade, 8th grade, Seniors, or FFA groups
These lessons are aligned with social study curriculum that includes US history. Generally, these lessons cover two days. For the introduction to Victory Gardens, Miss Hickory visits the classroom on the school campus. This hour lesson sets the stage for the subsequent lesson out at Agritopia farm. In class, students learn about “propaganda” posters and how the United States government promoted family and community gardens in an effort to feed the world during the two world wars. The following day at the farm, student learning is reinforced by hands on activities Americans used to grow their own food, while farmers grew food to be sent to Europe.
Activities include planting and harvesting, preparing and preserving vegetables, seed saving, and conservation of resources. For the classroom visit we address one class at a time. And for the farm visit we can accommodate up to 60 learners at a time. At the farm our time together is about 2 ½ hours and we invite groups to bring their lunches and stay to eat in the garden after our activities. There is no charge for the classroom visit, and the farm visit is $5 per learner.
The Victory Garden lesson is a passion project for us, we share this important part of US history in such a way that students feel pride and empowerment to be an American. People are: generous, united in task, practical in calling, and accountable to self through conservation and preservation of food!