Agri-tainment Defined

Kids playing in Corn Box at Pinter's Pumpkin Patch

Agri-tainment is a relatively new buzz word being used to describe the rising trend of combining entertainment with agricultural experience. By now, you’ve likely heard of “farm to table”dinners, which are dining events involving food harvested and cooked right from a garden or farm. Events such as these provide those who partake in them with an opportunity to get closer to the food they consume. It’s great for adults to get out and experience farm developments and form a deeper understanding of our current agricultural state, but it’s especially important for children to be involved in these events, too.

The current generation of children in America, on average, spends an ever-increasing amount of time in front of screens. This New York Times article offers more information on this trend. Because of this increase in screen time, it is becoming more and more important to get our kiddos out the door to enjoy and experience nature. Children benefit from being outside in a number of major ways:

  1. Cognition: The great outdoors is a learning platform. Children can learn survival skills like building fires and understanding which plants are edible and which are not. Learning to grow your own food is an incredibly rewarding process for anyone and will teach children a deeper respect for the food they have.
  2. Skills: Playing outdoors develops motor skills. Children are impressionable; physically and mentally. Being confined to the world within a screen does a poor job of teaching gross and fine motor skills necessary for interactions within the real world. Outdoor activities develop gross motor skills such as running, jumping, and throwing, while also honing fine motor skills with tasks like planting seeds and picking vegetables and flowers.
  3. Health: You might not think it, but sterile environments can actually be bad for your child’s immune system! Our bodies build up immunity based on the germs we come in contact with. Immune systems become stronger with each little battle they face. Children must come in contact with some dirt and grit so that their bodies have a chance to develop a strong immune system.

Pinter’s believes deeply in the importance of getting to know our food and the land it grows from. With so many reasons to get your kids away from that screen and let them get a little messy, why not come visit us at Pinter’s for some great outdoor fun? Visit our Pumpkin Patch, where your kids can learn how their favorite Halloween decorations grow and choose their own to carve. Wander through our Corn Maze, catch a ride on the haywagon, jump on our giant bouncing pillow, visit our farm animals, and so much more! Turn off those computers, tablets, and TVs, and come visit us at Pinter’s for a family “agri-tainment” experience you won’t forget!