New Peanut Program for Kids

Randall Weiseman Alabama, Field Crops, Florida, Georgia, Industry News Release, Peanuts

perfetcly-powerful-peanutThe National Peanut Board, along with Alabama Peanut Producers, Florida Peanut Producers, Georgia Peanut Commission and others, have partnered with The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture to develop Discover the Powerful Peanut, a set of 12 easy-to-use peanut activity cards for kids. Tyron Spearman has the details.


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ATLANTA – National Peanut Board, along with Georgia Peanut Commission, Florida Peanut Producers, Alabama Peanut Producers Association, Virginia-Carolina Peanut Promotions, Southern Peanut Growers and American Peanut Council have launched a new peanut learning resource geared for students in grades 3-5.

The producer and industry organizations partnered with The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture to develop Discover the Powerful Peanut, a set of 12 easy-to-use peanut activity cards. The learning resource reinforces key peanut messaging, is aligned to National Learning Standards and is available in a digital and print-ready format.

The 15-to-30 minute activities allow students to practice their math skills as they crunch peanut production data and reinforce social science skills as they create maps of key peanut growing regions and explore key events in history influenced by peanuts. They will also dig into science as they explore allergies, the plant lifecycle and nutrition.

The peanut activity cards were developed when representatives in producer and industry organizations saw a need to improve and expand classroom materials in a unified format the entire peanut industry could use.
“After talking with educators, we realized classrooms across the U. S. are changing,” said Cathy Johnson, marketing and communications specialist with National Peanut Board. “Schools are using Internet and digital media in classrooms more and more. We felt it was essential for everyone to have materials that engage today’s students with technology and high-quality graphics.”

In addition to science, math and social science skills, students will also have the opportunity to enhance their English Language Arts skills by reading about peanut farm families on the activity cards. The variety of peanut activities included in the set will not only enhance the classroom but also can be used in after- school programs, volunteer presentations in the school, home school education and key marketing events.

“The peanut activity cards provide a great way for teachers to get their students interested in math, geography and science,” said Julie Tesch, executive director of the American Farm Bureau Foundation. “Incorporating fun food items, like peanuts, into a lesson engages students and makes learning more fun,” she added.
The peanut activity cards are available as a free download at www.nationalpeanutboard.org and www.AgFoundation.org.