Time: About 45 minutes
Big Idea: Everything we use every day—our food, clothes, toys, and tools—comes from somewhere. But where? This fun game will help you learn if things come from farms or from natural resources (like rocks, water, or oil). Surprise: Almost nothing starts in a store or factory!
What you’ll need:
- ~20-30 pictures of everyday things (cut from magazines or printed from online): food, clothes, phones, cars, ect.
- 2 colors of index cords or paper to glue the pictures on (one color for each team, if playing with teams)
- Glue or tape
- 4 containers or baskets labeled: “Store”, “Factory”, “Farm”, and “Natural Resource”
Essential Vocabulary:
- Agriculture – Growing food and raising animals on a farm
- Natural Resource – Something that comes from nature (water, trees, oil, rocks, ect.)
- Source – Where something starts or comes from
- Mineral – A natural substance found in the earth (salt, iron, gold, ect.)
Activity Instructions:
- Divide into at least 2 teams
- Spread out the pictures face down on the floor or table
- Place your 4 labeled containers across the room
- Take turns running to pick up a picture and decide which container it goes in (where did the product originally come from?):
- Farm (Did it start on a farm?)
- Natural Resource (Is it made from oil, metal, or trees?)
- Factory (Was it made in a factory, but not from a factory?)
- Store (Is this where you buy it, not where it came from?)
- Run back and tag the next person
- Once all pictures are sorted, go through them together and talk about the right answers!
Discussion Topics:
- What surprised you the most?
- Did you put anything in the wrong container? Why?
- What are some things that come from both farms and natural resources?
Activity originally created by National Ag in the Classroom
