Here’s a question that all ag teachers want the answer to: how can food education can be made into Pump-kin fun and engaging for kids? (Sorry for the pun(kin), we gourd-n’t resist 🎃). Anyway…
We’ve nailed the answer to this.
Firstly, imagine yourself as a ten-year-old at school — you’re bored out of your little restless mind, wielding a wooden graphite pencil to apathetically fight your way through archaic worksheets on how Cucurbita moschatas are good for your health, or something like that.
The worst part is that you’re not even learning! Your brain is too overwhelmed by the fog of boredom to even benefit from the dullness.
Then suddenly, in a major plot twist, your teacher exclaims — “Alrighty class, forget the worksheets. Let’s all hop on a plane right now and travel across the country to visit a real life pumpkin farm!”
Your jaw drops. You and your class buddies excitedly rush out the door. You have the adventure of a lifetime during school hours, and the teacher praises you for it!
Sounds a lot like a dream, doesn’t it?
Well for kids who visited the Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tour Bus at the Sydney Royal Easter Show 2024, the ‘dream’ became a reality!
Through creating ‘Pumpkins VR’, a Virtual Reality experience that transports kids to a real operational Pumpkin farm, Think Digital Studios and Woolworths made food education fun and engaging for kids.
“It’s so great because you can feel it; almost touch it, and it’s encouraging families to live healthy lives.”
Throughout the Sydney Easter Show, students, families, and kids hopped on board the VR digital coach and were transported to a Pumpkin farm and sorting facility to learn all about how pumpkins are planted, grown and harvested!
Outside of the bus, kids were delighted to be able to grow their own food using AR technology. This hands-on visual learning approach was excellent at engaging students, helped them to retain learning, and contributed towards making food education fun and engaging for kids.
Kids were star stuck when the star of the Pumpkins VR experience, Gary the Pumpkin farmer from Rinaland, visited the VR bus with his family. Gary even got to experience watching himself in Virtual Reality for the first time!
In an age where technology is an integral part of daily life, integrating AR and VR into education provides a powerful tool to engage young minds of the future.
The Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tour Bus at the Sydney Easter Show 2024 not only educates but also inspires children to think about the origins of their food and the importance of agriculture.
By bridging the gap between urban and rural, digital and physical, Think Digital and Woolworths are paving the way for a new era of agricultural education. This initiative highlights the potential of AR and VR to transform learning and create lasting impressions on the next generation.
To learn more about how Think Digital can help you to integrate AR & VR to make food education fun and engaging for kids, contact us.