IAITC 2025-26 Ag Literacy Grants
Learn more about the 2025-26 ag literacy grants from Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom and the IAA Foundation.
Agriculture in the Holidays
Tis the season! Happy Holidays! With December upon us, it's time to celebrate just one more thing we are all thankful for… agriculture! Check out all of these winter- and holiday-themed lessons and resources.
NEW Christmas Trees Facts for Little Reader
Check out our BRAND NEW Christmas Trees Facts for Little Readers resource, perfect for the K-1st graders in your life to learn about Christmas Tree production!
Holiday Farm Bites
Check out our "Farm Bites" related to the holidays: "Christmas Trees," "Pecans," and "Maple" (in honor of Buddy the Elf's four main food groups). Learn about these commodities, how they're grown in Illinois, and even hear from real Illinois farm families.
Recommended Reading
Christmas Reads
"Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree" by Robert Barry
"Christmas Farm" by Mary Lyn Ray
"Christmas Day in the Morning" by Pearl S. Buck
"Pick a Pine Tree" by Patricia Toht
"Carpenter's Gift: A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree" by David Rubel
"Zetta the Poinsettia" by Alma Hammond
"The Legend of the Poinsettia" by Tomie dePaola
Winter Reads
"This Very Tree" by Sean Rubin
"Sleep Tight Farm" by Eugenie Doyl
"Zee Grows a Tree" by Elizabeth Rusch
"It's Winter! (Celebrate the Seasons!)" by Linda Glaser
"Over and Under the Snow" by Kate Messner
"Barn at Night" by Michelle Houts
Author Interview
Watch this brief interview with the author of "Pick a Pine Tree," Patricia Toht. This is one of Illinois Ag in the Classroom's favorite evergreen tree books! Check it out to hear about her holiday traditions, upcoming books, and more!
Poinsettia Lessons
What flower comes to your mind around the winter holidays? Here at IAITC that flower is a poinsettia! We have two poinsettia-themed lessons that have the perfect ag and science connections. In "pH Poinsettia," students will use a poinsettia as an indicator to test the pH of various products that can be found around the house. With "Paper Poinsettia," students will have a hands-on craft that allows students to learn about the parts of a poinsettia.
Evergreen Tree Lessons
The staple of most celebrating houses during the Christmas season is a tree. Check out these lessons that dive deeper in conifer trees (or Evergreens) to learn about the science behind them.
How to Grow a Christmas Tree
Watch this interview with Brian Helmig, a Christmas tree grower from McLean County, Illinois to learn more about how Helmig Tree Farm grows their trees!
Still looking for the perfect gift?
Check out more of our 'ag-accurate' book recommendations to keep your students' interest sparked all year long!
Rows of Resources: Corn and Soybean Activities
Thanks to April showers aplenty this year, most Illinois farmers will spend the first part of this month planting rows and rows of Illinois' top agriculture commodities: corn and soybeans, and we will follow suit by sharing rows and rows of our favorite corn and soybean resources!
STEM and Inquiry in Agriculture
Fun, hands-on activities to get students thinking and problem solving by carrying out STEM and inquiry challenges with connections to agriculture.