Stardew Valley Designer: Your First Farm!

Materials Needed

• Large sheet of paper (or several pieces taped together)
• Pencils, crayons, markers, or colored pencils
• A simple worksheet you can create (or just use a blank piece of paper) for the math portion
• Optional: Stardew Valley music playing softly in the background for inspiration
• Optional: Grid paper for easier farm layout planning

Subject Areas

• Science (Life Science/Biology)
• Mathematics (Addition, Subtraction, Basic Economics)
• Language Arts (Descriptive Writing)
• Art and Design (Planning, Drawing)

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:

• Identify the three basic needs of a plant (sunlight, water, soil) and incorporate them into a farm design.
• Use simple addition to calculate the potential profit from selling different crops.
• Draw a creative and organized plan for a farm.
• Write 2-3 descriptive sentences about their farm, using adjectives.

Lesson Activities

Part 1: The Farm Planner (Introduction & Science) - 15 minutes

1. Engage with a Chat: Start by asking fun questions about Stardew Valley. "What is your favorite season in the game? What are the best crops to grow? What does every farm need to be successful?" Guide the conversation towards what plants need to live.
2. Connect to Science: Explain, "Just like in the game, real plants need three very important things to grow: sunlight, water, and good soil. In the game, you use a watering can and the sun shines every day. Where will you get water on your farm? Will your crops be out in the open to get sun?"
3. Design Time: Give the student the large sheet of paper. Announce that they are the new farmer in town, and their first job is to design their dream farm! Instruct them to draw their farmhouse, and then plan where they will put their first crops. They must include:
   • A place for soil (garden plots or fields).
   • A source of water (a well, a pond, or a river nearby).
   • Open space for sunlight (not hiding the crops behind a big building or mountain).
4. Add Details: Encourage creativity! They can add paths, fences, a scarecrow, a chest to store items, or a spot for a future barn.

Part 2: Farmer's Market Math (Application & Math) - 15 minutes

1. Set up the "Shop": Create a simple "price list" on a piece of paper for some easy Stardew Valley crops. This is a great time to practice simple numbers.

   Example Price List:

   • Parsnip: Sells for 5 gold
   • Potato: Sells for 10 gold
   • Cauliflower: Sells for 20 gold
2. Plant the Crops: Ask the student to look at their farm drawing and decide what to plant. Have them draw 3 parsnips, 2 potatoes, and 1 cauliflower in their garden plots.
3. Do the Math: Guide them through calculating their total earnings. You can write it out like a word problem:
   • "If you sell 3 parsnips, how much gold do you get? (5 + 5 + 5 = ?)"
   • "If you sell 2 potatoes, how much gold do you get? (10 + 10 = ?)"
   • "How much for the 1 cauliflower? (20)"
   • "Now, let's add it ALL together to see your total profit for the day! (15 + 20 + 20 = ?)"
   Work through the problems together, encouraging the student to write down the numbers and find the solution.

Part 3: My Farm Story (Creativity & Language Arts) - 10 minutes

1. Writing Prompt: Now that the farm is designed and the first profits are counted, it's time to bring it to life! Ask the student to write a few sentences describing their new farm on the bottom of their drawing or on a separate piece of paper.
2. Use Good Words: Encourage the use of describing words (adjectives). Instead of "I have a farm," suggest "I have a beautiful, sunny farm." Instead of "I grew potatoes," try "I grew big, bumpy potatoes."
3. Example Sentence Starters:
   • "My farm is named..."
   • "My favorite part is the..."
   • "I grow yummy crops like..."

Part 4: Farm Showcase (Conclusion & Assessment) - 5 minutes

1. Show and Tell: Ask the student to present their farm to you. They can point out all the features, explain what crops they chose and why, and read their farm story aloud.
2. Celebrate Success: Praise their creativity, their smart math skills, and their wonderful design. You can hang their farm plan on the wall or fridge as a "certificate" of their hard work.

Assessment

• Science Objective: Observe the final farm drawing. Does it contain a clear source of water, soil for planting, and open space for sun?
• Math Objective: Review the Farmer's Market Math worksheet. Was the student able to correctly add the prices of the crops with guidance?
• Art/Language Arts Objectives: Look at the farm design and read the written description. Is the plan creative and organized? Does the description include at least two descriptive words?

Extensions and Modifications

• For Extra Support:
  • Provide a farm template with a house and some empty plots already drawn.
  • Use physical items like beans or blocks to represent the "gold" for the math problems, allowing the student to count them physically.
  • Provide the sentence starters for the writing portion and have the student fill in the blanks.
• For an Extra Challenge:
  • Introduce the concept of "seed cost." For example, a potato seed costs 2 gold, and the potato sells for 10 gold. What is the actual profit? (10 - 2 = 8 gold).
  • Ask the student to plan a larger farm with animal buildings, calculating the cost to build a barn or coop.
  • Have the student write a longer story about their "First Day on the Farm," including what they did from morning until night.