Discover Dairy’s Adopt a Cow program has been “love at first moo” for classrooms across the globe this school year! This February, join us for a fun contest to help share the love for your adopted calf. Use the poll below to vote for the most kissable calf by clicking on one of the photos. At the end of February, we will announce the winner of the “most kissable calf” contest, and the winning calf and her host family will receive a calf care package! Share this page to spread the word and encourage others to follow along.

Calves are listed alphabetically, so make sure you scroll to see all 84 of them!

If you’re feeling the love for this program and want to ensure more teachers can participate next year at no cost, consider making a small donation this February at www.discoverdairy.com/donate.

Free Valentines From the Adopt a Cow Program

For some added fun, we have free valentines designed with your adopted calf’s name and photo! Click here to access the valentine. Enter your cow code, and click on “More” to see the valentine.

We also have digital versions of the valentines that you can personalize with your own message. Click here to view and customize them using our valentine templates.

Important Notes and Helpful Tips:

• After clicking on the link to view the customizable template, you will have to create a free Canva account. Canva is a free graphic design tool. Once you create or log in to your account, you can access the valentine templates, customize them to your liking, and download them as photos or PDFs for your students!
• If you run into issues using the template, contact Canva’s help team or utilize their FAQs. The Discover Dairy team does not manage this graphic design tool.
• If you would prefer to download and print a valentine that is already pre-designed with your adopted calf’s name and photo, click here to access that. Enter your cow code, and click on “More” to see the valentine.

With long, hot summer days stretching ahead of us, these dairy-themed activities will keep your kids active this summer and introduce them to dairy farming in creative, hands-on ways. From outdoor planters and bird feeders for your yard to homemade popsicle and ice cream recipes, we hope these activities bring some creativity and fun to your summer adventures. Don’t forget to tag Discover Dairy on social media to share your dairy-themed summer fun with us!

1. Make Milk Jug Planters for Your Garden

Recycled milk jugs make the perfect planter for your favorite summer flowers. Help your child pick out the flower of their choice, and prepare the milk jug to be filled with soil and placed in your garden or outside your home. You can get extra creative and use paint to decorate the milk jug with cow spots!

(Source: Crafty Nest)

2. Use Yogurt Cups to Start Seedlings

One of the best parts about summer is enjoying the sunshine and nature around us. Gardening is a great way for kids of all ages to explore the world around thm. After enjoying your favorite yogurt, clean it out and use it as a mini planter to plant seedlings for your child’s favorite vegetable or plant. Watch it grow together throughout the summer. You can also make connections to dairy farming by explaining how farmers plant seeds each spring to grow different crops, like corn and alfalfa, for their cows to eat.

(Source: Simple Joy)

3. Cool Off With Ice Cream in a Bag

On those hot summer days, there’s nothing better than a cold ice cream cone. With just a few simple ingredients – including whole milk, rock salt, ice, sugar, and vanilla extract – you can make fresh, homemade ice cream in a gallon size bag. Don’t forget to buy milk from your local dairy farms to include in the ice cream!

(Source: American Dairy Association Indiana)

4. Make Your Own ‘Milk the Cow’ Activity

If you can’t visit a local dairy farm, you can get crafty with this “milk the cow” activity.  Mix a little bit of white paint with water and pour it into a clear latex glove, closing it off with a rubber band. Consider drawing some cow spots on the glove, and then poke tiny holes in the “udders.” This is a fun activity to do outside so you don’t make a mess! This activity is also a hands-on way to demonstrate milking a cow, although most dairy farms across the United States use technology, including robotic milking systems, to milk their cows.

(Source: Mrs. Plemons Kindergarten)

5. Visit a Local Farm

Many dairy farms host family-friendly events during the summer months with hand-crafted ice cream, opportunities to meet baby calves, hayrides, farm tours, and more! Consider taking a day trip with your children to visit a dairy farm in your community. If you live in Pennsylvania, click here to view a list of family-friendly dairy events happening in June and July.

6. Paint with Nature

Want to combine art class with outdoor play? Find a cool spot in the shade and bring a stack of paper and different shades of paint. Encourage your kids to find items in the yard and garden to paint with, so they can get creative with texture and strokes. To make connections to dairy farms in your community, you can add items that you might find on the farm – such as corn cobs and husks – that kids can roll in paint and make intricate designs.

(Source: Hands On As We Grow)

7. Make Homemade Popsicles

If you’re looking for a nutritious popsicle recipe, this one features fresh strawberries, raspberries and vanilla yogurt – one of kids’ favorite dairy products! Visit your local farmer’s market to get the fresh fruit of your choice. You can make this recipe at home using disposable cups and popsicle sticks and freeze them to enjoy on a hot day!

(Source: Savor Recipes)

8. Create Your Own Milk Jug Bird Feeder

Whether your kids seem to enjoy math and science, or art and creativity, this summer project is the best of both worlds. After finishing the gallon of milk in your fridge, upcycle it and use it to create a bird feeder. Cut small holes into the sides of the milk jug, and then slide wooden twigs through from one hole to the other to serve as perches. After decorating the feeder with paint and sequins to help attract birds, fill it with seed and hang it on display in your backyard.

(Source: Little House Living)

9. Design Your Own Rain Gauge

When it comes to growing crops and harvesting them to feed their cows, dairy farmers are impacted daily by the weather and rainfall. You can make these connections with your kids by designing your own rain gauge at home. Using a plastic bottle or empty milk jug, cut off the top and draw marks to help measure how much it rains. Make sure to add some rocks to the bottom to help it stay in place.

(Source: The Lady Birds’ Adventures)

 10. Make Pretzel Stick Cow Pops

If you’re looking for a yummy summer treat or a favor for a farm-themed party, these cow pretzel pops are sure to be a hit! Dip each pretzel rod into melted chocolate and use modeling chocolate to make spots, eyes, and other cow features.

(Source: Hungry Happenings)

When Sandy Mayer, a volunteer at Kensington Park Senior Living in South Kensington, Maryland, heard about Discover Dairy’s Adopt a Cow program, she initially sent it to her friend who was an elementary teacher. However, she then began to wonder if groups other than students could enjoy the program – the residents at Kensington Park Senior Living being the ones on her mind.

Sandy shared the program with Kyoko Marrone, the Kensington Club Coordinator and activity director, who loved the idea and thought it would be an exciting program for their residents.

The Kensington Club is a unique club with members who are in a stage between assisted living and memory care. The 12 residents in the club range from having mild and cognitive memory loss issues to early Alzheimer’s. The club allows them to receive more individual attention and to have more activities throughout the day.

When the club began participating in the Adopt a Cow program, they were in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Kyoko and Sandy liked to take the residents on outings twice a week to nature centers and museums in Washington D.C. When COVID-19 hit, they had to rely on virtual programs, such as Adopt a Cow, to engage with their residents instead.

“I think it just changed the direction of how Kyoko thought about the activities,” Sandy said. “She started organizing more virtual trips, programs, and even made a vegetable garden for the residents.”

Before the residents found out they would be adopting a calf, Kyoko shared a virtual farm tour with them to build their excitement. This sparked one of the residents with memory loss to recall a piece of her childhood.

“When they saw the virtual farm tour, she started talking about how she used to grow up on a farm. So, it was really good for her to deeply connect to her memory. She gave us a great lecture about the farm and how she took care of the animals every day,” Kyoko shared.

A few weeks before the announcement of their calf arrived, Sandy and Kyoko started hinting towards the residents about what was to come. For Halloween, Sandy even came to the facility dressed in a cow costume!

For the next few weeks prior to seeing their calf, they also did weekly trivia about farmers and the dairy industry. After Sara, the calf they adopted was announced, Sandy created adoption certificates for each of the residents. One of the residents was so excited she hung her certificate on her bedroom door.

Over the next few months, Sandy and Kyoko planned fun activities to keep their residents intrigued with Sara, their calf, and the dairy industry.

Kyoko made a large chart that monitored Sara’s height and weight as she grew. She also plans to make a fun cow visor craft in the summer.

“This is the bridge between assisted living and memory care living,” Sandy added. “To get that spark in residents, it was a fun time to be with them and to get them involved in something they are so excited about.”

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Discover Dairy’s Adopt a Cow program gives students and families a firsthand look at dairy farming. For the 2020-21 school year, more than 70,000 classrooms and homes signed up for the program, impacting more than 1.5 million students across the nation.

Discover Dairy is an educational series managed by the Center for Dairy Excellence Foundation of Pennsylvania in partnership with American Dairy Association North East, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Midwest Dairy, and The Dairy Alliance.

Learn more about how you can support this program.