Inside Danielle Harbin’s Mission to Connect Idaho Kids With Agriculture
For Danielle Harbin, the future of farming begins with teaching the next generation where their food comes from.
In a state where potatoes, wheat, dairy, sugar beets, barley and more than 180 agricultural commodities help define Idaho’s economy and identity, Danielle believes we need to ask an important question: What happens when the next generation no longer understands agriculture?
Her answer is the Wonder Box—a hands-on agricultural STEM experience designed to introduce children to farming, food, science and the people behind it. Filled with activities that encourage kids to plant, explore and discover, the Wonder Box is Danielle’s way of putting agriculture directly into the hands of the next generation.
“We live it authentically,” Danielle says. “My husband works out in the fields on a tractor, spreading fertilizer for our farmers. I work in marketing at Lamb Weston, marketing potatoes. Agriculture is part of our everyday life.”
A Life Rooted in Idaho Agriculture
For Danielle, agriculture isn’t a trend. It is the fabric of who she is.
That passion became even stronger during her years working in agriculture at the J.R. Simplot Company, where she worked with fertilizers, potatoes and farmers. It was there that she began having conversations with aging farmers that left a lasting impression.
“I got a lot of hands-on experience with aging farmers, and that really made a huge impact on me,” she says.
She heard about rising costs, the challenges of growing crops in Idaho’s desert climate and, perhaps most concerning, what would happen when the next generation didn’t want to take over.
“I’d talk to them about the challenges they’re facing—whether it be financially, growing things in the desert, or children and grandchildren that don’t want to take over the farm anymore,” she says.
Those conversations convinced Danielle that preserving agriculture begins long before someone chooses farming as a career. Children first have to understand it.
The Classroom Moment That Changed Everything
That realization hit home during a career day at Eagle Middle School.
Danielle brought a squash, a zucchini and a slideshow into an eighth-grade classroom to talk about agricultural engineering and careers in agriculture.
Then she held up the vegetables.
“These eighth graders had no clue what they were,” she recalls.
The moment stopped her. How could children not recognize these foods?
Danielle began visiting schools to introduce students to agriculture—from biology and chemistry to engineering, soil science, crop production and the journey from farm to table. She also started a Women’s Agricultural Group while at Simplot.
Eventually, she decided to create something children could experience for themselves. With four children of her own, Danielle wanted agriculture to feel less like a lesson and more like an adventure.
Turning Agriculture Into a Hands-On STEM Experience
The result was the Wonder Box.
Designed for classrooms and families, the boxes might include a mystery vegetable to plant, soil, a germination journal, an Idaho insect activity or other hands-on agricultural projects. Children grow, observe and discover rather than simply read about agriculture.
“You give them a journal and a little magnifying glass, and they can go check it every day,” Danielle says. “It’s something they can see happening, and they have to water it and take care of it.”
The experience combines agriculture and STEM education while helping children understand that food doesn’t simply appear on a grocery store shelf. There is science, work, weather, soil and an entire agricultural community behind it.
At the center of the experience is Wally the Wonder Cow, a lovable mascot created with help from Danielle’s husband.
Danielle envisions Wally eventually appearing in children’s books and interactive learning tools that teach everything from potatoes to irrigation.
From an Idea to a Growing Family Business
What began as an idea two and a half years ago has become a growing family business.
Danielle’s children help test activities and assemble boxes at home.
“It’s been surreal for something to become an idea two and a half years ago, and now it is a tangible product that I’m holding, selling and making a difference with,” she says.
Her roots in agriculture run deep. Danielle grew up on a dairy farm in South Carolina founded by her great-grandparents in the 1970s. Her family grew much of the food they ate.
“We grew everything that we ate,” she says. “Every dinner that we had, we picked it and we grew it.”
Today, she hopes Idaho children can experience even a small piece of that connection.
Planting Seeds for Idaho’s Agricultural Future
In a rapidly growing Idaho, where neighborhoods continue replacing open fields, Danielle believes keeping agriculture visible has never been more important.
Because the future of farming isn’t determined only by today’s farmers. It’s shaped by the children who will someday decide whether Idaho’s agricultural legacy continues.
And Danielle hopes that legacy begins with something simple: a handful of soil, a tiny seed and the curiosity to watch something grow.
Visit WonderBoxFarming.com to learn more about Wonder Box and its hands-on agricultural learning experiences for kids.
