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Stimulating Imagination in the Garden

Submitted by RoseJM on Tue, 08/14/2012 - 08:33
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Building Fairy Houses
By: 
Rose Judd-Murray
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 Fairy Houses (The Fairy Houses Series)

 Author: Tracy Kane

 ISBN: 978-0970910458

 

With young children, there are few lazy days of summer. Most days are filled with intense constructive projects from blanket forts to tree houses

With young children, there are few lazy days of summer. Most days are filled with intense constructive projects from blanket forts to tree houses, and from sandcastles to bean teepees. Kids love creating these special spaces.

Kids Grow Green: Cashing in Cabbage

Submitted by sarahp on Wed, 01/30/2013 - 01:07
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By: 
Bonnie Plants

Kids across America are growing, and some are earning, a lot of “green” participating in the National Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program. This year, more than 1.5 million third graders in 48 states have gotten hands-on gardening experience growing colossal cabbages with high hopes to win “best in state” and receive a $1,000 scholarship towards education from Bonnie Plants.

Growing Food

Submitted by sarahp on Mon, 12/03/2012 - 01:10
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By: 
Sarah Pounders
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Download a sample lesson plan, "The Producers," from Growing Food

Ask your students to tell you where our food comes from. Do they respond with a restaurant or a grocery store name? Do they suggest it is made in a factory? What about on a farm? Do any of your students hint about our food supply's connection to nature and our environment?

Planting the Playground

Submitted by sarahp on Sun, 09/30/2012 - 17:09
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By: 
Sarah Pounders and NGA Staff
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Looking for ways to incorporate play into your garden program? Check out the following activity ideas:

Garden Games

Creating a Letterbox

Building a Maze

Transform your school’s playground into a dynamic space that engages students’ imaginations and encourages exploration of nature—add a garden!

All too often, playgrounds are limited to large, hard structures made of metal and plastic placed in a bed of mulch. Without a doubt, kids love their playgrounds and need the physical activity they promote (just think how many kids consider recess their favorite time of the day), but by adding a touch of living green, they have the potential to offer even more benefits.

School Gardens = Natural Playgrounds

Submitted by cynthiad on Mon, 08/13/2012 - 15:07
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By: 
Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff
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Teachers at the K-State Center for Child Development use the produce from the garden to prepare simple dishes with their students. Here’s a recipe for Caprese Salad that is easy to make in a classroom.

Ingredients:

  • Thick slices of a Ripe Tomato (enough for each child to have at least one)
  • An equal number of slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
  • Twice as many leaves of fresh basil
  • A pinch of salt and pepper
  • Olive oil

Make sure everyone washes their hands and the work surface prior to touching the food.

Starting at the edge of a serving platter, place a slice of tomato, a basil leaf, a slice of mozzarella and another basil leaf. Continue in that pattern, forming a spiral from the outside in, until all the ingredients have been arranged. The salad should end in the center of the platter. Drizzle the salad with olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper and salt.

Upon arriving at the Center for Child Development (CCD) on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, visitors quickly recognize the uniqueness of the facility.

Exploring Water — Four Lessons to Teach about the Importance of Water

Submitted by cynthiad on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 15:09
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By: 
NGA Staff

This curriculum unit, developed by the education staff at the National Gardening Association addresses the core specific elements of the water cycle for K-12 students. There are four grade specific lesson plans, but the lessons can easily be adapted to meet the needs of any age classroom. Content in the lessons covers different aspects of the water cycle and applying the principles to activities and inquiry that can be discussed in and out of the school garden.

Disguised Learning

Submitted by cynthiad on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 09:29
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By: 
Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff

According to Karen Hickmott, at Myers Action Institute, disguised learning means “the students have so much fun while learning they do not realize they are strengthening their academic skills.” Through the after-school and summer garden program offered to students in kindergarten through fifth grade, this 2010 grant winning program ha

Planning Pays Off

Submitted by sarahp on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 11:49
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Elementary science teacher Steve Tomsik feels that it is his primary job to get his students into the garden as much as possible because of the great extensions between knowledge and exploration.

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Nutrition Program Highlights

  • The school now maintains a partnership with Wellness in the Schools, an organization that has facilitated a gradual change in lunch meals, and provides chefs and cooking interns who work with cafeteria staff to prepare healthy lunches. The lunch menu now offers freshly prepared meals (including an occasional special lunch of grass-fed beef) with a daily salad bar. They have also held parent-lunch days to show how the lunches have improved.

  • The school sponsors a Harvest Day each year in October to showcase food harvested from the garden. Students enjoy a special lunch (with available garden produce), tasting tables, visits from local farmers, and Garden to School Café programs. Pictures of the Harvest Day can be seen on the school’s website.

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Last updated on 05/25/2013