Edible Garden
Vision
Our vision for Canada is… exposing young children to healthy food and how they are growth, as well as providing lower income families a chance to have fresh produce.
Action
We have been growing an edible garden in our school to expose young children to where their food comes from, healthy food choices and how to be a good citizen to the environment. Grade ones are helping pre schoolers to clean, plant and tend for the garden, building their leadership skills. The garden is open to the entire school to use as a flex space to learn, explore and relax in.
Reflection & Celebration
It isn’t easy planting a garden in Alberta when the weather will not cooperate! We got a late start in planting the garden. We decided to use bedding plants to ensure students would see an end product. The garden will be tended to over the summer and families in the area requiring food can be contacted if they would like fresh produce. Our students learned so much about where their food comes from, and they are eating it right out of the garden, helping them make better food choices at home.
Links
Check out some of our progress updates on Twitter:
Taking learning outside will always be a powerful experience! When
little learners find themselves in spaces that are beautiful, soothing, full of wonder & discovery, they feel intrigued, respected, & eager to spend their days living & learning in this place! #ecsdfaithinspires https://t.co/cqBl954b62— ECSD Early Learning (@ECSD_earlylearn) June 11, 2018
Our garden is ready to harvest! We went outside to see our plants and ended up having a little munch! The lettuce, kale, dill, tomatoes and mint were there for the children to try. We will make salads, kale chips and mint lemonade on Monday. This is as local as food gets! pic.twitter.com/JBHNk4aESV
— Miss Cregan (@MissCreganClass) June 15, 2018
I missed our little garden friends when I was away sick! Look at how beautifully our space is shaping up! Taking care of our garden teaches responsibility, citizenship and care for creation. It’s also great sensory work and gives us new vocabulary! pic.twitter.com/pz0wY4aybA
— Miss Cregan (@MissCreganClass) June 9, 2018
Our garden keeps on delivering new things to try! Our morning class has been very diligent in watering our plants. In the afternoon, we began to make fairies for our fairy gardens (we will cont. with both classes tomorrow). Also, our butterflies came out!! pic.twitter.com/d3NvljTT0c
— Miss Cregan (@MissCreganClass) May 28, 2018
Are you discovering some dirt on the child’s clothes? We have been going to our garden to play and explore! We’ve been planting the garden with Mrs Barton’s grade ones.we exploration spots for water, dirt digging, ramps, music and art! Keep dressing them to be able to get messy! pic.twitter.com/Uap5m65YE9
— Miss Cregan (@MissCreganClass) May 24, 2018
We spent a great morning with our friends in grade 1 planting our garden! We will have tons of veggies to try soon. We learned all about plants and how they grow! We also extended our bug exploration into our sensory bins. So much science and learning going on through play! pic.twitter.com/VxeIb6OR8e
— Miss Cregan (@MissCreganClass) May 19, 2018