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- to teach them how food grows
- to provide our house with healthy, local produce
- to springboard discussions on good nutrition
- to make connections with community members and
- to teach them about the world
A garden truly is bursting with teaching potential, it is up to us as parents and teachers to harvest it.
At the Educators’ Spin On it this month, we are hosting a special Kids in the Garden; Learning and Growing celebration. Top writers and garden enthusiasts are sharing their tips and activities for gardening with kids. In addition to getting started topics, we also have articles on bringing math, science, reading, and global learning to the garden.
My goal this year as a parent is to include more global learning into our everyday activities. This year with the garden we have:
1. Researched the history of heirloom vegetables and tried to plant a variety of species from different countries. The golden sweet snowpea for example was collected from a market in India. We would find India on the map and discuss how seeds have been passed down from generation to generation and have floated by ship or traveled by plane to arrive here in the U.S.A. where we live.
2. Visited our local community garden. This is an amazing place to see a community work together for a common goal. Many cultural connection exist here too as every family has a unique heritage with different cultural dishes they prepare for their families. Their gardens tend to reflect these difference (and similarities) and it is fun to talk to other gardeners about what they will be making with their harvest.
3. Planted THEMED gardens. Many of you have seen the “pizza garden,” or a “butterfly garden.” We planted a “German Potato Salad garden with chives, onions, dill, radishes, and potatoes. The kids and I made a garden marker with a map of Germany and a flag. Every morning, while watering, my 4 year old talks about his German Potato Salad. Because of this minor addition to our garden bed, he is now interested in learning more about Germany, can identify the flag, and find the country on the map of the world. Not bad for a 4 year old.
I strong encourage you to use your garden to its fullest potential.
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Latest posts by Amanda Boyarshinov (see all)
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I really enjoyed reading this and hope that our own son will grow up to enjoy the garden and growing plants. He’s almost a year old, so it’s a bit early yet. We’ve tried to introduce him to our chickens and he’s starting to show a bit more interest in them.
Such great ideas – I love your German potato salad garden! Learning the history of heirloom vegetables could be a jumping point for so many varied discussions – environment, immigration, culture…I have some research to do!
I love your German Potato Salad garden!! What a terrific idea and especially including the map and flag in your garden.
Love the German Potato Salad too! Brilliant idea, especially that this kind of salad is part of our diet. 🙂
Very cool!!! I loved the idea of a themed garden- what about a Mexican salsa garden?? So cool!
Love this idea – multiculturalism outdoors and with muddy fingers!
What a wonderful post! I would love to incorporate this into our school garden…am sending the link to our Garden Coordinator! Thanks for sharing!