Gardening with Children

Garden Options 

Multiple types of gardens may work in your program. Choose the option(s) that best fits your climate, space, and expertise. Below are definitions of three types of gardens. 

• In-Ground: a traditional method of growing plants directly in the soil, typically outdoors. 
• Raised Bed: an elevated box that is relatively small and filled with enough soil to support plants without using the soil underneath the box. 
• Container: growing plants in containers (e.g., pots, planters, baskets, boxes, barrels) rather than in the ground. They can be grown in limited spaces and various locations (e.g., patios, balconies, windowsills). 

If you are unsure where to begin and which type of garden will work in your program, start small with a container garden. Plants grown in containers are easy to maintain, have fewer weeds, are mobile, and are easy to harvest. 

Garden Costs 

To help with costs, you may use CACFP funds to pay for gardening supplies such as seeds, fertilizer, watering cans, plot rental, gardening tools, rakes, and other items as long as the produce grown is used as part of the CACFP meal or for nutrition education activities. 

Benefits of Gardening 

Gardening can be a great learning opportunity for children and adults! Planting a garden allows children to witness how food grows and where it originates. It is fun to see how planted seeds grow into fruits and vegetables. Children learn to make the connection between the foods they see in the grocery store or on their plates and what is in a garden. 

Growing your own food provides opportunities to teach lessons about agriculture and nutrition. It also has many other benefits: 

• Enhances access to fresh fruits and vegetables  
• Encourages children to eat the fruits and vegetables they’ve grown  
• Leads to cost savings from eating homegrown produce  
• Increases time spent outdoors and in nature  
• Promotes physical activity through gardening tasks like watering plants, weeding, and digging  
• Boosts self-confidence through the process of growing and caring for food 

Gardening Activities 

Helping children discover where food comes from—how it looks, tastes, feels, sounds, smells, and even changes—opens their minds to various food choices. Incorporating food and food related activities into nutrition education in the garden and classroom helps children develop a positive relationship with food and nutrition. 

In the Garden 

Let children take ownership of the garden. Give them tasks so they feel connected and take pride in their work. 

• Physical Activity: Gardening is a great way to get exercise and allows children to sharpen gross and fine motor skills. 
• Gross motor (large muscle) skills: pushing a wheelbarrow, digging, bending down to weed or pick plants, watering plants, raking soil, and moving plant containers.  
• Fine motor (small muscle) skills: planting seeds, picking up worms, pulling weeds, and plucking ripe produce. 
• Exploring in the Garden: Give children the opportunity to explore the wonders of the garden. They can search for worms, insects, and weeds. They can also inspect the parts of the vegetable, like the stem, root, and flower, as well as the color, texture, shape, smell, and size.  
• Sensory Exploration: Encourage children to use all senses in the garden, touch and feel leaves, smell the produce, listen to nature, taste the harvested and washed produce, and note the various colors. 

In the Classroom 

Engage children in classroom learning about gardening to help increase their interest in healthy foods. 

• Taste Testing: Encourage children to taste the “fruits” of their labor and come up with sensory words to describe them. Have children rate the garden harvest based on visual appeal, smell, taste, and texture. To rate foods, use the USDA resource, Try-Day Taste Testing Ballot.  
• Arts and Crafts: While discussing the garden delights, ask children to show their creativity through different art projects. Color or paint pictures of fruits and vegetables in the garden or glue parts of the vegetables (leaves, stems, flowers) onto cardboard.  
• Reading: Read garden-themed books or story books about fruits and vegetables. Here are some ideas: 
  • Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert  
  • Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlerthi  
  • Rainbow Stew by Cathryn Falwell  
  • Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens  
  • The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle 

 

For more information, read ICN’s July Mealtime Memo.