The Gardening Project
Phase I ~ Introduction
We started with open ended questions to our children. (Preschool to Kindergarten age.)
What do you know about gardening? Does your family grow a garden? What do you like best grown from a garden? What do you want to learn about gardening?
Experience Stories ~ Children will create journal of their gardening experiences from the being to the end with stories and pictures. One each for Spring, Summer and Fall
The children voted on what they want to grow. They voted on green beans, broccoli, sweet potatoes and strawberries.
Earth Worms ~ One boy brought in some earth worms he had found in the dirt. “Yes, that is important in gardening because it promote good soil for vegetables and fruit to grow!” (This built up his self-esteem with his input for our gardening project…just a little plus.. :)
Parent involvement ~ When we discussed our gardening project with parents, we had parents who wanted to volunteer. We had a parent who said he had a neglected strawberry patch that needed a little TLC. (His patch was near the school.) Also they volunteered to donate posts and wires for the pole beans.)
Activities ~ As the project develops, the teachers apply inspiring activities to promote this project in their lesson plans.
Social/Emotional ~Taking votes of what to grow. We used a graph to demonstrate how voting works. Children will create a map to where the plants will be planted.
Science project ~ The children will put a lima bean in a small piece of paper towel, then moisten the towel with water and wrap it around the seed. Place it in a sandwich size plastic bag and staple it to a wall that has good lighting.
Art ~ Vegetable and fruit prints. Cut vegetables and fruits crosswise. Provide trays with tempera paints and large pieces of paper for children to experiment with the different impressions the prints make.
Story ~ The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
Fieldtrip ~ Neighborhood walk to the neglected strawberry patch. The children learn about weeds and how they must be pulled out in order for plants to survive.
Gross Motor ~ Have the children crawl through tunnels as if they were a worm. Children pull weeds from between the plants in the strawberry patch.
Cognitive ~ Learn what is the difference between a weed and a plant. Sorting fruits and vegetables with photos or real fruits and vegetables.
Vocabulary Words ~ seed, stem, leaves, roots, blossoms, weeds, earth worms, rotor till, garden plant placement (mapping) and the difference between fruits and vegetables.
Phase II ~ Spring planting (visiting experts)
We will plan a fieldtrip to a local nursery to help plan our garden. They will give us information about what to grow in our area. With the children voting of what they wanted to grow, let’s see if it’s a good idea or not.
Fieldtrip to the Greenhouse ~ We advised the gardener of our choices. She went forth with our choices and said the children made excellent choices. (Big green thumbs up) We purchased pole green bean starts, broccoli and sweet potatoes. Since the father that volunteers his well established strawberry patch, we decided to adopt his neglected strawberry patch as our fruit.
Volunteer gardeners ~ One father said he would rotortil the garden space. Then they placed the posts and wires for the children to grow their pole beans. They provided hoes and other tools to help the children to put their plants in place. (With a little prompting from the children, the volunteers followed their planning map they had made prior.) He made ditches for the broccoli and sweet potatoes to be planted.
Activities ~ As the project develops, the teachers apply inspiring activities to promote this project in their lesson plans.
Social/Emotional ~ Working with your group. Green bean group, adopted strawberry patch group, sweet potatoes hills group, the forest of broccoli trees group and Johnny Appleseed’s tree group.
Science project ~ Put a sweet potato in a clear container and place it in a window. Teachers will bring the potato to their attention as the potato begins to sprout, showing spider like roots and later leaves. This is a great large group activity.
Art ~ Children will create their own person/animal/monster…wherever their creative minds take them to on the side of an empty Styrofoam cup. After filling their cup with soil, they will place grass seed in the cup and cover it with soil, then water. After a few days in a well lighted window, the grass will grow long enough that they can give their creation a hair cut!
Story ~ “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carlson
Fieldtrip ~ Walking to a local yard with our Johnny Appleseed tree and taking pictures of the blossoms for our spring journal. Walking to check on the adopted strawberry patch.
Cognitive ~ How does weather temperatures effect the germination of our seeds and how plants grow.
Gross Motor/Fine Motor ~ Children will place green bean starts in rows by the poles and wire. Dig mounds for the sweet potatoes and broccoli.
For a small group activity, show them how to put a lima bean in a wet paper towel, and then place in a plastic sandwich bag (marked with their name). Staple it to a wall that is well lighted and they will see how the germinating process work in producing a plant from a seed.
Cooking project ~ Washing and cutting fresh broccoli. (Talk about how it looks like little trees.) Served later with their lunch and a dip. (Ranch dressing is the favorite.)
Music ~ “Popcorn popping on my apple tree” (meaning the blossoms) by unknown
Vocabulary words ~ Weather, frost, full moon, temperatures, sunlight, soil, fertilizer, irrigation, germinating, parts of the plant, (roots, stem, leaves and blossoms).
Phase III ~ Summer months
The green beans will have sprouted and the runners have grown long enough, that the green bean group will learn how to help, in order to produce a crop. The broccoli is still growing. Johnny Appleseed group is taking pictures of the progress of the tree and writing experience story of what has happened in the spring months compared to now.
Parent Involment ~ Make a list of volunteers that are going to come to water and weed garden while school is out. Make a check off chart for what needs to be done and name of helpers.
Activities ~
Social/Emotional ~ When the weather gets warm. The irrigation group will need to kick in and volunteers need to be on top of the weeding that’s needs to be done. Also learning to be watchful of any bug problems or leaf feeders and hungry rabbits.
Fine/Gross Motor ~ Children will be picking and snapping green beans, as well as picking ripe fruit from the strawberry patch.
Cooking project ~ After washing snapped green beans. Beans will be cooked in a crock pot and ate with their lunch.
Cognitive ~ Freezing and canning process. Children will learn how food is prepared for storage. Math concepts (factions) snapping the bean in halves, thirds and fourths.
Science project ~ ladybug kit. The children will watch how a ladybug hatches and why it is so helpful to roses.
Music/literacy ~ The hopping song and little bunny foo foo.
Book, “The Giant Strawberry” by Meiko S. Patton
Fieldtrip ~ The children will visit the adopted strawberry patch with containers and pick the ripe strawberries and have fresh strawberries for snack. Another planned activity is to walk to the local apple tree for their summer journal.
Vocabulary ~ Insects, aphides, grasshopper, ladybugs, beetles, earwigs, leaf feeders, ripe, irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides, and organic.
Phase IV ~ Fall months
This time of the growing season the green beans have stopped producing as well as the strawberries. Children will be focused on their broccoli and apple harvest.
Activities ~
Fieldtrip ~ Walking to the local apple tree, pick up apples and take pictures. Walk to adopted strawberries patch and cover with fallen leaves for mulch and protection during dormancy.
Gross/Fine Motor ~ Picking up apples, raking leaves, pulling up bean stocks.
Cognitive ~ Children will learn about how the plants and trees will go into a stage called dormancy during the colder months
Science ~ After harvesting broccoli, children will place broccoli in a large bowl of salt water. When they come back to check on the broccoli, they see small green worms floating on surface, especially if the broccoli has been grown organically. Asked questions about what just happened.
How did the worms get on the plants?
Why couldn’t we see them?
Is the broccoli safe to eat?
Are these good worms like the earthworm?
Cooking project ~ Apple Pizza
Take a ½ piece of English muffin spread with softened butter then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Place thinly sliced apples on muffin and sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese on top. Place in oven at 375˚ for 15 mins. It is a great afternoon snack!
Music/literacy ~ Song, Johnny Appleseed.
“Little Bear’s Star” (it’s about a little bears goes through an adventurous hunt his mother had sent him on. He had to solve this riddle). “Go out and find a house that is red all over, has no windows, has no doors, has a a chimney on top and a star in the middle”. Through his journey he wonders in a apple orchard to solve this riddle. He found a worm chewing on a big red apple. It was a house for the worm. It was red all over. It had no windows or doors. The stem on the top of the apple resembled a chimney and if you slice the apple crossways through the middle, you will discover a star shaped design in the center around the seeds. The children are always so impressed.
This story was made up. I used several animals that the little bear would talk to, to help him solve the riddle. He talked with a pig, frog, mouse, etc. Finally the wise owl suggested that he talked with the worm in the apple orchard. You could use puppets or flannel pictures and use as a flannel story.
Book ~ “The Giving Tree”, by Shel Silverstein
Art ~ Apple prints
Put tempera paint in shallow trays. Provide apples that have been cut crosswise down the middle. Children dip apple in paint, then press onto paper. You can see the star shape! It is so cool.
Vocabulary ~ harvest, riddle, mulch, and the four seasons Spring, Summer, Fall and why we don’t grow things in the Winter, especially if you live in Eastern Oregon.
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