Cultivating Education: Why And How To Incorporate Gardening Into The Classroom

Joint Base Lewis-McChord Outdoor Classroom (2)

Play Mart is passionate about two things: our children's future and the future of our planet. There's no better way to meld these together than gardening in your school's backyard playground! The act of gardening is a practical way for students to learn, integrate, and apply a breadth of curricular content.

School gardens form the bridge between academics and the real world, making education interactive and meaningful. You can transform your garden into a multidisciplinary teaching tool with careful planning, creativity, and the right resources. Here are a few tips for developing a school gardening program and integrating it seamlessly into your classroom curriculum.

Table of Contents

Gardening Across Subjects

When you think of gardening in the classroom, you may think of planting a bean in elementary school science class. Well, it's time to think outside the styrofoam cup! School gardening can be used to teach all subjects, from math to art and everything in between. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

English & Language Arts (ELA)

There's nothing more relaxing than reading in a quiet outdoor space, but nature and literacy can go even further. Here are a few examples of how to bring literacy to your school yard:

Juniper Journaling

Reading and writing about gardening experiences can make literacy more engaging. Why not encourage students to keep a garden journal to document their observations? They could even write an article for the school newsletter promoting the garden program. From acting out a garden-themed story to designing a garden around a favorite book, students can explore the magic and relevance of literature in the garden setting.

Letters in the Loam

Small children can practice writing letters using a stick or even just their fingers to make letters in the soil. You can provide them with letter cards or instruct them a letter to write, supporting letter recognition as they trace the outlines in the dirt. Watch their faces beam with joy as they successfully write their first letters in the soil!

Nature ABC's

For older children, gardening offers opportunities to practice vocabulary, spelling, and even the art of storytelling. Start with simple garden-related words and move on to more complex terms. An engaging activity could be an alphabet hunt in the garden, finding things that begin with each letter (such as Ant, Bee, and Caterpillar for A, B, and C). If you are ambitious, you could even start an 'alphabet garden' growing plants that start with each letter. (Thank goodness for the Umbrella plant, Xanthorhiza,  and Zinnias!)

Analyzing Labels

Children can also practice reading with plant labels and seed packets. As they learn to recognize and read the plant names, they take a step forward in language development. You can introduce an element of creativity by encouraging them to create their own labels to place in the garden.

Literacy Amongst The Lilies

Reading also goes hand in hand with gardening. There is an abundance of stories related to agriculture, information books about plants and flowers, or simple recipe books about harvested produce. All these can be fantastic resources for children to build their reading skills.

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Math

Numbers are a natural part of garden education. Here are a few ideas for teaching math to your little gardeners:

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Counting Chrysanthemums

Let children count flowers, plants, bugs, or seeds. This counting session can also incorporate plant identification by counting the petals on a flower or leaves on a stem.

Adding Azalias and Subtracting Strawberries

Make addition and subtraction fun by counting plants in different garden beds or flowers on each plant. When your students eat the fruits of their labor, it becomes a subtraction problem!

Measuring the Marigolds

Bring a ruler or a tape measure to the garden. Let the kids measure the height of plants or the length of cucumbers. This is a great way to practice conversion factors by measuring in centimeters and inches.

Graphing Your Garden

Use bar graphs to display the number of each type of fruit and vegetable in the garden and line graphs to track changes over time.

Ecological Entrepreneurship

Setting up a pretend or real garden stand to ‘sell’ your extra fruit and vegetables is a fantastic way to give your children practical lessons about money. Take a look at Play Mart's Farmer's Market Table to take this lesson to the next level.

Social Studies

The garden also provides a fantastic platform to teach about diversity, history, culture and social studies. Planting crops or gardens that were significant to a particular historical era or culture can make learning these subjects engaging and interactive. Even learning about key historical figures who have advanced our understanding of plants could be linked with your gardening program.

Agricultural Mapping

School gardens easily bolster map-making skills. Students get to design maps of the garden area, label cardinal directions, understand relative positioning, and use symbols. Create a garden map highlighting important features. You could also design a map to follow the path of a fruit or vegetable from the field to the table.

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Agriculture Through Time

Students can delve into the lives of historical figures like George Washington Carver and unravel how they shaped our current agricultural practices. Thomas Jefferson’s personal garden journal provides insights on the best time of year to plant peas. The school garden opens up discussions on pivotal questions: How are our agricultural practices evolving? How do people adapt to and protect the environment to meet their needs? Construct a timeline to understand agricultural history.

Global Issues and Climate Change

School gardens can be used to teach students about specific historical events and cultures. It provides a platform to engage with current global issues like the effects of climate change on the earth's natural resources. Depending on your garden's nature, it can foster a sense of community by initiating neighborhood beautification projects or contributing to local community groups.

Gardening Around The World

Research the difference between local foods and produce from other places in the world. Talk about cultural or regional differences in food consumption and gardening practices.

Art

There's nothing like the beauty of nature to spark inspiration for art. Here are a few ideas for bringing art class into your garden play area:

Nature Journaling

Nature Journaling is a particularly fascinating art project you can integrate into your garden lessons. This activity engages students with nature by encouraging them to record their observations and experiences in the garden in a journal of their creation. This enhances their observational and creative skills and fosters a sense of ownership over their learning.

Color Matching

You can also utilize the vibrant hues of your garden for Color-Matching Journaling. This involves selecting different-colored crayons or pencils and finding matching colors in the garden. Activities like these foster creativity and give students a keen eye for details, honing their observation skills, which are equally crucial in both art and science.

Natural Dyes

Perhaps one of the more fascinating activities to engage in is creating natural dyes and exploring colors using flower petals. As students gently rub flower petals onto paper, they submerse themselves in a hands-on art activity that connects them to the age-old practices of Native Americans creating paint colors from plants. This is a perfect opportunity to connect gardening to Play Mart's educational Native American playground equipment.

Fundamental Art Concepts

The beautiful thing about having a garden as an art resource is its ability to serve as a living textbook. Fundamental concepts of art, such as color, form, symmetry, and texture, all spring to life within the garden's boundary. Gardens can inspire a plethora of artwork and can even provide the materials for creation.

Science

Perhaps the most obvious opportunity for learning about plant life is in science class. Open-air classrooms provide ample opportunities to bring science to life. As a living laboratory, the garden is a great place for real-world observation and experiments. From hands-on lessons on plant growth and life cycles, soil structure and function, to investigations on weather patterns and ecosystem functions - the garden is your launchpad to introduce core science topics.

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Seed Germination

The process of seed germination, often merely diagrammed in textbooks, becomes a captivating live show in a garden. As students watch seeds sprout and grow, the stages of the plant life cycle become a tangible phenomenon. Furthermore, lessons in seed preservation teach students about sustainability and the importance of genetic diversity.

Weather and Climate

These subjects are often taught theoretically but can be practically observed and documented in the school garden. Using weather instruments, students can connect weather patterns with plant health and understand the far-reaching impacts of climate change.

Health

School gardens also enrich discussions about healthy eating habits. When students harvest their organically grown produce, the health implications of their food choices become relevant and personal. It's an amazing way to intertwine health science and environmental science.

How to Start a School Garden

Starting a school garden is a rewarding journey that enriches the lives of everyone involved. Our team at Play Mart is here to walk you through the process of transforming your school play space into a garden.

Form a Garden Committee

Begin by forming a committee including people from your school’s administration, teaching staff, students, parents, and community volunteers. This committee will be responsible for making decisions about the garden's design, purpose, and operation, and it's also beneficial to include a representative from the school’s food service department if the garden will support the school cafeteria.

Determine the Goals for Your Garden

Identify the goals for your school garden. These might include providing outdoor, hands-on learning, providing fresh fruits and vegetables for students to take home, and creating a healing, therapeutic space for children and young adults.

Find Your Site

Choose a location for your garden that suits your needs. Consider the amount of space necessary to meet your goals, the amount of sun exposure (ideally 7-8 hours), proximity to a water source, and the type of beds you'll use. If you have limited space, check out Play Mart's Square Foot Gardening Kit. It includes a Moisture Meter, 20-Pack Seeds, Square Foot Gardening Book and Collapsible Grid, so you only need a small patch of land to get started!

Plan and Design Your Site

Your design should include elements such as teaching/gathering areas, potting benches or tables, fruit and vegetable beds, flower beds, trees and shrubs, an irrigation system, a greenhouse, a storage shed, a composting area, and a sink. Take a look at Play Mart's Outdoor Classroom equipment for essentials like seating and trash cans to complement your garden.

Consider the Materials

Make sure you get the most from your investment by choosing the right materials. Our proprietary Recycled Structural Plastic (RSP) won't rot, chip, or rust. Ensure your soil is healthy and follow sustainable practices by using all-purpose organic fertilizers and cover crops. Select an appropriate irrigation system and provide the necessary tools for maintenance. For a more established garden, our Greenhouse has clear polycarbonate windows that resist breakage and roof vent to prevent overheating.

Secure Funding

Lastly, consider how to fund your garden. Many schools apply for grants and manage their gardens through community donations and volunteer labor. Organizations like the American Heart Association, Grow to Learn, KidsGardening, and Whole Kids Foundation offer resources and information for this. You can also use crowdfunding platforms like Gofundme.com and Indiegogo.com to raise funds.

Grow Young Minds With Play Mart!

At Play Mart, we strongly believe in the power of growing plants for a rich, holistic education. In fact, you could consider our playground gardening equipment an extension of our outdoor classroom line! Starting a school garden is a significant undertaking, but with careful planning, collaboration, and the right resources, your school garden can become a vibrant, living classroom that benefits your students for generations. Contact us today and harvest the educational benefits of a school garden!

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