What are the benefits of gardening with students? I want to find out the how and the why, because I certainly know how I FEEL about gardening (gardening is awesome) But do students feel the same way? These are my main inquires on how gardening could help students learn:
Here is how I aim to organize my posts:
Throughout this project, I hope to uncover how working with soil, plants, and nature can support studentsâ cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development, all while making learning fun and meaningful. I want to know if the garden might just be the perfect educational tool. Let’s get our hands dirty and get growin!
Let Them Eat Dirt! The Academic, Physical and Cognitive Benefits of Gardening with Kids
In our increasingly indoor world, it may seem surprising that one of the most powerful learning tools for children might be as simple as a patch of soil, some plants, and a watering can. Yet, the body of research growing around garden-based learning (school or community gardens) suggests that gardening offers children a rich, cross-curricular educational tool. Gardening has proven to provide many social-emotional and physical benefits. In this post Iâll walk through the how and the why gardening helps children learn, why itâs naturally cross curricular and the cognitive and academic benefits. Below Iâve linked a great video to express the big ideas of this post. Letâs dig in!
Why Gardening is so Flippinâ Amazing and Why Every School Should Have a Garden
There are several overlapping theories through which gardening supports childrenâs learning: cognitive/academic, social-emotional, physical/health, and connection to nature or place-based learning. As an avid (albeit more recent) gardener myself, I can only attest to these benefits and how profoundly gardening has changed my outlook for the better. Today we are discussing the physical health, cognitive and academic benefits of gardening.
Cognitive & Academic Benefits
One of the strongest themes is that garden-based activities offer real, hands-on learning that ties in with traditional curriculum (science, math, literacy) and gives children a reason to investigate, ask questions, predict and observe outcomes. Here are a few things I have discovered on this quest. Gardening is multi-sensory, embodied learning. In a garden, children feel soil, smell freshly watered plants, taste their bounty, and listen to the world around them. Sensory experiences with soil, plants, animals, and weather create tangible learning opportunities which are full of wonder. They can observe growth, measure changes and are encouraged to touch, play and explore. This sensory involvement increases processing and learning retention vs purely abstract instruction. It gets children asking and thinking âWhy do plants need sunlight?â, âWhat happens if I water too much?â, âHow do changes to the soil impact plant growth?â âWhat happens if I plant basil with my tomatoes? You can connect so many cross-curricular ideas that extend far beyond the classroom and into the garden by simply getting kids in the dirt with some seeds, a little bit of compost, water and sunlight.
Inquiry and Real-World Problem Solving
Gardening presents constant challenges (watering, pests, weeds, variable growth) so children naturally engage as investigators and problem-solvers, which supports critical thinking, which in turn helps develop cognitive function. The ability to ask meaningful questions and seek answers is at the heart of gardening. Gardeners naturally engage in scientific inquiry as they observe plant growth, form hypotheses, test ideas, and draw conclusions based on evidence. For example, a gardener might wonder why certain plants attract more pollinators or whether different kinds of compost improves soil quality. By experimenting, perhaps by adding compost to one garden bed and not another, they gather data to support or counter their ideas. The gardening process mirrors some scientific methods of inquiry and helps develop problem solving skills.
Cross-Curricular Connections
For instance, measuring plant growth involves charting or graphing which is all math! (without them really knowing it). Discussing soil types, root systems, drainage or soil nutrients to name a few all involves science. Writing or drawing observations involves literacy and art. You could build creative writing assignments based on sights, sounds, smells and feelings in the garden. Indigenous education can easily become a part of your school culture through a garden. Learning the local Indigenous communityâs language names for plants or medicinal herbs, or incorporating local Indigenous Peoplesâ gardening principles and Traditional Ecological Knowledges for your school garden are all ways to build connection and community. Garden-based learning builds knowledge from vast multidisciplinary knowledge bases. A single garden offers endless possibilities for learning, connecting science, art, literacy, mathematics, and social studies, all rooted in one tiny piece of earth!
Physical Health & Nutrition
Gardening naturally intersects health and nutrition, which in itself is linked to better learning outcomes and mental well-being (healthy body = healthy brains): Gardening is a workout! It is a full-bodied physical activity, hauling dirt, shoveling compost, weeding, planting, harvesting and even watering are all great forms of physical activity, especially if you are gardening daily. Gardening also naturally creates a platform to talk about health and nutrition with your students. Growing and eating your own food and knowing exactly where it comes from, creates a positive connection to our local food systems. Discussing healthy eating choices (fruits and veggies) can help students begin recognizing that its important on what we fuel our bodies with and how different foods can make us feel, building their health literacy. Plus eating homegrown produce makes it taste better! Store bought tomatoes got nothing on a big juicy garden tomato and thatâs a fact (well, a Dakota backed fact, donât quote me on that). By growing edible plants, children develop familiarity and positive feelings towards fresh produce. This in turn usually helps them eat, or at the very least become more willing to try new vegetables or fruits. School gardens can be a great place to get the message across that eating fresh fruits and vegetables is good for us and it can be really fun too!
In the video below, they discuss how the children who had participated in the garden program, later on helped their parents with making better grocery shop choices and became much more involved in the grocery shopping itself. They were engaged and focused on finding the different fruits and veggies they knew and grew and even wanted to help make the meals they ate. This in turn allowed them to contribute to the building of healthier choices by the bigger connections of food relationships and sharing them with their families (whoohoo). In short, they learned the confidence to make healthier choices.
Why Gardening Matters (and a few limitations)
In many educational settings the move has been toward screen-based, indoor learning. Gardening provides a counterpoint: outdoor, physical, real-world, multi-sensorial learning. It reaches children who may favor hands-on and experiential learning, teaches better health, builds eco-literacy, and can lead to improved academic connections and socio-emotional development. In short, gardening is awesome and helps kids grow, literally and figuratively. But there are certainly a few cautions and limitations to be aware of when creating a school garden. Implementation matters: simply having a garden may not be enough; the instructional design, teacher/parent involvement and integration into learning matters. It takes a lot of time and commitment to make a garden grow which can be found restraining for our very busy teachers and parents, thereâs no getting around it gardens can be a lot of work. Different districts or schools have different resources and supports. Funding for tools, seeds or soil, access to land or water for a garden all may be limited in some contexts. Social barriers to implementation like parent or teacher support are all factors that may be impacted in different areas, especially low-income or minority communities.
All together the cognitive, educational and physical benefits strongly point toward gardening being far more than just another outdoor activity for children. It is a wonderful learning environment that is interdisciplinary without even trying. By engaging children in all of the goodness of gardening, we dig into studentsâ natural curiosity, inquiry, and connection. Personally, I can attest to all of this, as gardening has been one of the most profound learning mentors in my life. And nothing brings me more joy than declaring, I grew this! Look at this sunflower! This whole meal came from my garden! Enjoy this homemade jam from my strawberry patch! Please take as much kale and basil as you physically can I have simply grown too much! So, this is your sign to let them eat dirt (kidding, mostly) Tune in next time for an in-depth post on how gardening promotes social-emotional development and mindfulness in children.
Social-Emotional Development: Can Gardening Make Us Better People?
Beyond the academic benefits, gardening also helps children grow socially and emotionally. How, you might ask? School gardens can boost studentsâ attitudes, confidence, and motivation by giving them something they can take pride in. Being part of a garden encourages teamwork, brings students together, and creates endless opportunities for new friendships to form (some of my closest friends are the ones who help me weed and harvest!). Gardening also promotes mindfulness and helps students manage their emotions. The calm, repetitive nature of gardening like weeding, planting seeds, or watering, slows the mind down and gives students time to think, reflect, and work through any worries. We all know getting outside makes us feel better, but I wanted to understand why. Can gardening really support studentsâ social-emotional growth and overall well-being? Spoiler alert: it sure can!
The science of why we need nature to be our best selves
Mindfulness as a Veggie Patch
In terms of emotional well-being, being outdoors and engaging with plants has been known to reduce stress, increase positive feelings, and improve attention, all of which support better learning later on in the classroom. Gardens and nature therapy are ways to support studentsâ mindfulness. Mindfulness is a hot button topic, and it has become an essential tool in supporting studentsâ mental health. When children engage in mindfulness, whether through breathing exercises, reflection, or mindful movement, they develop the ability to pause, observe their emotions, and respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively. These skills build tools for self-regulation and can help students manage stress, anxiety, and frustration in healthier ways. All of these tools are highly translatable to and are unknowingly practiced in a garden space. Practicing mindfulness in guise of gardening can later on improve concentration and focus, allowing students to engage more calmly in their learning. On a broader level, mindfulness is a sense of calm and self-awareness that supports positive relationships and overall mental health. When integrated into the school day through a school garden, it can create a more peaceful classroom environment, where students feel seen, heard, and connected. We are currently facing an epidemic of students with overwhelmed, anxious and worried brains. A positive solution might be hidden in plain sight: School gardens! Gardening can support studentsâ mind body connection through the process of slowing down and grounding themselves by getting their hands in the dirt, fresh air in their lungs and their feet on the grass (and eat a tasty snack or two).
Social-Emotional Development from the Perspective of a Gardener
Garden activities give and teach children responsibility and purpose (caring for a plant), patience (waiting for growth) and a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction (harvest). Gardening teaches children the benefits of patience and hard work, skills that translate right back into the classroom. As they witness the fruits of their labor, the sense of excitement in helping things grow is contagious. Gardening together naturally creates peer communication and cooperation. By sharing tools, deciding what to plant and where to plant, students learn how to build social-emotional skills like communication as well as learning how to collaborate. Taking turns watering or weeding the garden plot, deciding what should be planted and where, what types of seeds to sow, and sharing the task of harvesting all contribute to building social-emotional skills as well as providing a child’s sense of inclusion and belonging, because a garden is for everyone! So here are the facts:
Children develop responsibility when caring for plants over time
Seed starting, watering, weeding, and harvesting all teach time-management, accountability, commitment and patience (extra heavy dose on the patience)
School gardens operate as a collective whole, where everyone can contribute, which promotes belonging and inclusion
Many small tasks help create one big, beautiful garden for everyone to enjoy
âDo your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.â Desmond Tutu
This quote really made me feel better about how much money I spend on seeds each year, because I am doing my little bit of good right?
Here is a cool video, from a young person perspective: the benefits of gardening
So as we can probably deduce by now, gardening is so much more than just planting seeds in the dirt. Itâs an experience that helps students build social-emotional skills, practice mindfulness and helps them self-regulate. As children watch the plants theyâve cared for grow, they learn responsibility and patience, realizing that real growth takes time, attention, and consistency. This hands-on process gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment, boosting confidence as they see the results of their hard work come to life. Gardening encourages teamwork and cooperation, since students share tools, space, and ideas to keep their garden growing. Along the way, they learn to communicate, solve problems together, and celebrate each otherâs successes. Beyond the social side of things, gardening offers emotional balance. Students often find calm and happiness just by being outdoors. The feel of the soil, the sound of leaves, and the joy of watching something flourish under their care. In a world full of overwhelm and stress, gardening gives students a chance to slow down, reconnect, and regulate. I will end this post with a quote from the iconic Audrey Hepburn: âTo plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.â Well said!
Tune in next time for my next post, all about how gardens can make children environmentally conscious citizens of the world, and how gardens can support Indigenous Peoplesâ knowledges in the classroom.
Here are some interesting articles to explore more on this post:
One of the biggest reasons I was drawn to teaching is the opportunity to garden with kids (well maybe not the only reason). I want to help young children learn about the earth, understand climate change impacts, and discover ways they can care for their planet. I can already picture it: growing peas, beans and sunflowers with my Kindergartners, building a school garden, and sharing the joy I feel when life springs forward with just a little soil, time, and care. Concepts like the “Three Sisters” gardening principals or sharing insights from âBraiding Sweetgrassâ by Robin Wall Kimmerer certainly inspired my own teaching philosophy. Here is a link to a reading of the Honorable Harvest by Robin, which fuels my teaching philosophy as well as my personal philosophy. My hope is that through these experiences, future generations can connect with the natural world and recognize the beauty we need to protect before itâs lost. So, can we really make eco citizens from a simple garden? Letâs find out together.
Gardening gives children a physical way to connect with the natural world and see their place within it. By participating in a school garden and observing where their food comes from, students gain insight into the bigger picture. They discover how humans are part of complex ecosystems that all impact each other. By growing their own food, it links the disconnect we have from factory or grocery stores to our local food systems. Gardens can be powerful tools for exploring topics like food security, life cycles, natural resources, and understanding the interconnectedness of all living things. When students see how human actions affect the environment, they begin to develop ecological awareness, and a sense of connection to the world around them.
Research increasingly shows that school garden programs do more than support academic learning. They play an important role in encouraging environmental citizenship, land stewardship, and ecological literacy. Gardens also provide a meaningful way to introduce Indigenous Peoplesâ knowledges into the classroom, highlighting the cultural connections to the land and Indigenous Peoplesâ ways of thinking, knowing and being. Through hands-on garden-based learning, students can form place-based connections, develop understanding of ecosystems, their role within them and engage with Indigenous Peoplesâ knowledge systems in ways that improve both their understanding of the environment and their relationship to it.
Garden experiences create a foundation of ecological knowledge, wealth and stewardship skills, enhancing an awareness of the link between plants, animals, climate, ecosystems, and the importance of these for our food systems. In other words, you know where you grow. Being a steward of even a small garden plot can create a domino effect of change, great learning can happen from the smallest and mightiest of seeds. Research shows that school gardens function as comprehensive learning environments that promote the cognitive, social and emotional development of children, which in turn gives them the basis of what it means to be an environmental citizen of the world. When children engage in observation, drawing, writing and other active processes involving a school or community garden, they form personal connections and relationships to the land, where place-based learning can occur through a cross curricular lens.
Environmental Citizenship and Gardening
Environmental citizenship refers broadly to the attitudes, behaviors and values that enable individuals to act as responsible stewards of the natural world. Studies of school gardens show that hands-on gardening experiences can shift studentsâ environmental attitudes. For example, one study I stumbled upon of second-grade students found that after participating in a garden-based insect and nature unit students expressed more concern for insects and more willingness to protect them, indicating the garden had helped them adopt stewardship-oriented attitudes
From a teaching perspective, gardens provide concrete opportunities for students to engage with ecological processes. Soil health, plant life cycles, pollinators, and water cycles are all natural systems humans are dependent upon for food. When students plan, plant, manage, and witness garden activities, they move beyond verbal instruction into practice: making decisions, observing outcomes, troubleshooting, and taking responsibility. In doing so, they begin to see themselves as active members in an ecosystem.
Promoting Land stewardship Through School Gardens
Land stewardship implies a caring, sustained relationship with the land and its non-human inhabitants. School gardens offer an accessible way to create such relationships. When students develop a sense of ownership over a garden space, they are more likely to feel responsible for its outcomes. Over time, this responsibility can extend outward from the school garden into the broader community. Gardening also provides a platform for inquiry into local environmental issues (water use, invasive and native species, pollinators and climate change) thereby making students more aware of and engaged in sustainable land-use practices.
Incorporating Indigenous Peoples Knowledges Through Gardens
Garden-based education provides access to bring Indigenous Peoplesâ knowledges of their homelands, sometimes known as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), into classrooms in respectful and meaningful ways. Indigenous Peoplesâ knowledge systems connect with land, plants, and ecological relationships, offering perspectives that challenge conventional Western ecological education by emphasizing reciprocity, and intergenerational responsibility. Land-based learning research offers a compelling example: through garden and land-based practices guided by Indigenous knowledges, students cultivated deeper ecological awareness and cultural resilience. Moreover, the establishment of the xʡcĚicĚÉsÉm Garden at UBC Farm illustrates how Indigenous-led land-based pedagogy rooted in âfood is medicineâ can intersect with school-garden learning. UBC Farm
For school gardens, this means intentionally planting native plant species, pollinator habitat and could include medicinal plants, and cultural stories about plant-people relationships. It also means collaborating with Indigenous knowledge holders, elders, and community members, not merely using Indigenous content superficially, but working in partnership with community members that respect relational accountability and place-based knowledge. Ethical Integration of TEK in education helps students understand that ecological stewardship is not purely scientific or technical, but steeped in cultural values, community health, and ongoing relationships with the land.
When thoughtfully executed, school gardens can do so much more than grow plants: they can cultivate studentsâ identities as part of the land, and maybe one day help us make this world a better place. (are you sick of me harping on about the benefits of gardening yet?) Hope not! because next week we are discussing how gardens build community, relationships and reciprocity.
Here is a great video that will tell ya all about it
A Garden is a Place Where People Can Gather
Gardens are community hotbeds. It is a hobby, a career, and an integral part of our food systems. It is a place where you can find a vast wealth of knowledge, resources, tips and tricks. Ever wonder why gardeners are so happy? Maybe because theyâre all so down to earth (haha get it? Gardening puns for the win) Gardeners are often kooky, passionate people and if you need help getting started, working on a new project or just wanting to share extra seeds or starts, the gardening community is a wonderful place to go. Food shares, garden shares and community gardens all rely on those essential things: community, relationships and connections. People love to garden, people love to share their gardens and share their harvest (especially zucchinis, those pesky buggers!) Gardening used to be a necessary and vital part of life, but it is a life skill weâve unfortunately moved away from in the modern world of convenience grocery stores and factory farms. Thankfully it is becoming popular again amongst young people and families, especially the value of shopping local and supporting family farms. Instead of just retirees taking up gardening as a pastime, we are seeing gardens pop up in backyards, schools and community centers with more and more people learning how to garden as we relearn the value of growing our own food and I say hurrah for that!
Harvest Time, Sharing Meals and Connection to Food
We have spoken heaps on the physical, nutritional, emotional, social, cognitive and environmental benefits of gardening, and I promise I am almost done, but one more topic I need to preach about is how school gardens can give back to and build up our communities through reciprocity. So, as we now know, school gardens are a great educational tool for various parts of curriculum. They are a way to incorporate learning about local food sources and systems and discover new fruits and vegetables just to name a few. But what do we do now that weâve grown all this beautiful food? Why eat it of course! Cooking and sharing the food harvested from a school garden or community garden makes room for a much bigger impact on community food security, or school food security. Providing or supplementing food programs with school grown produce allows for a full circle moment from seed to table to community. It is a great opportunity to bring in studentsâ families for a harvest dinner, grandparents for a class canning lesson, teaching how to process excess food for winter, sharing family recipes or meals, local gardening tips and on and on. All of these ideas come together to share the joy of gardening with others.
A garden is truly a place where people can gather, rejoice in the beauty of the natural world, see the impacts of plant productivity and see all of their efforts hard at work. Sharing the harvest is an essential part of what it means to be a gardener (at least to me) Dropping off extra produce to families who need it or helping elderly neighbors get their canning done are all meaningful ways we can impact our community for the better. Taking time to weed a friendâs garden, will certainly ensure they will return the favor one day. Picking neighboring fruit trees abundance, and baking a fresh pie for your neighbor, are all elements of sharing the workload. By sharing the workload, it usually goes hand in hand with sharing the joy. Recipe sharing for a good tomato year can teach new skills to process certain foods. Teaching the class your grandmotherâs famous salsa recipe or your uncleâs favorite jam is a great way to incorporate community connection into the classroom. Get your classes families involved, and share a meal, the oldest (and best) form of connection is sharing a meal with someone. Have class parties in the garden, use it as an outdoor learning space and host school dinners using the produce the students have grown to give back and feed their community.
Kimberley Edible Gardens & Greenhouses photo
Food Security Initiatives From Our Community
Where I live, we are lucky enough to have the Healthy Kimberley, Food Recovery Depot. This is such an incredible community initiative, that takes food waste from surrounding grocery stores and gardens and makes meals that feed our community in so many ways. The Kimberley Edible Gardens and Greenhouses, (KEGG) is one of Kimberley’s many community gardens, and together the KEGG donates fresh produce weekly to the Food Recovery. This produce goes right back to the most vulnerable in our community in the form of homemade meals, fresh fruits and veggies. Anything excess from the Food Recovery goes to the public access community fridge which provides food access to the general public. And to make it even better, anything inedible goes straight to the farm program to feed local livestock, talk about full circle, no waste! Wildsight’s Community Garden is also another community space in Kimberley that is connected to the Food Recovery. Wildisght also hosts numerous community workshops, such as learning how to seed save, canning, and started many vital community projects such as the apple capture program, which allows community members to borrow equipment year round to help with harvest time and food preservation. All of which helps to decrease Kimberley’s food insecurity and help build community in Kimberley and Cranbrook. Non profits like this are just many ways community gardens build reciprocity and how one small idea can become so much bigger. So, I wonder how we can build our community schools to support and create more initiatives such as these?
When you really break it down, gardens are a host of vast forms of community, plant communities, soil communities, fungal communities, insect communities, and human communities. We all need community, and gardens are such serviceable community members.
Gosh I just love gardens, donât you?
Up next: How to start your own school garden and a seed saving/starting activity for kids.
So now that we are all aware of the MANY benefits of school gardens, how can educators or parents practically build garden-based learning opportunities for children, especially if they themselves are not gardeners? Here are some great ideas to get started:
Start Small and Hands-on
A small planter box, a set of pots or even container gardening works. And good news? Seeds are relatively cheap! No matter the size of your garden or space available, even in a windowsill garden, children can measure plant growth, observe seeds sprouting, and help grow their own food or herbs. The key is to let them do it: digging soil, planting seeds, watering, weeding, observing insects, setting up compost systems, are all ways kids can actively be involved, learn from experience and discover new things, and above all we need to let them get messy, its way more fun that way (remember to use tasks appropriate for different children’s ages and abilities).
Have children journal or draw what they see; measure height of plants; count leaves; compare leaf sizes; explore variables (sun/shade, water/compost amounts). These activities tie to math (measurement, graphing, counting), science (life-cycles, plant biology, experimentation), literacy (vocabulary, journaling).
Encourage Inquiry, Questioning & Reflection
Instead of only telling children about life cycles, ask them: What do you think will happen if we water less? What do you notice about the soil? Who do you think ate this plant? Do plants like sunshine? How much or for how long?
Discussion and reflection can reinforce deeper learning (metacognition) and build curiosity for exploration. Experimentation is the basis of gardening. Learning what grows best where, and with what is all part of the learning process, and it encourages lots of questions. Questions are a great opportunity to involve community gardening clubs, family members, seniors or local farmers to come and talk about their favorite ways to grow things and answer any questions the students may have.
Harvest Time
Let children eat and taste the vegetables or fruits they grow. This connects the abstract idea of food (from factory or store) back to nature and is a great way to introduce both nutrition awareness and a sense of reward. Children can have better recognition of and willingness to taste new vegetables if they themselves have grown it. It also might mean they end up eating more veggies too (I always end up snacking on fresh veggies and fruits when I’m in the garden, guilty as charged).
Incorporate into Curriculum or Routine
Whether in a classroom or at home, regular time in the garden (even 15-20 minutes/week) helps transform it from a âfun side activityâ to a meaningful learning environment. From all of the research Iâve done the biggest take away is this: Kids want to be in the garden. It is a marvelous resource to extend learning from classroom to soil. Consistent time spent in the garden can lead to the integration of bigger educational goals. Rather than one-off activities, spending regular consistent time in the garden can help improve learning outcomes and increase learning connections (the secret is in the soil) Let them try their own hand at building their own free inquiry project, based around the school garden.
Below you will find a seed sowing and saving activity you can use to kickstart your class garden.
Seed Sowing and Saving, the Cheap Gardeners Guide to Growing with Kids
Thereâs something magical about watching a seed transform into a big, beautiful plant. For children, this process is pure wonder too, a living science experiment that sparks excitement and joy. Seed starting and seed saving are simple, rewarding activities that connect kids to nature, encourage patience, and show the cycles of life right in their hands (and help save ya lots of money too). Whether youâre a parent, teacher, or grandparent, this is a great way to spend time together and create memories that last well beyond one growing season.
Getting Started: Choosing Seeds and Supplies
When gardening with children, simplicity and success are key. The goal is to create an experience thatâs both fun and easy to understand. Start by choosing seeds that germinate quickly and grow visibly within days, beans and peas are my favorite, they are so speedy and eager to grow, and fast growers help keep new gardeners engaged.
Great beginner choices include:
Sunflowers, large seeds that are easy to handle and sprout quickly
Beans or peas, fast-growing climbers that kids love to watch stretch upward
Lettuce or radishes, quick to germinate and harvest, perfect for short attention spans
Marigolds Cosmos or zinnias, colorful, hardy flowers that bring instant joy
Youâll need just a few basic supplies:
Small pots, seed trays, or even recycled containers (egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, or even scrap yarn work great)
Potting mix or starter soil
A spray bottle or slow pouring watering can (for the enthusiastic waterers)
Popsicle sticks or labels for marking what youâve planted
Encourage kids to decorate their seed containers, it helps them get creative and gain excitement about the project. You can even turn it into an art activity before planting begins.
Planting: Hands in the Soil
Once youâve gathered your supplies, itâs time to plant. Children love to get their hands dirty, and planting seeds gives them permission to do just that!
Saturate the soil: Show your kids how to dampen the soil before filling containers. It should be saturated before you put it into containers, I like to fill a wheelbarrow and turn the hose on and just mix it all together before I pot, bonus you feel like a witch stirring a potion!
Fill the pots: Have them fill the soil into the containers, leaving about half an inch from the top.
Plant the seeds: Read the seed packet together and talk about how deep each seed should be planted. Larger seeds like beans can be pressed in with a fingertip, while tiny ones can be sprinkled on top. I like using a toothpick or a chopstick with different measurements on them to determine depth.
Label the pots: Let your students write or draw pictures on the labels. Itâs a great way to practice spelling and observation skills.
Cover with soil and send them love: Use a spray bottle of warm water to moisten the soil if needed. Use your fingers to tamp down the top soil gently, seeds like to feel snug as a bug in a rug.
Place your newly planted seeds in a warm, sunny spot, if you have access to a greenhouse, perfect! But not necessary, even a windowsill or under a grow light. Check them daily together. Kids love to notice changes, so encourage them to observe, draw, or write what they see in a âseed journal.â My best tip is to always water seedlings with warm water, as it can help them germinate faster. You can also learn how to germinate seeds before planting them in the soil, or compare plant growth from starters to direct sowers, another great activity and avenue for many an experimentation!
Watching Growth: You Helped Life Along
One of the most powerful lessons gardening teaches children is patience. Seeds donât sprout instantly; they take days or even weeks. But each day something new brings a hint of green, a taller stem, a new leaf. How exciting! Encourage children to look closely and ask questions for future experiments.
Saving Seeds: The Circle of Life
Once your plants have grown, ripened and produced seeds, itâs time to teach another essential lesson: seed saving. This step helps children understand sustainability and the idea that life continues in cycles.
What is seed saving?
Seed saving is the process in which you store, preserve and extend the lifecycle of your plants. Have a bumper crop of tomatoes? Take the best one and save its seeds. Extra juicy strawberry? Seed saving! Same goes for any plant you grow, and even flowers!
Hereâs how to introduce seed saving to kids:
Choose the best plants: Pick healthy, strong plants that produced well. Explain that these plants will pass on their âgood traitsâ to the next generation.
Collect mature seeds: Show them how to identify when seeds are ready, pods are dry and brown, or flower heads feel crispy.
Extract and clean the seeds: Kids can gently shake or rub seeds from dried pods or flowers onto a paper plate. For fruits like tomatoes or peppers, scoop out the seeds and rinse them in water before drying.
Dry thoroughly: Spread the seeds on a paper towel or screen for several days until theyâre completely dry.
Label and store: Place the dried seeds in envelopes or small jars, labeling them with the plant name and date. Store them in a cool, dry place.
Let children decorate the seed packets, it turns them into tiny treasures for next year. You might even start a âfamily or class seed libraryâ, where each seasonâs seeds are added and shared with classes or friends.
Keeping Joy at the Heart of it
Once your children or students have experienced the full cycle, from seed to plant to seed again, theyâll start to see nature differently. Suddenly, a dried sunflower isnât just a flower; itâs a promise of next yearâs garden. A tomato isnât just a snack, itâs a story of life cycles. Keep the curiosity alive by trying new seeds each season or starting themed gardens: a âpizza gardenâ with basil and tomatoes, a âpollinator patchâ with wildflowers, or a ârainbow gardenâ with colorful vegetables. And remember even if not every seed sprouts, or a plant doesnât survive, that too is part of the lesson. Gardening teaches many things, understanding that growth is a process, and that every ending holds the beginning of something new.
So grab some seeds, roll up your sleeves, and plant the beginning of some beautiful roots together (how many gardening analogies, is too many gardening analogies?)
Well no surprises here, gardening with students has proven to be awesome. In fact it is so awesome, I’m not sure why more schools don’t have one. I can’t wait to start my own school garden project one day. The benefits are numerous, I have found an incredible amount of resources for future use, and I even got a little teary eyed at all the beautiful ideas I have to implement gardening practices into my own teaching philosophy. The secret is truly in the soil. Gardening nurtures cognitive growth, academic learning, social-emotional development, physical and mental health, community building, relationships, understanding of food systems and security, Indigenous Peoples’ knowledges, mindfulness, nutrition, and above all, it brings so much joy and fun. SO what are you waiting for? Let’s get gardening for a better future!
