1. Kids in the Garden
Christina, Jenny, Kathy and Pamela

2. Why garden with kids?
• Children are natural gardeners
• Nutrition Knowledge & Eating Habits
• Increased Physical Activity
• Positive Behavior, Attitude, Life Lessons
• You can always use an extra set of hands

3. Obesity in America
• In the past 30 years, childhood obesity has
more than doubled in children and tripled in
adolescents.
• In 2010, more than 1/3 of children and
adolescents were overweight or obese.
• In Washoe County, the student obesity rate is
38% - which is higher than the national
average.

4. NOTE: Obesity is body mass index greater than or equal to the 95th percentile of the sex- and age-
specific 2000 CDC growth charts.
SOURCES: CDC/NCHS, National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) I–III; and
NHANES, 1999–2000, 2001–2002, 2003–2004, 2005–2006, 2007–2008, and 2009–2010.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_child_09_10/obesity_child_09_10.htm
Trends in obesity among children and adolescents aged 2–19 years, by sex:
United States, 1971–1974 through 2009–2010

5. Food Insecurity
• 50 million Americans do not know where their
next meal will come from
• This includes 1 in 4 children
• The US Department of Agriculture estimates 101
million people currently participate in at least one
of 15 food programs offered by the agency, at a
cost of $114 billion in fiscal year 2012.
• Documentary: "A Place at the Table-One Nation
Underfed"

6. Gardens empower children
• Teach kids to grow their own food
– Self sustaining & sustains community
– Gives them control of their health
– Entrepreneurial skills
– Classroom correlations come alive
– Outside and Active

7. Christina Turner
• Grow Yourself Healthy
• Ways to Incorporate Gardens into Education
“A healthy child is a
teachable child.”
-Joe Dibble, RD,CSSD,CSCS

8. Grow Yourself Healthy
• Garden Based Nutrition Program
– Promotes healthful eating habits
– Increases physical activity
– Promotes positive life behaviors to prevent
obesity and chronic disease

9. Program Objectives
• 85% of students will be able to name the MyPlate
food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, protein
and dairy)
• 85% of students will be able to name at least two
foods from each food group
• 85% will correctly identify at least three benefits
of consuming fruits and vegetables
• 85% will be able to name at least two types of
physical activity
• 85% will be able to name the benefit of hand
washing

10. Program Results
• FY13 data entry and analysis is underway
• FY12 results
– Knowledge gains were seen in all areas
– Exceeded benchmarks set for hand washing and physical activity
– Highly favorable response from parents, students, teachers and
principals
– Willingness to taste new produce
29 different varieties of fruits and vegetables were tasted last year!
This year we have tasted 54 different fruits and vegetables!

11. Curriculum
• Nutrition/horticulture curriculum tied to the common
core educational standards
• Formal Lessons offered in the fall and spring
• Includes pre/post test to collect data and evaluate
whether the program is meeting its goals and
objectives
• Integrates USDA MyPlate and MyPyramid resources
• Partners with WCSD’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Program
• Parent Engagement opportunities are provided
through take home assignments, flyers, special events
and parent presentations

12. Common Core Education Standards
• English Language Arts Grades 3, 4 and 5
– Writing Standards
• production and distribution of writing
• research to build and present knowledge
• range of writing
– Language Standards
• Knowledge of language
• Vocabulary acquisition
• Math
– Measurement and Data
– Number and Operation in Base Ten
– Numbers and Operations – Fractions
– Operations and Algebraic thinking

13. Direct Education Approach
• Each GYH lesson has 3 parts: learn, grow and taste
• Students are engaged in different group activities
• Gardening related to all subjects

14. Science
• Plant, Earth Environmental and Physical Sciences
• Garden Experiments and Science Fairs
– Plant a question
– Sprout a guess
– Record observations
– Graph Data
– Harvest Conclusions
– Water cycles, life cycles
– Design your own

15. Math
• Calculate
• Estimate
• Measure
• Weigh
• Graph

16. History and Social Studies
• Origination of plants and
regions of the world
• Agricultural History
• Cultural/Ethnic differences
• Political, ecological and
economic reasons for hunger
• Influences in food production
• Advertising and Marketing of
food

17. Language Arts
• Read, Write, Draw
• Poems, stories, letters, posters, informative flyers,
research
• Observe, brainstorm

18. Health and Nutrition
• Increase consumption and preference of fruits
and vegetables
• Food groups and nutrients our body needs
• Ways to prepare foods

19. Art, Music, Drama
• Painting, drawing
• Labels
• Collages, mosaics
• Puppet shows and plays
• Sing and Dance
• Flower and plant prints,
paper flowers, flower
bracelets
• Clay or dirt fossils

20. Benefits of School Gardens
• Concrete experiences, hands
on learning
• Motivation for the reluctant
learner
• Variety to teaching and
learning
• Increases student
achievement
• Compatible with current
educational practices
• Higher order thinking

21. Kids need gardens
• Promote healthful choices and fight obesity
• Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables
• Promote nutrition and physical activity
• Create memories and strengthen relationships
• Builds character and teaches responsibility
• Love our earth

22. Questions?

23. Kathy Williams
• Promotion of Children’s Health
• Physical Activity

24. I can garden. . . but with kids?

25. Preparation
• So important
• Small groups work best
• Pre-fill containers
• Set out tools
• Fill water buckets
• Have extra supplies
• Determine how much time is needed for each
activity

26. Flexibility
• Expect plans to change
• Time constraints
• Have a backup plan
• Garden chores make great substitutions

27. Engage Imagination
• 5 senses
• Choose plants with interesting names
• Choose plants with interesting shapes and colors
“The greatest gift of the garden is the
restoration of the five senses”
-Hanna Rion

28. Safety / Garden Rules
• Establish the garden
guidelines before going out
to the garden
• Keep them simple: show
respect, listen and follow
directions, no running
• Demonstrate the correct
use of tools (carrying the
“working” end of a tool
towards the ground)

29. Everyone can participate
• Allow access for wheel
chairs between containers
and garden beds
• Leave room at the edge of
the garden beds for
children to reach
• Children with impairments
may need extra time, hand
over hand physical
assistance

30. Growing in Containers / Garden Beds
• Adapt to your home
• Options on a porch or
balcony
• Garden Plot
• Container gardening
allow more families to
participate
• Grow veggies that do
well in containers
(bush tomatoes)

31. Learning Topics
• Wonder of seeds
• What plants need
• How to water
• How to transplant
• Planning a garden bed
or container
• Compost/soil
• Parts of a plant
• Pollinators

32. Wonder of Seeds
• How does a seed know it is
supposed to grow into a
pepper or an eggplant?
• What is inside of a seed?
• Reading a seed packet
• How might looking at a seed’s
size tell us how deep to plant
it?

33. What do plants need to grow?
• Sun
• Water
• Air
• Good Soil with nutrients
• Temperature
• What do kids need to be
healthy?

34. How to water-Get low and go slow!
• #1 favorite task
of kids!
• Physical
mechanics of
watering
• Look at the plant
– are there bugs
on it?
• Child is moving

35. How to transplant a seedling
• Takes a little practice
• Protecting the stem
• Observe the roots

36. How to plan a garden
• Choose easy to grow plants and vegetables
• Plan space in the container or garden bed
• Companion planting

37. Compost / Soil
• What is healthy soil?
• What is compost?
• How do you make it?
• What does a worm do
for the soil?

38. Parts of the plant
• Roots
• Stems
• Leaves
• Fruit
• Flower

39. Pollinators
• Why are they important to the health of our garden?
• Why are they important to the world’s food supply?

40. Activities
• Magnifying hand lens
• Rulers, measuring sticks
• Scales
• Scavenger Hunt Bag
• Celery Experiment
• Root Vue
• Grow veggies in a jar
• Lettuce Bowls
• Vocabulary words
• Journaling
• Garden Art / Plant labels
• Free Digging bed

41. “To plant a garden is to believe in the future” Author Unknown

42. Pamela Van Hoozer
• Sustaining a school garden
• Keeping commitment
“Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have
them plant a garden” -Robert Brault

43. Challenges
• Keeping everyone involved and committed
• Integrating curriculum & keeping focus
• Individual school challenges
• Staff turnover, team changes

44. Best Practices
• Location
• Permanence
• Organic
• Crop diversity
• Curriculum Integration
• Organization
• Administrative Support
• Commitment
• Community Access
• Celebrate & Acknowledge

45. Success in the Garden
• Enlist help from the
community
• Volunteers! Recruit, retain,
recognize
• Communicate: build
relationships and network
• Fundraise: donations, special
events
• Evaluate and gather feedback

46. Planning
• Include everything
– Sustainability
– Daily needs
– Long range goals
– Engagement
– Set children up for success
– Everything can be a learning experience

47. Maintenance
• Calendars
• Special Events
• Task List
• Debriefing
• Alternate plans
• Evaluate / feedback

48. Motivation
• Include everyone
• Journal
• Draw pictures
• Read stories
• Garden games: Follow the
leader, I spy
• Challenge everyone

49. Far reaching benefits of Gardening
• Physical
• Psychological
• Cultural
• Educational

50. Resources
• Garden Wizardry for Kids
– By Patricia Kite
• Gardening Projects for Kids
– By Jenny Hendy
• Healthy Foods From Healthy Soils
– By Elizabeth Patten and Kathy Lyons
• How to Grow a School Garden
– By Arden Bucklin Sporer and Rachael Kathleen Pringle
• Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning
– By Herbery W. Broda
• The Growing Classroom
– By Roberta Jaffe and Gary Appel

51. Available for free online
• Junior Master Gardener Handbook
– www.jmgkids.org
• Grow Yourself Healthy Fall Curriculum
– http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files/hn/2012/cm1
205.pdf
• Gardens for Learning – Creating and
Sustaining Your School Garden
– California School Garden Network
• http://www.csgn.org/

52. Go Grow Yourself Healthy!