This document discusses the benefits of school gardens for children's health, education, and development. It notes that childhood obesity has doubled in the past 30 years. School gardens can empower children by teaching them to grow their own food and develop healthy eating habits. The document outlines several programs and curricula for incorporating gardening into education in ways that align with common core standards and teach across subjects like science, math, history and nutrition. It emphasizes the importance of preparation, engagement, safety, and adapting activities for all children when gardening with kids. Sustaining long-term school gardens requires community involvement, planning, effective maintenance and finding ways to motivate ongoing participation.

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!