There’s nothing more
exciting for children than to have and develop their very own vegetable patch.
Surprisingly, I have come across very few schools that provide this enriching
experience to their students. Urban centres understandably have limited, if any
space to accommodate this activity…but growing vegetables or flowers in pots or
long wooden boxes filled with soil is a viable option. Parents living in high rise apartments can make use of their balconies to facilitate the activity.
If educators have the luxury
of being able to pick a spot, go for one with plenty of sunshine. For a group
of 8-10 children, a raised bed approximately 8 feet long and 3 feet wide is
good enough. Ask your gardener to make “walkways” between beds to avoid
trampling. Work with small groups at a time to avoid not just overcrowding, but
also so that you can give them personal time and guidance.
Next, the gardening
tools – provide real child-size gardening tools, not toys. You will need a few
shovels, rakes hoes, and trowels. Unique garden ornaments are available too. Make use of these to help
each group identify its own plot. Alternately, you could make your own using
discarded material such as empty tin cans etc. Very small children might have
problem reading, but if working with slightly older ones, name tags work just
as well. Even within a larger plot, each child could have his or her personal
“garden” – allocate individual spaces and mark them for easy recognition.
Prepare your children for the activity by
making them part of the process. Now that their garden is ready, allow them to
decide what they want to grow. Watch it though! You might have someone who
wants to grow burgers or pizzas! They can plant seasonal vegetables such as
tomatoes, beans, bell peppers, carrots etc. The thrill of growing vegetables is
greater than growing flowers simply because they can eat their
produce!
Now for the most
exciting part……planting and tending. Show your children how to sow seeds. They
could either plant in rows or just scatter the seeds depending on what you are
planting. Tomatoes or beans would be better off evenly spaced, whereas a coriander
splash is perfectly acceptable. Schedule gardening sessions so that children weed
their vegetable patches at least once a week and water their plants daily, or
as required. Enriching the soil with fertilizers is important too. Use organic
or natural fertilizers, keeping in mind at all times that all garden related activities
must be strictly supervised by adults. However, let the children get their hands dirty! Do not hold back on that at all.
Make the most of the
gardening experience. It offers you the opportunity to get children to engage with
nature. Use it to slide in diverse lessons ranging from life cycles to the
concept of change. Get them exploring to observe colours, shapes, sizes. In
addition to plants, they may come upon worms, spiders and birds, particularly
if they have an outdoor garden. Record observations on charts. Watch their
thrill as a bud or flower appears and turns to fruit. The ultimate joy? Being
able to pluck the produce and eat it! Teach them to wash the fruit or vegetable
before popping it into their mouth.
They are doing
something real with tangible results…it’s a priceless experience.
