I went to school

[amandaandherveg]

We grew cress with teacher when at infant school. We then all donated the cream from the top of our school milk bottles and all took a turn at shaking a plastic lidded cup until it turned into butter. Teacher then buttered some bread and we had cress sandwiches. All these years later I still rememeber how much fun it was.

I hope you have loads of fun.

[allotmentlady]

thanks guys, some really wonderful ideas.

I really enjoyed it yesterday, it was fun and nice to get closer to my daughters teachers lol...i shall be taking some of these ideas in my notebook and put them into practice. I am going to approach the head and ask if there is a bit of land to grow pumpkins etc....be good for the children to watch them grow, come back in September and harvest them!

[MrsC]

thanks guys, some really wonderful ideas.

I really enjoyed it yesterday, it was fun and nice to get closer to my daughters teachers lol...i shall be taking some of these ideas in my notebook and put them into practice. I am going to approach the head and ask if there is a bit of land to grow pumpkins etc....be good for the children to watch them grow, come back in September and harvest them!

Al, if you want some links I can send them, being in that line of work. Only thing is, nice to have pumpkins, but consider who'll water them over the school hols along with anything else you consider planting

[Headfry]

Dont kill the snails but find them and get the kiddie winks to write a number or letter on the shell with a marker pen. let the snails go and see if you come across them again! keep a chart of where you find them etc!
"learning to live with the enemy"

[dexterdoglancashire]

Well done AL! Rather you than me chuck - as you know I can only eat one whole child at once! I wish you luck - I know how enthusiastic you are - I know the children will pick up on your enthusiasm, and will really enjoy your lessons, and will really benefit from your experience and advice. I haven't really any ideas (having no experience of children) but like you say, have a word with the Headteacher - a small plot of land, a few pots......?

[allotmentlady]

Al, if you want some links I can send them, being in that line of work. Only thing is, nice to have pumpkins, but consider who'll water them over the school hols along with anything else you consider planting

Please that would be gr8!

[RedThorn]

One of the things DD loves the most in her patch is the lemon thyme! She is forever brushing her hand over it and then smelling her hand!

Perhaps some lettuce(baby gem types....)?

Get the kids to germinate their beans in a jar(pressed up against the side with kitchen towel) so they can see the seed germinate.... then plant them out. or coupled with idea below

Funky lil pots decorated by the kids with a dwarf bean plant to take home with them when school breaks in summer....

Cress in egg shells with cotton wool

[allotmentlady]

cress in egg shells and painting pots sounds good

[bluemoon]

I was the 'gardening teacher' when my kids were in primary school, - 20 odd years ago - but the school didn't really want us to grow anything edible and I had to stick with flowers. How times change.

[sweetiepea]

I started a veg garden at DS school in March. We have grown carrots, onions, beetroot, radish, peas, lettuce, and potatoes. They're all out in raised beds now. We also have sweet peas and Nasturtiums. Sunflowers are being started this week, as are a couple of pumpkins for Halloween. I chose quick growers because the summer term ends in June here, and I wanted the children to see the harvest before they finish. Of course there are all kinds of things we could have put in, but there'll be no one to tend them during the holiday. Having said that, I have committed myself to tending the pumpkins while school is out, but time constraints (and my own veggies) mean I can't take on everything.

I haven't introduced the concept of 'organic' gardening, but I won't be using chemicals, slug pellets etc. Eggshells are the order of the day at the moment, and beneficial insects are being encouraged onto the plot. I had the compost thing too, but they got over it very quickly. You should have seen their faces when I brought in house manure for the potato drills. Priceless! Having said that though, they all wanted to use it. We had some chicken manure too which has gone into one drill, and it will be interesting to see if there's any difference in growth/yield.

Creepy crawlies were, I thought, going to be a huge hurdle, but I was pleasantly surprised. Once I explained which were 'good' and which we'd prefer to hurl into the sea (sorry ... slugs just do that to me!!) all was fine. Worms are now greeted with cheers, and any slugs found in the vicinity are 'removed' to the neighbours field. We don't kill anything.

Our next project is nettle fertiliser. I want them to see what we can make ourselves, naturally. I'll let them put it together, but it'll be locked away then, until we're ready to use it. Don't want any accidents.

Good luck allotmentlady. I'd be glad to share experiences as we go along if you'd like to.

[growingkasbar]

I work with chidren age 0-6 years and weve started growing vegetables. We have so far planted; strawberrys, potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, courgettes, runner beans, cress, radishes and broad beans. The children have all enjoyed the experience even the babys like playing with the mud as a sensory experience. The pre-schoolers have also done a great deal of math work (or problem solving,reasoning,and numeracy as it now is under the EYFS) comparing the plants. Which is taller, counting the leafs, looking which is bigger, which one weighs more etc etc, there is loads to be learnt through growing.

[miffy]

Hi, things to try.
Build a mini beast hotel, nothing fascinates children more than finding creepy crawlies and it would give you opportunities to introduce them to the importance of insects in our food cycle.
We grew peas at the Nursey,the children loved popping the pods and eating the peas straight out of them, little green sweets one little fella said.
We also grew radishes, spring onions, cut and come again lettuces and of course strawberries which are just so yummy.
We had bean races to see whose runner bean got the tallest first, and also did some fair testing around conditions for growth, i.e watered a seed, gave it food and light.
didn't water a seed, gave it food and light
watered a seed, gave it food but no light
Perfectly illustrated the conditions needed for plants to grow, led onto lots of discussion around what we need to help us grow and be healthy too.
Also as growingkasbar says just having the opportunity to dig and get dirty is an experience many children miss out on, this whole you can't get your hands dirty syndrome! Digging, using the tools, sieving the soil, searching for worms and just enjoying the smell, touch and hopefully not the taste! of the soil is an enriching experience for children.
Keep up th good work, your little girls school are lucky to have you.