As a seasonal Children's Garden Instructor I had the pleasure of leading gardening and plant exploration lessons for groups of 4.5 - 5.5 year old students. My groups were responsible for maintaining ten garden plots within the Children's Garden at the BBG. Students weeded, seeded, transplanted, and harvested in our ten plots as well as communal plots. Daily themes helped to focus our activities and provide a basis for our lesson plans. Themes included seeds, roots and compost, leaves, fruits, flowers, aquatic and carnivorous plants. Our daily activities as well as students comments (spout-outs) were recorded in a group journal. Group journals were also used to record what was harvested and how much.
Activities included plant dissection, leaf rubbings, explorative walking trips to the various gardens within the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, pressed flower laminated book marks, contact paper Frankenstein-Plants, seed shakers, studying the habits of pollinators, scavenger hunts, relay races and games, and taste testing and cooking/eating with harvested fruits and vegetables. Students help to prepare foods from the garden including mint tea, herb cream cheese, kohlrabi coleslaw, and carrot cake.
Activities included plant dissection, leaf rubbings, explorative walking trips to the various gardens within the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, pressed flower laminated book marks, contact paper Frankenstein-Plants, seed shakers, studying the habits of pollinators, scavenger hunts, relay races and games, and taste testing and cooking/eating with harvested fruits and vegetables. Students help to prepare foods from the garden including mint tea, herb cream cheese, kohlrabi coleslaw, and carrot cake.