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Time to Get Your Green Thumb On

It seems to be that kids playing outdoors belongs to a bygone era, replaced with indoor gaming sessions and tech time. Besides the obvious benefits of improved fitness, letting imaginations run wild and opportunities to socialise with other kids, what else are kids missing out on by not being outside?

Springtime is the perfect time to get kids going in the garden. You can develop positive food habits and discover how food ends up on the table via the garden through growing things at home.

Not-for-profit The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation’s food philosophy is that if it’s fun and hands-on, food education teaches children positive food habits. Not only that, but their kitchen garden program model helps students develop literacy and numeracy by reading and writing recipes, measuring out quantities of ingredients or recording garden harvests; investigating the plants and soil in the garden or chemical processes in the kitchen becomes a science lesson; and cooking dishes from other cultures and time periods links to geography and history studies.

This philosophy sees them helping more than 1300 schools and early years learning centres across Australia teach children the joys of growing and cooking fresh and seasonal food.

Majura Primary School has been running a kitchen garden program since 2010. Its Kitchen Specialist, Lou Rodgerson, said the program has encouraged students to try new foods and develop positive food habits.

“Parents often ask ‘How did you get my kid to eat that in the kitchen?’, and we say we did nothing but provide them with the opportunity to grow, harvest, prepare and share,” Lou said.

“Students just love to eat the food they have been actively involved in preparing.

“The dining room is often full of exclamations like ‘Wow this is delicious’ and ‘Who made the gazpacho? It’s amazing’.”


So how to get them out in the garden?

Here are four other garden activities you and your kids can do:

  1. Egg Shell Planters: Sow your seeds in an eggshell and when it’s time to transplant, drop them into the soil eggshell and all!
  2. Worm Olympics: ‘Ready, Set, Go!!’ Drop those worms into the dirt and watch them race!
  3. Seed Spheres: Heard of photo-bombing? Try seed-bombing! Seed spheres are round balls of earth and compost with seeds inside them. Sometimes people make them to throw into barren areas such as roadsides but you can throw them into wilder areas of the garden too. These also make great alternate gifts.
  4. Leaf Rubbing: An oldie but a goodie and great for a rainy day! Lay calico over a leaf and gently hammer with a rubber mallet to release its moisture and natural dyes into the fabric. Beautiful way to bring the outside in on a rainy day!
  5. Plant some peas, beans or cherry tomatoes, that can be picked and eaten while in the garden (planting Seedlings
  6. Make a frame out of bamboo for beans to climb on. (Climbing Structure)
  7. Give a patch of the garden to the child and let them choose what to grow, they can also look after the plant, water, feed etc.

Find these and other gorgeous garden activities, with full methods and useful tips on the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation website

And while you’re there, find out how your child’s school or early learning centre can join the growing food education journey.


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