A review of Kids Gardening.org, the child garden website operated by the National Gardening Association. Lessons in extraterrestrial horticultural technology and more.
Kids Gardening is a great place to get ideas for your children or for teachers to get ideas for their classes and school. They offer educational resources for teachers, funding opportunities, and instruction through the website, conferences, and newsletter. You can subscribe free to the kidsgardening.org ezine. The February 2007 lesson was “Plants in Outer Space?” It's a program designed to help launch kids into “cosmic gardening explorations.”
Here’s a quote from this exciting series of lesson plans:
“The development of extraterrestrial horticultural technology is key to extending our explorations into the next frontier...and the generation you teach may be the first to experience it first hand!” Now, I'll bet you've added a new phrase to your horticulture vocabulary!
Fascinated and want to learn more? Try these web resources:
Growing Plants Without Gravity
Growing Food for Space Travelers
A very good report on the benefits of a youth garden can be found at the NGA website at this link. You’ll find examples of some of the things that grow in kids’ gardens, like:
- Health
- Environmental awareness
- Love for learning
- Academic, Social and Life Skills
- Community Resilience
March conferences 2007
- Farm to Cafeteria & Food Policy
- Garden Ed for Young Children
- Service-Learning
- Cleveland Area School Garden Symposium
- Cultivating a Healthy Future
