The next types of gardens that we will highlight are vegetable and fruit gardens. In a previous blog post, Learn Healthy Eating in the Garden, we highlighted the benefits of giving children the tools to plant, grow and harvest nutritional fruits and vegetables on their own. But what else are children getting from these edible gardens?
Just look at the produce the children are growing, bright oranges and reds, vibrant greens, mellow purples. It is like an edible crayon box. Children have the opportunity to choose their favorite color and a plant to match. You could even turn it in to a game. Split your kids into a few groups based on their favorite color. See whose color coincides with the most types of fruits and vegetables.
An activity like the one above also incorporates math with the winning team having the most amount of fruits and vegetables. How else could you tie math into this? You’ll need some rulers and a small scale. After the produce has been picked, which color had the largest produce? Which had the heaviest? Let the children document their findings.
For some healthy eating and sensory awareness, have snack time and take a vote over which produce tasted the best!
The children will be encouraged and proud to plant their favorites at home to share with their families.
