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ABC Garden
- Have students plant an alphabet garden that includes one plant whose name begins with each letter of the alphabet. They make and decorate alphabet letters to put in the garden; see Plant Alphabet
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African-American Garden
- Create a garden using plants that are native to or frequently used in African countries or that were used in America by African slaves
- Learn to cook traditional African foods and have the students taste the products
- Using a map, show children where Africa is located and tie geography to vegetation, culture, and food
- Students explore the diversity of ecosystems that exist in Africa and create small garden plots to represent each
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American History Garden
- Create a garden using plants that were once used for cloth or dyes (cotton, flax, beets, indigo, etc.)
- Using plants from the garden, learn how to dye cloth
- Use or learn about plants that were discovered by Lewis and Clark
- Learn about plants that are native to North America or your schools state
- Plant a garden using heirloom vegetables
- Plant a Kitchen Garden with heirloom vegetables, herbs, and flowers used by Colonial Americans for food, medicine, fragrance, and economic value
- Plant a grain garden with cereal crops that are grown in your region
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Art Garden
- Grow plants that can be used for art projects (i.e., dried flowers, flowers for pressing, interesting seed pods, and gourds)
- Sell items made with garden products to raise money for the next garden season
- Create a garden mosaic of student designs on a garden wall (or cement bird bath)
- Have students take sketch books out in the garden and draw plants and bug life
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Asian-American Garden
- Create a garden using plants that are native to or used frequently in Asia
- Learn to cook typical Asian foods and have the students taste the products
- Have students write and share Haiku poems to explore Japan
- Using a map or globe have students research what countries make up Asia and connect geography to vegetation, culture, and food
- As an indoor winter project, have students create miniature bonsai or ikebana flower arrangements and research the symbolism in each
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Butterfly Garden
- Have students research plants that attract butterflies
- Discuss the butterfly lifecycle and the role of pollinators
- Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (ISBN# 0399226907)
- Raise and observe developing butterflies (we use products from Insect Lore)
- Create butterfly journals to record development of classroom butterflies
- Check out the North American Butterfly Association or Project Monarch Watch
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Herb Garden
- Learn how to make herbal teas from plants in the school garden
- Discuss cultural uses of herbs through history
- Discuss the difference between herbal tea and black tea
- Make herbal vinegars, oils, or sachets for Mothers Day gifts
- Dry herbs from the school garden and sell at Parent Night to raise money for next years garden materials
- Harvest fresh herbs to chop and mix with cream cheese to serve for a class or school event
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International Garden
- Have students research a particular part of the world or specific country and choose plants that are representative of that region to grow in your garden
- Have students observe, make predictions, and then research to determine how the plants are specially-adapted to their native region
- Find out your students cultural background or ethnicities and use plants from students native countries
- Incorporate student art that reflects a particular country or region of the world
- Use plants that are native to a country or region that you are teaching concurrently in a social studies unit
- Create a school garden recipe book with recipes that use items from the school garden and that students have collected from their native countries
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Jack and the Bean Stalk Garden
Kinder Garden
- Plant an ABC Garden using plants that start with each letter of alphabet; see Plant Alphabet
- Build raised beds in various geometrical shapes
- Plant a rainbow garden; see Rainbow Colors for Health to use flower color to plant a rainbow
- Use plants will large seeds that are easy for little fingers to handle, such as sunflowers, cucumbers, and squash or gourds
- Sunflowers and gourds grow very quicklyuse them as the basis for a measuring garden where young ones learning to measure can practice measuring a couple of times each week
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Kitchen Garden
- Create an edible garden using plants that the children like to eat or have never tried before
- Create a garden with vegetables for each different plant partroots, stems, flowers, fruits, and seeds and learn about plant parts using foods we eat. Try using Chicago Botanic Gardens Botany Basics: Kitchen Botany Facilitator Guide
- Grow a salad garden that will be ready to harvest before school is out for the summer
- Plant a fruit and veggie garden featuring vegetables such as lettuce, carrots, and spinach as well as fruits (anything with a seed) such as squash, cucumbers, or eggplant
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Latin-American Garden
- Create a garden using plants that are native to or used frequently in Latin countries, such as tomatoes, tomatilloes, cilantro, and peppers
- Learn to cook typical Latin foods and have the students taste the products
- Learn to make tortillas in a baggie; see instructions
- Using a map, show children where the Latin countries are located and tie geography to vegetation, culture, and food
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Literacy/Reading Garden
(garden incorporating a cozy nook for a class to sit and read)
- Feature garden story books to be read in the garden each week; see our Top 10 Books
- Use plants found in childrens literature such as Peter Rabbit, The Ugly Vegetables, or Growing Vegetable Soup
- Create a reading circle in the garden
- Have students construct nature journals to record garden development and collect seeds and pressed flowers
- Have students write stories or poems about gardening or plants in the school garden
- Read seed packets
- Create a school garden newsletter to share with parents and the community
- Have children write stories about the garden in books that they make
- Use the garden as the context for new vocabulary words or for writing from different perspectives (their own, a bird flying overhead, a beetle on a leaf, a worm underground, etc.)
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Math Garden
- Create a garden to include raised beds of various geometric shapes
- Have the children estimate number of seeds they will need in a row based on row length and seed spacing information on seed packet
- Do the Percent Seed Germination Activity in the classroom; see instructions
- Have children chart seedling growth
- Create a square-foot garden
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Maze Garden
- Create a maze in your garden using grasses, a hedge, or corn plants
- Include something fun like a reading area in the middle of your maze
- Use maize (corn) in your maze for a play on words
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Native-American Garden/Colonial Garden
- Learn about the Three Sisters Garden tradition
- Create a garden using plants that are native to America or plants traditionally used by Native Americans
- Make corn seed necklaces; see instructions
- Learn about plants used for dyes
- Discuss medicinal plants; learn how Native Americans and Colonial settlers used plants as medicine
- Read Corn is Maize by Aliki (ISBN 0-06-445026-0) to learn about the history of corn
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Nutrition Garden
- Do the Plant Part Pounding Activity as a basis for nutrition study; see instructions
- Plant fruits and vegetables in different sections that represent a wide range of vitamins (i.e., The Vitamin C section, Vitamin A section, etc.)
- Plant plants of every color of a healthy diet; see Rainbow Colors for Health
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Outer Space Garden
- Create a garden using outer space sounding plants such as Moon Flower, Moon and Stars Watermelon, and Cosmos
- Learn more about growing plants in outer space
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Peter Rabbit Garden
- Have students read Peter Rabbit and create a garden with plants mentioned in the story (cabbage, carrots, lettuce, etc.)
- Have students create a Peter Rabbit play to act out in their garden
- Create a nest space in the garden where students can sit and read Peter Rabbit and other books
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Pizza Garden
- Grow a garden that has all the ingredients for pizza: wheat, tomatoes, peppers, oregano, basil, onions, garlic, etc.
- Learn about the history of pizza
- Grow mushrooms in your classroom
- Make a classroom pizza using produce from your garden
- Use the pizza garden as the basis to launch a study on Old World and New World plants (Did you know that the first pizzas were Old World and did not include tomatoes, which are a New World plant?)
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Native Plant Garden
- Research what plants are native to your region
- Discuss ways in which Native Americans and settlers used plants in your region
- Learn about endangered native plants in your state or region
- Read plant folklore stories
- Hold a seed-saving day in the fall; collect seeds and create a seed bank
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Salsa Garden
- Create a garden with all of the plants you might find in salsa (tomatoes, cilantro, onions, peppers, and garlic)
- Have students create a salsa recipe to make and share with other classrooms
- Make salsa to give as gifts or sell at a garden fundraiser
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Sensory Garden
- Use plants you can feel, smell, taste, touch and hear
- Do a lesson or activity where students can use their five senses
- Use edible flowers such as pansies, nasturtiums, borages, etc.
- Have students find ways they can use their five senses in the garden and then combine this with activities and lessons in art
- Have a garden concert using musical instruments made out of garden tools, seedpods, branches, gourds, grass blades, or flower pots
- Use plants that will have winter interest (especially if you live in a cold climate) such as grasses, shrubs, and trees with colored or exfoliating bark, evergreens, and plants with seed pods that will persist into winter
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Shakespeare Garden
(plants from Shakespeares classics)
- Create a garden using plants mentioned in Shakespeares works
- Discuss the mythical or medicinal uses of Shakespearean plants
- Research the meaning or significance of plants or flowers found in Shakespeares work
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Storybook Garden
- Have students design a garden with plants found in storybooks
- Incorporate a Jack and the Beanstalk bean teepee
- Incorporate a poppy field as found in Wizard of Oz
- Incorporate a Peter Rabbit section including cabbage, carrots, etc.
- Have students write their own fairy tale
- Have students make and write their own books
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Tea Garden
- Create a garden using plants commonly used in herbal teas such as chamomile and mint
- Learn about the history of teas
- Learn about different types of tea ceremonies throughout the world
- Make herbal mint tea; see instructions
- Have a classroom tea party
- Discuss the differences between herbal tea and black tea
- Read The Boston Tea Party by Steven Kroll (ISBN 0-8234-1557-0) and grow an alternative tea plant used by early American Colonials in place of expensive, highly-taxed true tea
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Tops and Bottoms Garden
- Read Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens (ISBN#0-15-292851-0)
- Have students design a classroom garden using plants in Tops and Bottoms (above book about plants that grow above and below ground)
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Vegetable Snack Garden
- Encourage children to grow fruits and vegetables that they would like to taste, favorites as well as new items
- Incorporate nutrition lessons
- Grow a Pizza Garden that includes plant ingredients on a pizza
- Grow a Salsa Garden that includes plant ingredients found in salsa
- Have students keep a food journal to record what plants they eat
- Build and observe a compost bin in your school garden
- Discuss when to plant/harvest vegetables in the garden
- Learn about plant life cycles
- Read The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller (ISBN# 0-448-41091-5)
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Wildlife Garden
- Incorporate a tree with berries for the birds in your garden
- Use tall grasses for cover for small animals such as rabbits
- Install a birdbath or birdfeeder outside a classroom window
- Have your students research plants and flowers that specifically attract hummingbirds, butterflies, or moths
- In winter months, create a variety of bird snacks to hang in the garden as a cold-season snack
- Use plants with seed heads that will naturally provide snacks for birds, such as sunflowers and millet
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