Planting with Pre-K

When I was asked to help plant the Pre-K's class gardens as part of Farm to School Month, I was stoked! Little ones are usually the most impressed by the magic that is the life cycle and their faces are always priceless when they hold a tiny seed in their hand for the first time.

However, I soon found out that I would be teaching two groups of 66 four year-olds at one time....

At first the thought of this classroom management terrified me. I imagined dirt being thrown everywhere, gardens getting broken apart, seeds falling, children crying, and worst of all - teachers disappointed by my lack of teaching skills and would never, ever invite me to their class again.

I didn't want to turn down the opportunity to get these students' hands in the dirt, so I asked as many questions as I could and prepared myself for what I thought would be a disaster.

Turns out.... IT WAS AWESOME!

These little ones were super engaged with my "Sid the Seed" story and had tons of input about the fact that seeds grow into "such suuuuper tall apple trees" and that they hate spiders, of course.

I brought everyone outside to the gardens where each student was able to instantly identify exactly which raised bed belonged to their group and all yelled out about the "baby strawberries" in one other class's gardens.

They then sat patiently as I explained that you can use your pointer finger to poke a hole "like where Sid the seed lived," then place the seed in the hole, and gently cover it with soil.

The teachers were wonderfully supportive and just as enthusiastic as the students were about getting a chance to plant in the garden. They had my back when things got a little too exciting for the students or when there was drama over who got more seeds.

To my surprise the process, went smoothly and each student got to plant their own seeds and then came over and told me how they did it and wanted a high five. I have never been more amazed by how engaged and well behaved children can be when given the chance to learn about the seemingly basic process of planting food.

It was awesome.