About Me
Hello!
I'm LuAnn Collins. I'm a mother/grandmother, educator/writer/coach, homesteader/flower essence practitioner involved in a variety of projects, not the least of which is conducting workshops and demonstrations on gardening, particularly with children. After almost 40 years of classroom teaching and government/corporate training, I jumped at the chance to do even more of the things I love-- gardening, hanging out with children & those who love them, and education. So for two years, I worked with the staff at Rockdale Career Academy to create an outdoor learning space for preschoolers. Our project was a garden at the high school.
The vision of the garden was to inspire and influence children, teens, and adults to learn in an outdoor space. The basic idea was to get kids & their adult companions outside in the dirt and with the plants. And we came up with a variety of ways to do just that-- click on the photos for a description of our garden as it progressed.
After two years, I turned management of the garden over to the wonderful staff at RCA who continue to look after it and use it as an outdoor learning environment. Although I no longer work with them, I regularly volunteer at kids' gardens at elementary schools, non-profits, and service organizations. The Kids' Gardening Workshop is based on my experiences and the resources I've come to value.
I started this site as a way to share my good and not so good experiences, to encourage the love of gardening, being outside and taking care of the Earth, and to cut down on the time you spend searching for resources.
10 Things You Might Want to Know About Kids Gardening
1. Not all kids like to get dirty, especially today. They get all freaked out so you may have to ease them into it and let them wash their hands as many times as necessary until they get used to the feel of dirt.
2. Plants die. A lot. Regardless of how much you spent on it or how well you took care of it. Toss it when the kids aren't around or use it as a lesson in recycling or have a little flower funeral. Everything and anything can be used as a teachable moment. Dead plants are part of the life cycle. Use it as a lesson.
3. Many kids (and adults) get spooked around bugs, especially bees and spiders. If you are one of those people do some kind of desensitization intervention work before you take children outside. Running around screaming and swatting at insects tends to set a really bad example and sometimes upsets the children.
4. Kids like things to be neat and tidy despite the mess they may leave around and this includes a garden. A garden is full of soil and plants and leaf litter, but never should it be filled with paper or trash or decaying food. Tools, toys and learning equipment should all have a place and just like the classroom, they should be put back in their place every day. Decaying food should be part of the compost and covered with dirt or a tarp so it doesn't attract rodents or other nasty critters or not there at all. Neat and clean makes the garden more pleasant and teaches good stewardship.
5. Children get attached to plants just like they do the classroom mascot. Don't be surprised if they get attached to a particular weed that you want to pull. It's all good. Let them take care of it.
6. Children like to pick flowers so plant extra and let them. This doesn't mean to let them destroy everything within reach. Some children haven't been taught self-discipline and deciding when the best time to pick a flower or which flower to pick is an exercise in self-discipline; however, sometimes the flower is just too good and the desire to share too strong.
7. Children love to climb, walk on edges/ledges and lines, skip, hop, jump, run, and dig. Make retaining walls low enough they can't hurt themselves when they balance on them. Make pathways wide enough and without roots and rocks to trip over so they can move freely. Add climbing features at a height they can test their abilities without getting hurt when they fall-- and they will fall. Keep an area open so digging doesn't damage plants.
8. Children love to be outside as long as they get to BE outside. Constantly preventing them from being active and with the plants only causes them to be tense and unhappy. It causes the plants to be tense and unhappy and nobody like a tense and unhappy plant. Relax.
9. A child's garden doesn't have to be elaborate, expensive or even outside. One of the best lessons at the preschool is butterfly coccoon hatching. For a small amount of money to buy the kit, the kids get to watch butterflies emerge and it's all indoors. I'm also a big fan of vermiculture. I use plastic tubs bought from the local big box store as my bins and they work really well.
10. There are more people gardening with children today than ever. The sheer number of resources can be overwhelming. If you already know how to garden, all you need is enthusiasm and the willingness to invite children into your space. If you don't currently garden, your local Extension Service has information, people, and even a hotline. They sponsor the Master Gardener program, train volunteers who love to help. Call or email the Extension Service in your state or search the internet for one of their many documents on every kind of gardening and agricultural topic you can imagine.
If you want to stay in the loop on what's going on with Kids Gardening, specifically the Kids Gardening Workshop, there will soon be a newsletter (we're currently undergoing reconstruction on the site and with the news). They're short, newsy, and full of events about kids gardening.
