A day at The Abbey Junior
How Does Your Garden Grow? was the theme at The Abbey Junior School where Garden Plotters spent a fun packed day with the nursery children learning about nature and gardening. In one of the activities they pretended to be seeds all curled up in the soil, when they got ‘rained on’ they pushed their roots into the soil and stretched and grew into shoots, pushing their arms out as the leaves grew then turning their heads up to the sky as they flowered under the sunshine.
One game the children particularly enjoyed was the Bee Curious game; in teams they had to buzz from hive to flower, collect nectar (water in a yoghurt pot!) then buzz back to the hive to store the nectar for all the hive bees to make honey. Their challenge was to crawl through a curvy tunnel on the way holding a bee in one hand and their yoghurt pot in another.
Back in the classroom the children talked about what they would like to have in a garden including what vegetables they like to grow and eat. They had a creative session designing and drawing gardens sticking on cut outs and using coloured pencils. Some very interesting gardens were created and it was amazing to see such young children developing something together as small groups.
After lunch with renewed energy the girls rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty planting up violas in pots to take home for Mother’s Day. Coloured labels and pretty ribbons made them all the more special. We were also able to use the planting time to help the children sow carrots and plant up leeks for their growing area.
At the end of a day full of playful activities and enthusiastic participation, this excited group of three year olds could eagerly answer questions such as……
What do plants need to grow?
What do plant roots do?
Name the parts of a plant
What do bees collect from flowers?
What do bees make?
Thank you The Abbey Junior School for hosting a memorable day with your nursery children whom we hope will continue to develop a lifelong love of gardens and nature
More photos can be found on The Abbey Junior website
Main things the group learned...
- Importance of tending plants
- plants have different parts - roots, stem etc
- turn taking
Three things the group most enjoyed...
- Bee game
- Planting the flowers
- Creating their own garden design
Changes you have noticed particularly…confidence in handling the plants and garden equipment
Quality of activities run... 10/10