Besides having a playground in your outdoor environment, do you have any idea what else to do to utilize your outdoor space? Starting a preschool garden is definitely a good idea. You don’t have to worry that preschoolers are too young to do gardening, it is never too young to learn new things.
You can engage the children in the concept of gardening, and achieve sustainability. Gardening is a valuable skill, catches their attention and teaches them the simplest gardening skills. Besides teaching the skills they need, it can encourage them to work with others and also allows them to have a sense of accomplishment.
These young helpers may not have the loveliest vegetables to show, but they definitely are able to learn some knowledge from them. Letting children have an early exploration in the garden will help to build some interest in gardening and will help them to build stronger bodies and minds. Besides that, isn’t it good to have some food created from the ingredients that you grew in your preschool garden? It’s not hard to start a preschool garden, we will be sharing some tips with you. So, let’s cultivate the children’s inner gardener to grow.
1. Get Approval From Parents For Your Preschool Garden
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Before starting your preschool garden, it is best to get approval from the parents. As children in preschool is quite young, parents will be concerned with the safety of their children while they are in your preschool garden. Give them all the information that you have for your preschool garden. Let them know the safety measures that you will have and how much will the children be involved. This will depend on the child’s age.
When you have started your preschool garden. You will need to let new parents know before each enrollment. You will want the parents to know that their children are in safe hands even if there is an activity going on.
2. Safety Comes First In Preschool Garden
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Compared to most preschool playgrounds, the preschool garden will be a safer endeavor. But you will still need to be cautious of all the potential risks to these young gardeners. Ensure that they are wearing proper clothing and shoes in the garden. This includes protective gardening gloves and goggles.
Ensure that you are using a child-friendly gardening tool, which has no sharp edges or points. Make sure that the tools are clean and rust-free. Besides that, whatever you will be using to treat the soil should be organic.
Since it will be an outdoor space, there will insects around. Consider having organic insect repellant for the children while they are gardening. You will want to ensure that the children have any allergies to plants in your preschool garden. Your preschool garden will be for children all year round, not just for the current year.
3. Group The Children and Duties By Age In Your Preschool Garden
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Depending on the children age that you are recruiting, you will want to group them by age and give them duties that are suitable for them. 4-5 years old children can be a hands-on gardeners. They are able to take instructions on planting and caring for the preschool garden.
While 3 years old will be a bit hard to work on the spot, their ability to absorb new information can be impressive. You can teach them the names of fruits and vegetables in your preschool garden. Let them turn the soil under your supervision and let them understand how to navigate garden grounds. When it is time for them to become a hands-on gardener, they will know what to do.
4. Start A Small But Scalable Preschool Garden
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You don’t have to create a big preschool garden in the beginning. Find a corner that is small and suitable for the garden, and grow a few fruits and vegetables that can respond well to your surrounding.
Your preschool garden is meant for educational usage and lets the children have fun at the same time, by having a small space will keep the challenges. If you want to expand your preschool garden in the future, set enough room for sustainable growth. Having enough space will let you scale your program by adding some plants in each season.
5. Learning By Example In Preschool Garden
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Children, especially those at a young age learn by what you do and how you act. If children see you in the preschool garden, the children will feel more comfortable. You can show the excitement you have while gardening and they will get excited too. Stimulate their desire to learn and let them see the joy of watching the plants grow.
There are many insects outdoor, such as spiders and toads. Try not to over-react. They will be afraid if they see you being scared. You will need to build a healthy respect for garden creatures. Remember to stay calm when you see it.
6. Give Them Space To Grow In the Preschool Garden
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It can be hard for some parents to let go to let their children grow up. You will need to give them some space in the preschool garden to let them get excited about gardening. You can let them have a small garden plot on their own or a few seeds for them to experiment with. It is important to let go of your control to let them learn.
It is unavoidable for the children to end up messy, muddy, and unorganized while gardening. They will feel more comfortable with the dirt in your preschool garden, and the plants will still grow.
Having a preschool garden is all about learning and having fun. It’s alright to let the children mix the seed in the plot, let them think out of the box and they will be planting in a row in no time. So let’s enjoy yourself in your preschool garden.
Speak with The Experts
Planning to get started at your kindergarten but have no idea about it?
Childcare Center Renovation Singapore is a reliable company for renovation and interior design. They have about ten years of experience in this field and have a good reputation among customers.
Call us now to get your desired kindergarten design ideas now!
