Learn in the Garden

School food gardens positively contribute to academic outcomes by enabling teachers to offer experiential learning opportunities that align with emerging teaching approaches across all grades. Participation in experiential learning activities, such as gardens, has been shown to enhance student engagement and positively impact behaviour and academic performance. Gardens also offer an environment where students’ food choices and eating habits are positively influenced through role modelling, informal education opportunities and healthy food selections.

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Resources for Learn in the Garden

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Vegetable Garden Colouring Book

This colouring book is a great way for young children to begin naming and recognizing objects, food, critters and more that they might see in the garden.

Garden Lesson 8 - Putting the Garden to Bed

Owned by Nourish NS

This lesson will walk through the end-of-season practice of “putting the garden to bed” for the winter, and includes activities to help plan for next year’s garden.

Understanding Organic Curriculum (Grades 6-12, Web)

Garden Lesson 7 - Harvest & Reflection

Owned by Nourish NS

This lesson will cover when and how to harvest, as well as some fun activities to reflect on this past growing season and the future of your garden.

Garden Lesson 6 - What about Weeds?

In this lesson, we identify some of the most common Nova Scotia garden weeds and how to get rid of them safely.

Garden Lesson 5 - The Dirt on Soil

In this lesson, we will use some at-home methods to test garden soil composition and see what it's made of.

Garden Lesson 4: Garden Guests and Pests

This lesson will go over recognizing some of the most common garden visitors, as well as some activities that can help attract more pollinators to a garden.

Garden Lesson 3: Planning a Garden

Learn the pros and cons of each type of garden, as well as how to plan and map out a garden.

Garden Lesson 2: Transplanting Seedlings

This lesson will guide you through the process of “sun mapping” and transplanting seedlings into larger pots.

Garden Lesson 1: Starting Seeds Indoors

This lesson will guide young gardeners to create indoor seed starters using recycled egg cartons.

Learning in the Garden

This resource highlights ideas to bring the classroom to life in the garden.

Where Does Your Food Come From?

This activity can help students explore where their food comes from and why it's important to consider.

Make Your Own Seed Paper

This handout provides instructions to up-cycle used paper into 'seed paper' for your garden, and is a great lesson about reducing waste and recycling nutrients back into the garden.

How to Vermicompost

This handout walks you through the process of creating a Vermicompost.

Make an Octopus Rain Barrel

Make a fun Octopus Rain Barrel with this educational activity.

Grow Your Own Micro-Greens

This activity page will tell you all you need to know about growing microgreens.

In the Garden - Basinview School

Hear primary students talk about what gardeners do and what the school food garden means to them.

Roving Reporter: What's in a Garden?

This is a great video to show students to help them learn where their food comes from.

Roving Reporter: Stone Soup

This video tells the story of a school that embodied the value of sharing as they prepare to make a school-wide meal with their garden harvest.

Reconciliation Through Education Teacher's Guide (Web)

The teaching resource collection within the archives at the NCTR is composed of over 300 unique English-language resources and 100 French-language resources related to residential schools and other closely related topics.

The Nature Playbook

This online book is a great resource to support your teaching of the impact of nature on health and well being.

"How to Save Your Own Seeds" & "Every Seed Tells a Tale" by Seeds of Diversity Canada

This handbook has all you need to know to get out in the garden and inspire students by exploring the power of the seed and the starting point of all of our produce.

Edible Schoolyard Curriculum Guide (Web)

This document is certainly multi-use! If you'd like a glimpse into the infrastructure of some successful school gardens and are curious about the supplies and equipment needed, this has you covered.

"Learning Gardens and Sustainability Education: Bringing Life to Schools and Schools to Life" by Williams & Brown

This book speaks to the garden as having the power to engage youth in working toward solutions to social, ecological, and educational issues.

NS School Garden Resource Guide

This resource walks you through the initial decisions needed to start a school food garden.

Three Sisters Garden Lesson (Grades K-5)

If you would like to explore the possibility of creating a Three Sisters Garden, this lesson plan is a great guide!

Compost Creators Lesson (Grade 3)

This hands-on lesson teaches students about the properties of soil and how composting is important to the environment.

Local Waste Educators (Web)

Find a list of contacts of local waste educators in your area.

Plants to Plates Lesson (Grades 2-6)

Plants to Plates is an interactive food education program for children and youth

Curriculum Connection

Visual Arts: Have students work individually and with others in the creative art process. Experiment with different mediums to create garden themed artwork. Students can draw and photograph plants, film a short garden documentary (see our website for garden video inspiration) or paint garden signs on paper, wood and rocks.

Collect & Analyze: Gardens are the perfect setting for scientific exploration. Have students count vegetables or blossoms, measure plant growth, calculate area to determine harvest yields and test soil pH and mineral levels. School food gardens allow for opportunities to observe, gather, record and analyze information that can be applied to several key curriculum outcomes.

Story from the Field: Food Literacy in Action

Our school garden allows the students to participate in hands-on learning experiences which allow them to see the garden to table connection. Food that is grown in the garden is harvested and taken into our classroom where we can taste test and/or cook with different fruits and vegetables. Students are able to peel, chop, mix, stir, cook and bake as they try different recipes. They are all encouraged to try “3 little nibbles” of the food item and oftentimes, students will ask for additional servings! The best part is when parents write and tell me that their child asked to go to the grocery store to buy certain items so that they could make something we had cooked in class. - Elementary School Teacher