It was a cold day out, but once the wind died down and being in the direct sun it became warm working in the garden. Many of the kids decided to take off their jackets because the sun was warming us enough. This was the case for the most of the kids in Mrs. Devitt’s kindergarten class as they were running around in the field playing “Oh, Plant.” This game is originally called “Oh, Deer” from the Project Wild book but for our kids we changed it to plants for the garden. Food, water, and shelter were the three resources the deer needed. We picked water, soil, and sun as the resources for the plant to need. The kids had lots of fun running all around. This game helped to show the kids that when resources are limited the life form can not survive.
Next Mobley’s second grades came out and they helped us water the trenches to help the marigold and sunflowers to grow. While watering, we found a couple sunflower plants growing out of the soil. All the kids were able to see the sunflowers starting to grow, and they all really enjoyed seeing the life coming to the garden. Then we discussed why water and sun are key resource in the survival of this plant.
After I was done with these two classes I weeded around the garden waiting for my second shift classes to come enjoy the garden. The first class that came was Mrs. Hall’s first graders. This was their first time at the garden so we did introductions. We introduced each other and talked about the rules. Then the kids receive a tour of the garden; they were very excited to see the new growth that was happening in the garden. Once we came to the watermelon patches, I showed the kids how to idenified the watermelon sprouts and had them count how many we had growing in our garden. There were watermelons that have sprouted in the patches.
Last but not least Mrs. Smith’s first graders came out to the garden. They were a great help. They started by add the leftover fruit, vegetables, and other organic materials into the compost pile. Then the kids took turns flipping the soil with a shovel. When not turning the compost the kids were helping redo the cardboard that was placed by beds nine and ten. The cardboard was placed down to reduce the growth of weeds in the garden. They helped move the mulch away from the area and laid the cardboard boxes down, and then covered them back over with the mulch. Now that the cardboard is covered the garden looks clean and pretty. Today was a good day in the garden and we had lots of excellent little helpers. Thanks for a fun day Lakewood Elementary students.
