Gardening Professional Development

We are very excited to share our recent Creative Kids Gardening Workshop with you! Creative Kids is dedicated to investing in our educator’s growth and development so they can in turn invest in the children’s growth and development!  We offer multiple professional development options for our educators each month that are free to currently employed staff! From make and takes of story stretchers such as the recent one based on the Eric Carle storybook – Little Cloud to the interactive outdoor gardening exploration that we did on Saturday. There’s always something to learn and explore at Creative Kids, even for the teachers!  The goal is to equip our educators with a multitude of activities and learning experiences that they can incorporate into the classrooms.  

Last Saturday was a fun day had by many of our talented Creative Kids Educators. We were all bundled up on an early rainy Saturday morning and met at our Langley location to plant, learn and grow. This was a wonderful opportunity to be ‘Planting the seed for Further Education’ (TM).   Not very many people know how to garden but we do have many people that want to learn as they know how important it is to build the relationship of the children and the world around them.  What better way than in the garden.  Ms. Alida inspired us from her own learning experiences at home and how we can incorporate them into our classrooms and playgrounds alike.  We prepared the gardens (we even discussed pH levels and temperatures), had the tape measure ready for seed spacing and off we went.  The herb garden will consist of Dill, Sage, Savoury and Parsley.  Mammoth Sunflowers and vibrant Daisies will soon grow in the corner garden and vegetables such as peas, lettuce and cucumbers will all grow harmoniously in another plot.

We learned how to watch for certain insects, which ones help the growing process and which ones will not!  What a wonderful learning opportunity to present to children about how these little creatures affect the world around us!

Being outdoors is great for children and adults as well. Children love the great outdoors, the fresh air works wonders for them, and outdoor activities keep them active and engaged. Gardening offers so many fun and interesting opportunities for children and teaches them invaluable lessons and skills.

Children can learn about the different species of plants and what those plants need to help them grow. They also get to learn about the different seasons, weather and the affects they have on the plants. It also offers an opportunity to learn about nature on a broader scale – something in this day and age we seem to have lost touch with.

Here are just a few benefits of gardening with children:

– Sensory Development
– Encourages Healthy Eating
– Teaches Responsibility & Patience
– Helps with Educational Topics
– Develops Social Skills

Safety of course is the number 1 rule in any activity with children and there are many resources available on the internet to explain what plants to steer away from for children as well as reminders of water safety and the physical space around them to name a few.  But the overall experience should be fun so do your research first like we did and set yourself and the children up for success.

Once the warmer weather has arrived, what better way to spend your time than enjoying some gardening.  We are looking forward to seeing our Creative Kids’ gardens bloom!