This "Little Sprouts ECE Garden Toolkit," developed by Urban Harvest STL through an NCR-SARE Youth Educator grant, is a comprehensive resource designed to help early childhood educators (ECEs) integrate gardening and agricultural literacy into their daily curriculum. Urban Harvest STL (UHSTL) partners with local Early Learning Centers in Saint Louis, Missouri, to teach preschool-age children using a comprehensive, hands-on, farm-to-table garden curriculum.
Their toolkit is a practical roadmap for preschool teachers looking to turn their outdoor spaces into vibrant classrooms. Recognizing that many educators may feel intimidated by gardening, the toolkit provides the confidence and structure needed to teach children where their food comes from, from seed to table.
Key Highlights of the Toolkit:
- Standards-Aligned Lessons: Designed to align with Missouri State Standards, the toolkit ensures that garden time supports core developmental milestones in science, math, and literacy.
- Hands-On Activities: Beyond just planting, the guide includes creative sensory activities such as "bug hunts," sunflower seed-saving, and using pasta shapes to teach the butterfly life cycle.
- Focus on "Focal Crops": The curriculum emphasizes nine specific crops (such as carrots, celery, and lettuce) to help children develop "crop recognition" and a sense of ownership over what they grow.
- The "Taste Test" Success: A core pillar of the program is increasing a child's willingness to try new foods. The toolkit includes cooking demonstrations (such as making DIY berry jam) that have led 81% of participating students to try new recipes they might otherwise have refused at home.
- Empowering Educators: Designed for those with zero gardening experience, the toolkit provides "bite-sized" technical guidance on soil preparation, seasonal planting, and harvesting.
"During the edible art workshop, children excitedly consumed almost all of the fresh produce that was brought for the project. Celery, cherry tomatoes, and herbs were transformed into butterflies, snails, and other garden animals," said Damein Duwe, Director of Agriculture at UHSTL. "The participants' parents reported being shocked by how readily their child consumed raw vegetables, some stating they refused the same vegetables at home when offered on a plate."
Ordering Information
Dr. Arielle Wright
arielle@urbanharveststl.org
Want more information? See the related SARE grant:
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.