One of the things I am volunteering to do at Alex's school this year, is take 10 first graders to the school garden every other week. This week, I took my group of first graders to the garden for the first time. The kids were so excited and engaged. I felt a little chaotic with ten kids all asking questions, wanting to explore the garden and, anxious with anticipation.  Overall, I think it went well. Next time, I need to bring a watch. The most disarming thing, was I had no idea how much time we had or when I should be wrapping it up. Luckily we go right before school let's out, so when I see parents arrive to pick up their kids, I know its about time to finish up.

We started out with the lesson with a discussion about Fall. There were some pumpkins and squash on the table so we had a look at those. Then we talked about bulbs. 

I love what I found online about teaching kids about bulbs. Bulbs store enough food to let plants grow and flower without added nutrients during the first year. To help students to relate to this concept, you explain that storage tissue is like the bulb’s lunch box, packed with enough food for the whole growing season! How to connect kids to bulbs? Relate it to lunch.... my kind of lesson.

I finished up by pairing up the kids and letting them plant a daffodil bulb.  It was chaotic but wonderful.

A school garden. What could be better?