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March 2008 Kids Garden News

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This month…

Gardening in Urban Schoolyards

School gardens are an affordable and achievable way to provide urban children with contact with nature, providing them with key developmental, educational, and health benefits. In this month’s Teachers’ Room feature, we discuss how to overcome some of the challenges of gardening at city schools, and provide related activities and a special list of tips from NGA’s urban gardening guru, William Moss.Background and Lessons

Planning Urban School Gardens – This overview discusses design options and special considerations for urban sites, and provides links to loads of resources.

Ten Tips for Urban Schoolyards – NGA’s urban gardening guru, educator William Moss of Chicago, shares what’s worked best in his experience.

Activity: Cylinder Gardening – This is an inexpensive and practical way to incorporate gardens in urban settings. It requires no prior gardening experience and little preparation.

Lesson: Urban Weather Investigations – City landscapes experience extreme consequences of weather, such as the heat island effect and excessive stormwater runoff. In this lesson, students will investigate urban temperature and rain patterns.

What’s New?

The Children’s Garden Network – Kidsgardening.org Advisory Board member, Kurt Van Dexter, tells how this Rhode Island organization got started and the resources it provides to Rhode Island schools.

Evaluation Summary of 2007 Grant Winners – Need some numbers to make the case for your garden program? These data from NGA grant recipients tell the story.

Visit our Kids Garden News page to find out about funding opportunities, gardening resources, professional development, and more.

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