You can group ideas together if you’re homeschooling, planning a class project, or looking for ideas for a summer break, or you can dip into the book and try a different idea each week. A few are more suited to preschoolers, some are better for older children, but the majority are adaptable to suit your child’s age, stage, and interests. This is your go-to book to give your children a connection with nature, full of creative ways to use the garden to inspire learning.Īll the ideas have been tried, tested and approved by children. Make a shared soup, a relish that’s great for using up a glut of summer produce, and ideas for making great use of herbs and edible flowers all year round. :: Garden Recipes that celebrate the high point of the growing year: the garden harvest. :: beautiful Arts & Crafts projects inspired by the garden: ideas for painting, printing, paper crafting, using cement, sewing, finger knitting, land art and a fun twist on a traditional scarecrow. We’ll host a plant Olympics, study seeds and plant growth, play minibeast bingo, make a tree trunk geoboard and set up our own bug hotel. :: projects to explore Science & Math: using the intrinsic opportunities of the outdoor world, and by introducing new materials and activities to boost learning. :: ideas that promote Reading & Writing outdoors: with suggestions for outdoor alphabet and spelling games, and ways to encourage storytelling, reading, and writing – through scientific reporting, journaling and creative writing. :: fun ways to learn through Play & Imagination: how to make play spaces you can use all year round, ideas for equiping your garden to encourage den building and creative play with loose parts, fairy and dinosaur worlds for imaginary play, and suggestions for sensory play for each season of the year. Plus a few projects to get you started having fun with what you grow. :: how to get started with Let’s Grow! Garden Basics: my five favorite plants to grow with children, tips on growing plants from seed, how to make the most of your space and get the most flowers, fruit and vegetables from your plants. The Garden Classroom is bursting with ideas you can use to make the most of the math, science, literacy, art and play waiting for you outdoors.

Your garden, no matter its size, is an outdoor classroom waiting to be explored. The Garden Classroom offers a whole year of outdoors play and learning ideas, however big or small your outdoor space – and comes with a lovely, free gift. Transform your science and math, reading and writing, imaginative play, and arts and crafts all through garden-based activities.

The Garden Classroom by Cathy James