School Gardens

Learning outside in vegetable gardens, outdoor classrooms and nature play spaces provides amazing opportunities for children (and adults) to connect with the earth and to understand where their food comes from. A well-designed gardening program can also add variety to teaching and learning while integrating your classroom curriculum in all subjects, provide social-emotional connections for students, enhancing motivation and enthusiasm of students and improving healthy habits.

To get started thinking about your school garden project and how we can be of service to you, check out our blog Seasons in a School Garden where we document the process of gardening with kids throughout the year.

Bluestem Design is available to assist you in a variety of capacities as you begin (or continue) the journey of gardening with kids.

Garden Planning and Design

While just a small patch of soil and some seeds can inspire even the most reluctant gardener, we would be happy to help you think through the beginning stages of your garden program and help you design a garden space and program that works for your institution. We are familiar with the requirements of a variety of school districts policies, playground safety standards, and childcare licensing restrictions and can help you plan a space that meets your needs.

Curriculum Design

Whether you need a comprehensive garden program or are just looking for a few ideas to get started, we can design a variety of activities and lessons that meet your needs. Our curriculum is cross-curricular, integrating a variety of subjects into the process of gardening. Additionally, our curriculum will incorporate your district and state standards.

Implementation of a Garden

We'd love to share all the tips and tricks we've learned over the years on how to successfully grow a garden on school grounds while engaging students in all aspects of the garden. Bringing a class of 30 students into the garden and having a positive experience for students, teachers and plants alike can be tricky. We have many classroom management strategies and materials that we can share to develop successful student routines and rituals for your unique garden. To help your garden be successful, we can also help you with plant selection, timing of planting, organic growing methods, utilizing produce, using community volunteers and more.

Professional Development

We love working with teachers to help them understand not only how to garden but also how to integrate gardening into their curriculum. We can customize professional development on a variety of topics with sessions ranging from quick 45 minute before or after school refreshers to multiday sessions.