A Children's Garden

Today the boys attended a Children's Garden Preschool Class put on by the Seattle Tilth. The boys loved it.  Actually S. was happy from the very beginning.  He loved entering the garden from through the archway.  He liked discovering mosaic tile steps that led him up into a garden bed.  He enjoyed being a butterfly.  T was slower to warm up to the activities, but they were so hands on, there was no way for him not to engage.

The activities were  the kinds of things you would expect from a garden:

• making suntea with the herbs

•  collecting seeds from the flowers and then decorating the seed envelopes

• studying things with magnifiers

• finding snack 

• and making crowns/ and bouquets. 

The teacher even read the fabulous story: The Reason for a Flower

What made the day work however was the way that the teacher and student interns connected with the children: their genuineness & calmness.  The way they casually led them to the worm bin after snack and started discovering worms and slugs with the kids & songs at just the right times.

Leading activities with children is an art: part planning, part spontaneity, and lots of love.
It is also allowing children to make connections to the natural world around them.