Curriculum Library
Topics
Edible Gardens
FoodSpan (for high school students)
This free, downloadable curriculum provides high school students with a deep understanding of critical food system issues, empowers them to make healthy and responsible food choices, and encourages them to become advocates for food system change.
Growing Minds Farm-to-School Preschool Tool Kit contains farm-to-preschool resources, including lesson plans, “This Week in the Garden” activity guides, “Farm to School Goes Home” parent handouts, local food sourcing guidance, and tips for cooking and gardening with young children. It also includes a resource developed by the NC Farm to Preschool Network, “Reach for the Stars with Farm to Preschool“, which aligns the Early Childhood and Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scales with farm-to-preschool activities.
Junior Master Gardeners is an amazing resource featuring "Virtual Learn, Grow, Eat and Go! Online Course for Elementary Students." The International Junior Master Gardener Program also brings additional circulcum materials, certification options and checklists to help prepare teachers and leaders to engage students.
Slow Food School Garden Good and Clean Curriculum
The “Good” curriculum consists of an introduction and two chapters. Chapters include “Sensory Education” and “Kitchen Tools and Skills.” The “Clean” curriculum consists of a short introduction and two chapters. Chapter 1 is titled “Basic Garden Skills and Knowledge” and Chapter 2 is titled “A Slow Food Garden.” Available in both English and Spanish.
CAFF Farm-to-Cafeteria Programs throughout California connect farms with classrooms. Broadly, these programs can include farm field trips, nutrition education in the garden, and farm-fresh salad bars. Farm-to-School integrates local agriculture and nutrition into all facets of the school, including the classroom, school gardens, the cafeteria, and the broader community.
Early Sprouts, Cultivating Healthy Food Choices in Young Children
Creative, research-based nutrition curriculum with a seed-to-table approach. Encourages preschoolers to eat more vegetables by helping grow, harvest, and prepare organically-grown foods. Includes information for planning, planting, and maintaining a garden that works with a variety of climates.
LifeLab's Common Core & Next Generation Science in the Garden
Lifelab has created a comprehensive list of resources to help educators integrate new content standards into their garden program.
This foundational year-round gardening curriculum is a teacher and NGA staff favorite! Developed by the LifeLab Science Program and revised to meet current science standards, this teacher’s manual features strategies for managing garden-based science instruction—including planning a garden laboratory, facilitating investigative lessons on ecology and nutrition, and involving the community.
Project SOW: Food Gardening with Justice in Mind by Cornell CALS
Check out this classroom-tested approach to developing food literacy in the classroom, kitchen, and garden. This pedagogical approach begins with a shared food experience that sets the context for literacy and science lessons. The cycle can be extended to include Planting-Growing-Harvesting activities in the school garden. Lessons connect to food literacy themes and align to Common Core State Standards for ELA/Literacy and Next Generation Science Standards.
FoodCorps has various hands-on lessons in food education.
Botany on Your Plate: Investigating the Foods We Eat
This investigative science curriculum book introduces the world of plants through foods we eat. Children explore edible roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds through observation, dissection, journaling, discussion of findings, and, of course, tasting!
Readers to Eaters promotes food literacy through stories about diverse food cultures.
Marin Child Care Council has created dozens of short Youtube videos for preschool teachers who wish to incorporate gardening into their curriculum.
Celebrating Cultural Inclusion in the School Garden by KidsGardening
Nourish Curriculum Guide (for middle school students)
A rich set of resources to open a meaningful conversation about food and sustainability. Beautifully designed and brimming with big ideas, the materials contain a viewing guide, seven learning activities, student handouts, a bibliography, and a glossary.
The Nourish curriculum and a companion DVD may be used in social studies, science, health, or English classes. Activity themes include The Story of Food; Seasonal, Local Food; Food Traditions; Food and Ecosystems; Analyzing Food Ads; School Lunch Survey; and Action Projects.
Learning Ecosystems
Create a Seasonal Wheel
Every place has its own set of seasonal events that unfold each year, and creating a seasonal wheel is one of the easiest and most effective teaching tools to help students observe and have a relationship with place. Developing a seasonal wheel is a highly adaptable project suited for classes of various sizes and grade levels.
Asphalt to Ecosystems is a compelling guidebook for designing and building natural schoolyard environments that enhance childhood learning and play experiences while providing connection with the natural world. With this book, Danks broadens our notion of what a well-designed schoolyard should be, taking readers on a journey from traditional, ordinary grassy fields and asphalt, to explore the vibrant and growing movement to "green" school grounds in the United States and around the world. This book documents exciting green schoolyard examples from almost 150 schools in 11 countries, illustrating that a great many things are possible on school grounds when they are envisioned as outdoor classrooms for hands-on learning and play.
Opening the World Through Nature Journaling by John Muir Laws. A free download that includes great kid tested sketching activities, poetry, writing, and more detailed tips on drawing in nature (you will love the material on drawing plants!). This is a great resource for teachers, outdoor leaders, and home school parents.
Greening School Grounds: Creating Habitats for Learning
This book has numerous ideas for school projects, from school composting to native plant gardens. It also includes outdoor classroom activities.
A fantastic collection of science and environmental education ideas.
Nature is not a destination, it is everywhere—including right in your own schoolyard! This essential educator’s guidebook helps students discover, observe, and record nature in their urban, suburban, or rural schoolyard. A wonderful multidisciplinary hands-on project that teaches children to learn to appreciate nature…and find it in the most unexpected places.
Make artistic flower and plant mandelas in the garden using pieces of plants and nature foraged from nearby.
PEAS Digital Lessons with Nearby Naturalists is a comprehensive suite of standards-aligned outdoor learning experiences that can be seamlessly integrated into your school's existing curriculum.
Teaching in Nature's Classroom by Nathan Kennard Larson
In a garden we are able to cultivate children's love of learning and connection to life. This book presents 15 guiding principles of garden-based education.
Schoolyard Activities by Green Schoolyards
This free guides for schools is a compilation of activities, aligned with standards for ages 3-18. See the chapters on Wildlife Habitat and Watershed Stewardship in the Living Schoolyard Guide. Other editions are also available in Chinese and Spanish.
ThoughtBox Education Curriculum:
Project WILD is a wildlife-focused conservation education program for K-12 educators.
Five Hundred Yard Field Trip
The goal of the Five Hundred Yard Field trip is to help students create a habitat using native plants and learn about the ecosystem created. Includes "Pussytoes Project" (K-2) and "Caterpillarpalooza" (3-5).
Symbiotic Schoolyard Curriculum includes NGSS-aligned and project-based curriculum, with 13 detailed lesson plans, handouts, PowerPoints, and more!
Native Plants
Kid's Corner & Other Native Plant Activities & Native Plant Education
The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) offers a range of native plant curriculum and activities for kids - including nature journaling, native plant walks, botanical games and word puzzles, instructions for pressing flowers, and making homemade herbariums, etc.
Native Plants & Habitat Curriculum by Save the Bay
Native Plant Cards by Calscape
Calscape offers the option to print Native Plant Cards to help introduce your students to native plants and their habitat value. Simply click 'Print' found at the top of each plant profile page.
How Seeds Travel Activity (Grades 1-3)
Seed Dispersal by Animals Activity (Grades 3-5)
Affordable pre-designed signs for your garden can be ordered from the Life Lab website.
Native Plant Educational Resources by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
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Seeds to Flowers (Grade 2)
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Petal Pushes (Grade 3)
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Green Thumbs Up! (Grade 4)
Pollinators & Bugs
Teachers & Educators by Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
The Xerces Society has created some wonderful educational resources about pollinators.
Habitat and Pollinators Lesson by The Nature Conservancy
Why are pollinators so picky? Lesson by Life Lab (Grade 3)
WWF Teaching Tools about Monarchs
This resource guide, interactive classroom presentation, posters, and word puzzles are designed to give you all the information you need to teach your students fun monarch facts, and information on why they matter, what threats they face, and what kids can do to help.
Butterfly Life Cycle (Grades 2-4)
Pollinator Resources by Kids Gardening
Bees and Plant Pollination Activity (Grades 2-6)
Six Week Honey Bee Unit by Bee Cause
Bee Habitat Observation Worksheet (Grades 2-6)
Bee Smart School Garden Kit by Pollinator Partnership
Pollinator Quest by Captain Planet Foundation
Soil & Microbial Food Web
All About Soil by The Outdoor Garden Classroom
Lessons for 3rd graders about soil, water absorption, amendments, composting, and worms.
Learn about the magical microcosmos! If your school has a microscope it can be especially fun to watch these microorganisms move around under a lens.
An easy and fun activity to find out the texture of your soil (the ratio of sand-silt-clay).
Worms Eat Our Garbage: Classroom Activities for a Better Environment
Over 150 worm-related classroom activities to develop problem-solving and critical-thinking skills in children Grades 4-8.
Take a soil profile sample, determine your soil texture, and test your soil pH.
Healthy Foods From Healthy Soils: A Hands-On Resource For Teachers
This resource invites students to discover where food comes from, how our bodies use food, and what happens to food waste. Students participate in the cycle of food production to compost formation, while learning how their food choices affect not only their own health, but farmers, the environment, and their local community.
Earth-based Arts & Crafts
Onion skin ink making (basic hot extraction method) by Ione Maria Rojas
Red cabbage ink making (basic hot extraction method, with an example at the end of some easy modifiers) by Ione Maria Rojas
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Here is a booklet of this recipe (with instructions on how to fold it here)
How to make oak gall ink by Craft Invaders
Eco-printing with steamer by Crafty Patti
Eco-printing 'hapa-zome' style by School Garden Network
Mark making and drawing with natural inks by Ione Maria Rojas
Collaged creatures by Ione Maria Rojas
How to make ink creatures by Sketchbook Skool
How to make continuous line drawings by Tate Kids
Blind contour drawing (aka don't look drawing) by the Artful Parent
Indigenous Foodways
Honoring Native American, Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Culture in Youth Gardens webinar by KidsGardening
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Curricular resources referenced in webinar
Decolonizing Dinner by PBS
This collection of documentaries and programs explores stories of Indigenous chefs and communities uplifting their cultures through traditional cuisine and foodways. You can also find recipes to try, and discussions on why food sovereignty is important.
Three Sisters Gardening by Fresh Farm
Indigenous Learning Resources by Outdoor Learning School
Three Sisters Mosaic Seed Activity by 4thGradeFrenzy
Birds
Cornell Lab of Ornithology's free resources for educators. They have also developed a wonderful Citizen Science program called Nestwatch which is linked to a 5-8 Grade free curriculum called Thinking Outside the (Nest) Box.
Cornell Lab also offers ideas for making DIY bird feeders which are great for aiding bird observation.
More Books
School Garden Literature Database by Growing Minds
Growing Sustainable Children offers "useful overviews of the history of gardening education and the evolving consciousness of children through its detailed age-appropriate curriculum and activity listings from nursery and kindergarten through high school. This book is an indispensable resource for anyone already teaching in a gardening program, for those planning on starting a program, or for anyone working with children in a garden setting.
Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning shows how the school grounds—regardless of whether your school is in an urban, suburban, or rural setting—can become an enriching extension of the classroom. In this comprehensive handbook, Herb Broda blends theory and practice, providing readers with practical suggestions and teacher-tested activities for using the most powerful audio-visual tool available—the outdoors.
Easy PEASy Guidebook for Place-Based Outdoor Learning
Designed with busy educators in mind, this guidebook provides easily digestible content and practical lessons to integrate into your curriculum. Tailored for 1st through 3rd-grade students, but is also adaptable for younger and older grades.
This engaging curriculum uses a mathematical lens to take children on an education-filled exploration of the garden. Dozens of hands-on activities hone math skills and promote inquiry, language arts, and nutrition.
The School Garden Curriculum
This book provides a unique K-8th Grade gardening activity plan and over 200 weekly lessons that weave science, permaculture, and environmental education into place-based and immersive learning.
For 4 year olds, to set the tone and get students thinking about seed dispersal. The Dandelion Seed very gently and somewhat magically traces a floating dandelion seed’s journey through the big wide world, how it finally finds a home and lands, and grows into a new flower the following year. The story has gorgeous full page illustrations and is also a good exploration of the seasons.
Two Old Potatoes and Me is an engaging story for primary readers. “One day at her dad’s house, a young girl finds two old potatoes in the cupboard. “Gross.” But before she can throw them away, her dad suggests they try to grow new potatoes from the old ones, which have sprouted eyes. Told from May to September - the potato-growing season - the story includes all the basic steps for growing potatoes while subtly dealing with the parents’ recent divorce. Just like the new potatoes that emerged from ugly old potatoes, this dad and daughter move on and make a new life together in the face of unavoidable and unpleasant change.
The delightful story, Chipmunk Song by Joanne Ryder is perfect for 5-year-olds, as it traces a human child in the form of a chipmunk on her wanderings through fields and underground burrows. This is a great story for a cooped-up rainy day since the main character is chewing, stretching, scampering, and burrowing, and there are plenty of opportunities through the reading to have children move around and act out the same.
A classic many of you may already be familiar with, “The Garden,” from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. This story shows the importance of patience and taking “the long view” when gardening, in a very cute and funny way. Read to your 1st Graders before doing some gardening!
More Recommended Children's Books:
Hello, Trees by Bailey Bezuidenhout
Home is Calling by Katherine Pryor
Every Little Seed by Cynthia Schumerth
Beatrice and Barb by Kate Jink Landry
A Butterfly is Patient by Long Aston
The Pie that Molly Grew by Sue Heavenrich
Monarch and Milkweed by Gore Frost
Right This Very Minute by Lisl H. Detlefsen
What's in Season? by Shelly Rotner
Before We Eat: From Farm to Table by Pat Brisson
Our School Garden! by Rick Swann
Sylvia's Spinach by Katherine Pryor
First Peas to the Table by Susan Grigsby
Little House In the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Farmer Eva's Green Garden Life by Jacqueline Briggs
There's a Hummingbird in My Backyard by Gary Bogue
On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole
Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith
Outside Your Window, a First Book of Nature by Nicola Davies
A Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
A Packet of Seeds by Deborah Hopkinson
A Seed is Sleepy by Diana Hutts Aston
The Beeman by Laurie Krebs
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
Oliver's Vegetables by Vivian French
Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
Seedfolks by Paul Fleishman
The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller
The Snail's Spell by Joanne Ryder
The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons
Mr. Green's Garden: It's Winter, It's Spring, It's Summer, and It's Autumn (four picture books) by Ruth Owen
Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
Two Old Potatoes by John Coy
Wonderful Worms by Linda Glaser
