Compost and worm farms, Garden activities for kids, Our environment, Pests and Weeds, School garden, Uncategorized

Gardening and Sustainability Curriculum Resources

Posted on by Erica

IMG_8419 (2)

Bad News for Teachers:            There are less than 3 weeks before kids go back to school!
Good News for Teachers:        Sustainability “How to Guides” and full lesson plans are available on the Landcare Australia website.
Good News for Parents:          The How to Guides are a wonderful resource that can be used in your home garden or natural environment as well. We loved the natural pesticide recipe!
Based on the 2015 Australian Curriculum, the lesson plans include engaging and easy-to-understand teaching and learning sequences.  The lessons plans and How to Guides cover a range of gardening and nature based activities and have been to assist Primary School teachers across Australia. Continue reading →

Compost and worm farms, Mini Bloggers

Mini Blogger – Composting by Sophia aged 11

Posted on by Erica
Sophia and compost bin
Sophia Mixing Her Compost
Why compost?
Composting is a great way to reduce waste and feed your garden. By composting your fruit and vegetable scraps you are not only doing a good deed for nature but you are helping reduce pollution; for example when you throw your fruit and veggie scraps in the normal rubbish bin it rots and produces toxic gasses. When you compost you avoid this.
By composting you are also creating a cycle: first you eat the fruit and/or vegetables and then throw the scraps in your compost bucket, when your compost bucket gets full you take the bucket out to your big compost bin and over time the scraps will break down so that you can use it on your veggie garden. This is excellent soil for your new vegetables to grow healthy and also saves you money because you don’t have to buy soil. Once it has all broken down you can use it on your garden, then when your fruits and veggies are ready to pick the cycle restarts. Continue reading →

Compost and worm farms, School garden

Canterbury Public School Students Get Their Hands Dirty

Posted on by Erica
31
Jul

Students taking part in the Nature's Recyclers worm farm workshop
Students at Canterbury Public School in NSW have formed a gardening club as part of a composting project funded by a Coles Junior Landcare Garden Grant.
The Canterbury Green Thumbs Gardening Club includes both students and parents, and gives students who are interested in gardening the opportunity to work in the garden out of school hours. Continue reading →

Compost and worm farms, Guest Posts

Guest Post: Worm Farms for Kids

Posted on by Erica
09
May
Worm Farms for Kids by Mackenzie Kupfer
Mackenzie shares with us her tips on worm farming for kids.
Mackenzie Kupfer has been a lover of all things green since the age of six when she began gardening with her Nana. She is currently an online publisher for the provider of flower gardening supplies, Avant Garden Decor. In her free time, Mackenzie enjoys attending garden shows, hiking, and collecting ceramic tea sets.
Some gardeners take their craft so seriously that they forget the beauty of allowing children to help in the garden. If you are too uptight about your garden, it can create an unpleasant experience for both you and your kids. The trick is to make gardening an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. For kids to enjoy gardening, you need to work to make it fun for them and what is more fun than getting dirty?
Aside from helping you dig holes, the best way to let your kids get dirty is to involve worms. Kids love to play with worms and worms are great for your garden so it’s a win win! You can send your kids on a worm finding expedition and have them count the worms that you dig up while gardening. If you want to take it a step further, you can start a worm farm with your kids. Worm farms are great because you can turn your table scraps and yard debris into nutrient rich compost for your garden and a nice home for worms. It is also something that can be done year round. Continue reading →

Compost and worm farms, School garden

A Compost Critter Investigation for the Kids

Posted on by Erica
slaters in compost
Investigating compost critters
This week is International Composting Awareness Week so it’s the perfect opportunity to engage kids in the wonderful world of composting. Today my students and I rolled up our sleaves, pulled out the magnifying glasses and had a fun afternoon investigating the animals that live in our school compost. The kids absolutely loved it and I had a hard time getting them to put the compost back at the end of the lesson. They all wanted to stay after school and keep going! Continue reading →

Compost and worm farms

Tip for Keeping your Worm Farm Cool

Posted on by Erica
25
Jan
Keep your worm farm in the shade to help keep it cool
Keep your worm farm in the shade to help keep it cool
Keeping a worm farm is not only a fun experience for kids it is also a great way to teach children about life cycles and food scrap recycling. On hot days though our poor little wiggly friends can really suffer from the heat and sadly they often perish. Here are some tips contributed by our fabulous facebook followers to help prevent this from happening: Continue reading →