Winter After School Garden Club

[Meg Tubman]

Hi there. I'm super excited to start leading garden activity for our after-school program (Dec - April/~15 weeks, K-3, NY). 

I had imagined 3 x 5-week sessions, with groups of 15-20 students working through a series of activities at three stations (Seed Scientists, Pollinator Patrol, Garden Designers) that would lead up to the spring planting. 

The program director has proposed that we start by allowing any interested student to drop in (as opposed to a set group of students signing up and returning each week), so I need to switch to standalone activities.

Does anyone have tips or resources to share? 

Thanks! 

Meg Tubman

PTSA Garden Coordinator

Dows Lane Elementary 

Irvington, NY

 

[REBEKKA HENRIKSEN]

Hi Meg,

I run after school garden clubs that run the whole school year and on the secondary level have a rotating crew of students who show up.

The following stand-alone activities I find work well for winter:

1) Winter Sowing (in milk cartons)

2) cold frame construction

3) Winter greens exploration (tasting/making a quick salad)

4) Know Before You Grow - how to read a seed packet

5) Seed transport

6) bulbs

7) root crop exploration (tasting, making a slaw or mashed potatoes etc)

8) Seed dissection

9) Composting (from vermicomposting to building a composter to soil web of life to decomposition activities etc etc)

10) testing seed viability

11) Making assemblages/mandalas out of what is in the winter garden

12) Bird activities (making seed balls, bird houses etc)

Hope this helps!

Rebekka Henriksen (she/her)
Farm to School Project Manager

Office of Innovation, Equity & Engagement
Schenectady City School District
https://www.instagram.com/schenectadyf2s/
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Schenectady, NY 12308