From tiny seeds…
Graca and the children in Pandas love to grow things in their garden. On Monday, whilst the sun was shining, some of the children and Graca planted pea and courgette seeds. The children were hands on from start to finish. Discussing the best seeds to plant at this point in the year, using the wheelbarrow and their big muscles to transport the compost down the garden, carefully scooping it into the pots, counting their seeds (starting with the same number of seeds as their age), gently planting them and giving them a little water.
In the small group Graca and the children talked about the warmth and water that seeds need to grow, Graca explained that this is called germination, which was a new word for most of the children! The seeds are being cared for on a windowsill inside now before the children will be able to plant them in the vegetable patch.
Graca talks about how much the children love it and stay engaged with gardening activities for a long time and it makes her really happy. She knows that lots of the children love to find worms in the garden and so plans to talk to them about what worms do and how important they are for the ecosystem.
The children refer to the plants as Graca’s vegetables, she says that they are not just hers, but grow with the help of lots of little gardeners!