Toddler Garden Explorations
/“My favorite part of exploring the garden with toddlers is the joy and wonder that comes from new discoveries! Something like a worm, that may seem so simple to us as adults, is truly fascinating to a toddler, and that is beautiful to watch”
Perhaps some of the biggest users of “Sari’s Garden,” our school garden, are our early childhood friends. Our early childhood teachers facilitate connection with the natural world everyday, providing children rich opportunity to listen, look, question, feel, discuss, and love the things they find all around them. Exploring nature through play, particularly outdoors, provides endless opportunity for growing and learning in a boundless environment. This month, we checked in with our toddler teaching team to learn about their favorite parts of this special Breakwater space.
Like all outdoor spaces, one of the most enjoyable parts of the garden are the seasonal activities that children can partake in. During this muddy time of year, a popular highlight for toddler friends is exploring and playing in the mud (as it is for many of our elementary students too!). Children can be seen digging for worms, making mud pies and searching for bugs. They also get excited about playing with water cans and watering the school garden beds. These hands-on opportunities are full of wonder, curiosity, and excitement for our toddlers who love trying to find all the worms and bugs they can. Children make connections and notice how the school garden changes as the seasons shift. As new life appears, they see how plants begin to grow, bud, and blossom, and more and more insects emerge.
Explorations in the garden also carry over to the classroom and playgrounds where children share stories about gardening and have their own classroom plants. Toddler teacher Christina Townsend shares, “we take care of our classroom plants together and are currently growing our own flowers that the children have potted themselves.” When some of them return in the summer and fall, they will get to see what has grown in the garden and perhaps even get to sample some planted fruits and vegetables! The exploring and digging fun also carries over to the playground where children continue to dig and find even more critters. Christina shares, “my favorite part of exploring the garden with toddlers is the joy and wonder that comes from new discoveries! Something like a worm, that may seem so simple to us as adults, is truly fascinating to a toddler, and that is beautiful to watch.” During their explorations, teachers rejoice with the students as they shout, “look - a worm!” and “oo it’s tickling!” As the weather continues to warm, there is no doubt you will continue to see more of our toddlers getting muddy and exploring in the garden!