Life Lab

Life Lab cultivates children's love of learning, healthy food, and nature through garden-based education.

Many teachers break large groups of students into smaller groups in order to facilitate meaningful learning opportunities in the garden. By designing some activities that a small, supervised group of students can accomplish independently, teachers are able to divide their classes and engage small groups, one at a time, in in-depth scientific investigations while other students experience a more self-directed approach to learning. Toward this end, over the years we have created a good number of scavenger hunts to use in the garden.

Most of these scavenger hunts are in Word format so you can modify them for your needs.

Scavenger hunts allow students to explore the garden with a bit of “direction” and loads of excitement. While searching the garden student’s sense of observation is tuned in and often they discover many unintended wonders that the garden provides.

We consider scavenger hunts a Back Pocket Activity that every garden instructor should have ready to share to keep kids easily engaged in the garden.

Life Lab Board Member and Gault School Garden Instructor Susan Dalhgren mentioned that she likes doing scavenger hunts at the beginning of the school year to get to kids acquainted (or re-acquainted) with the garden space. See Susan conducting a scavenger hunt with a group of first graders. She has created picto-graph scavenger hunts (see Fall Garden scavenger hunts) for her students that are still learning to read.

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5 days ago

Life Lab

Registration is now open for our Certified Garden Educator Course!!! Don’t wait, space is limited and is expected to sell out! Click the Cert Course link in our profile or visit lifelab.org/educator-certification-program for course and registration info. Here’s what past participants are saying🌱 "The coaching sessions were very helpful! I would end a coaching session so motivated and ready to try the new things I learned!"🌱 "This is the best course! We use elements from this course every day! Thank you!"🌱 "I am LOVING these courses. I finally feel like I have a tribe of people who understand what it is we are trying to do." 🌱 “I am constantly amazed at how thoughtfully and meaningfully entwined you make garden education pollinated with math, science, social-emotional learning, and literacy.”We hope you can join us!

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3 weeks ago

Life Lab

🌱 Registration for our Garden Educator Certification Course opens on Monday, May 15th! 🌱 Our 6th cohort begins September 5, 2023.Details, registration info, and more can be found here in our profile link or visit: lifelab.org/educator-certification-program/Here’s what members of our first 5 cohorts are saying…🌱 I am LOVING these courses. I finally feel like I have a [group]of people who understand what it is we are trying to do.🌱Being in this course, I’ve really started to identify as a garden educatorand not just someone who maintains the garden.🌱I love how this course has provided me with the tools to inspire students to learn and have fun in the garden. 🌱The online sessions are inclusive, fun, move at a good pace and are interesting.

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3 months ago

Life Lab

Join our team! Life Lab is hiring!!! Open positions include Development Director, Bilingual Community Liaison, and Garden Instructors. More positions are coming soon! 🌱Apply now! Click link in our bio or visit lifelab.org/jobs🌱Or tag your friends below and help share this exciting opportunity!

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3 months ago

Life Lab

Please join us & @greenschoolyards on March 8 at 11:00 AM PT for the first installment of a five-part webinar series on the wide-ranging benefits of the Living Schoolyards Act, a groundbreaking bill that will direct important federal resources towards transforming school grounds into living schoolyards.This session will focus on the equity, educational, and academic benefits of living schoolyards and feature speakers from @thenaaee @tenstrands @naturebasededucation and Life Lab. 🌱Register for this free lecture series and learn more about how you can help us build support for the Living Schoolyard Act: www.greenschoolyards.org/living-schoolyards-act

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3 months ago

Life Lab

Register now for our Responsive Classroom Management in the Outdoors Workshop and receive an Early-Bird Registration Discount! 🌱When? April 21st, 9:30AM-3:30PM Where? Life Lab’s Garden Classroom, located on the beautiful campus of UCSC. What? How can we possibly manage 30 students in an Outdoor Classroom?! Participants in this workshop will explore best practices for establishing and maintaining a positive, engaging culture of learning and fun in a garden setting. Together we will experience and discuss setting the tone for equitable and inclusive instruction; garden class routines; station rotations; and specific techniques to maximize student engagement and participation. Graduate education units available. 🌱 To register and for more details please visit: lifelab.org/responsive-classroom-management-the-in-outdoors/For registration info on other upcoming Life Lab workshops please visit: lifelab.org/gcworkshops/

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4 months ago

Life Lab

🌱Calling all Garden Educators!🌱We are excited to announce Life Lab’s 2023 Workshop schedule! Join us for a workshop at our Garden Classroom to get inspiration and information on bringing learning to life in the garden! 2023 Workshops:🌻 Responsive Classroom Management 4/21/23 🌱The Growing Classroom 8/24-8/25/23🔎 NGSS 9/14/23🍎 Plant to Plate 10/12/23To register and for more info please visit: lifelab.org/gcworkshops P. S. Sign up 14 days in advance to receive a discount on your registration! #LifeLab #gardeneducation #gardeneducator #outdoorclassroom #education #schoolgarden #gardeninginschools #gardenclassroom #cookingclassroom

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7 months ago

Life Lab

Become a Life Lab Certified Gardener! 🌱🌻Based on the success of our first four cohorts of Life Lab-Certified Garden Educators, we are excited to announce that registration is now open for individuals to register and be part of our fifth cohort starting January 23rd, 2023! We’ve put together a series of 4 on-line courses that will guide and support educators in becoming a Life Lab-Certified School Garden Educator. Upon successful completion of the 4 courses, participants will receive a certificate and the distinction of being a Life Lab-Certified Garden Educator. Each course will last 4 weeks long and include 4 synchronous meetings, at-home work, and a unique coaching model. The total commitment for the full series is 16 weeks. Check out our website for more information! Registration for the full certification series is now open. Please share with others who are looking for ideas and inspiration in the garden! There are 24 spots available and we sold out in our last 4 certification series. We hope you can join us!Life Lab offers a limited number of course fee reductions based on need and anticipated impact. To apply for financial assistance, follow the link below. Scholarship applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis between now and December 1st, 2022 or until all funds have been awarded.

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8 months ago

Life Lab

Thanks Shmuel! and all those that joined the Starlight workday.

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Life Lab provides truly inspiring training. Their breadth of experience, joy for teaching, and commitment to sharing knowledge highlight the best practices in food and garden education.
Erica CurryTraining and Professional Development ManagerFoodCorps
Thank you for such a wonderful field trip experience! Your leaders did such a great job at keeping our kids engaged.
Sheila BrickenKindergarten TeacherSan Lorenzo Valley Elementary
Terry had another awesome two weeks at Life Lab. I think he learns more there than in any other part of his year. School is great, but he’s passionate (and often dogmatic) about what he learns there.
Tara NeierCamp ParentSummer camp mom
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