Life Lab

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

Family Garden Activities

www.backpocketlearning.org searchable database of easy to do activities

www.kidsgardening.org large collection of resources and gardening how to’s

Looking for resources in Spanish? Check out this list of Spanish language garden-based learning resources.

Gardening How To

The UCSC Farm & Garden has a great collection of gardening skills and growing guides.

GrowOrganic.com has an extensive resource library of videos and gardening tips.

 

Soil and Compost

When purchasing bagged soil or compost mixes from garden centers read the ingredients label and opt for organic products. Some products are made from municipal bio-waste or have warning labels that say handle with gloves and keep out of reach of children.

Larger quantities of soil mix can be purchased at landscape supply companies which often sell pre-mixed topsoil or compost products that can be loaded in a truck or delivered to your home. When ordering soil to be delivered Use a soil calculator to determine the amount of cubic yards to purchase:

Locally in the Santa Cruz you can purchase bulk soil or arrange delivery from:

  • Aptos Landscape Supply recommended products are One Earth and Pure Green composts, as well as a topsoil mix good for filling garden boxes
  • Central Coast Home Supply
  • Tri-County Landscape

Resources and Videos for Composting with Kids

Resource and Video on Worm Composting

Make a Soil Shakes or Licuado de Suelo

High quality, affordable soil tests you can visit:umass.edu/soiltest.

Information about Soil Fertility can be found under the “fertility” heading  https://casfs.ucsc.edu/about/publications/for_the_gardener.html

Garden Beds

Annie’s and Center for Ecoliteracy: 5 types of kids’ gardens

Building a Raised Bed from Sunset Magazine

Where to buy large containers or raised bed kits:

Seeds and Seeding

Seed Viability Chart see how long older seeds will continue to be viable. When planting older seeds you can just plant more 3 or 4 seeds per hole to better ensure germination.

Make a Root View Cup

Crop Planning and Choosing Plants

Amazing Reseeding Annuals – these are some of our favorite seeds to sow. Let them mature to make seeds and you will have new plants “volunteer” year after year in your garden.

Learn about Edible Crop Planning – resources, links, and simple planting guide. Refer to your local MasterGardeners or search “vegetable planting guide” for your region or city.

Find your average last frost date with this interactive map

 

Nature Journaling with Children

Garden Journaling with Children

Life Lab’s Blog Post of Nature Journaling Resources

 

Life Lab’s Family Garden Books & Activity Cards

The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids

Kids’ Garden Activity Cards

Winter Family Gardening Webinar (watch the recording below)

Interested in a particular topic? Find these segments at the times listed:
3:20 Garden planning & nature journaling
9:05 Where will I plant? Bed & container options
15:15 Bringing whimsy into the garden (creative container options)
19:20 Soil shakes video
25:10 Enriching your soil
32:40 What can we plant now? (in late winter)
38:40 Seed starting indoors

Download Presentation Below

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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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Stock up your Garden Classroom

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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