Bring one of the following workshops to your site or come to one of our upcoming workshops at our Garden Classroom in Santa Cruz, CA

The Growing Classroom: A Garden-Based Learning Intensive (Grades 2-6)

Learn to use a garden to breathe life into standards-based lessons, promote ecological literacy, encourage healthy eating, and support students’ social development. Using Life Lab’s Growing Classroom activity guide for grades 2-6, participants in this hands-on workshop experience tried-and-true garden-based lessons linked to Common Core Language Arts and Math and Next Generation Science Standards; practice basic gardening techniques, and develop management strategies for a school garden program. Graduate education units available.

Next Generation Science in the Garden (Grades K-5)

Let’s head outside and put earth and life back into Earth and Life Science! Using activities from Life Lab’s award-winning curricula, participants in this workshop learn to use a garden as a meaningful context in which their students can engage in Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices to examine Disciplinary Core Ideas and Cross-Cutting Concepts. Where better to explore ecological interdependence, growth, and development of organisms, structure and function, adaptation, and the environmental impact of human activity than in an outdoor garden classroom? Graduate education units available.

Language Arts and Math in the Garden (Grades K-6)

Learn to use a school garden to provide a meaningful context in which students can apply their emerging skills in math and English language arts. Using lessons from The Growing Classroom activity guide, participants in this workshop will experience and discuss garden activities that support learning in math and language arts. Whether they are graphing the temperature of their compost pile over time; reading a recipe to make fresh salsa; writing a story from the perspective of an ant; or presenting to a buddy class on the animals that visited their sunflower patch, the opportunities for children to practice traditional academic subjects in the garden are limitless! Graduate education units available.

Plant to Plate: Garden-Enhanced Nutrition Education (Grades K-8)

Make the connection from seed to table in this fun and delicious workshop. Using tried-and-true Life Lab lessons and recipes for grades K-8, participants explore effective ways to teach nutrition and encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables through hands-on activities with food, including harvesting and meal preparation. Graduate education units available.

Sowing the Seeds of Wonder: Engaging Preschoolers in the Garden (PreK-K)

Discover how you can use a garden to cultivate young children’s love of learning, healthy food, and nature. Using Life Lab’s Sowing the Seeds of Wonder activity guide for preschool and kindergarten, participants in this workshop will sample activities designed to encourage young children to safely explore the natural world using all of their senses. We will practice basic gardening and cooking skills together, with a focus on how to grow and prepare food with young children. We will also learn garden art projects and songs for preschoolers. 

Supporting English Language Learners in the Garden

Discover the opportunities for meaningful writing, reading, listening and speaking that abound in a school garden! Participants in this workshop engage in scaffolded lessons and examine the specific strategies that make content accessible to students with varying levels of fluency in English. They then practice facilitating garden-based lessons with structured participation strategies to ensure that every student is involved. Graduate education units available.

Responsive Classroom Management in the Outdoors

Let’s explore tried-and-true tips 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 effective learning; garden class routines; station rotations; and specific techniques to maximize student engagement and participation.

School Garden Program Sustainability

Why do some school gardens take root and become well-established, while others struggle? In this workshop, we will discuss key elements of well-integrated school garden programs. Together, we’ll explore different, sustainable school garden program models; planning tools to align year-round garden activities with academic and garden care goals; methods for assessing garden programs; and strategies for increasing funding.