Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Community Gardening

School Gardening

Sample School Gardens and Themes

PHOTO: girl plantingPHOTO: gardenersFrom the first wisp of an idea to the finished landscape, the Chicago Botanic Garden can help you create your own school garden.

See how creating a school garden works.

 

Sample Garden Themes

Butterfly Garden

  • Have students research plants that attract butterflies.
  • Discuss the butterfly lifecycle.
  • Read and discuss The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
  • Raise and observe developing butterflies (we like to use products from Insect Lore).
  • Create butterfly journals to record development of classroom butterflies.

Sensory Garden

  • Have students find ways to use sight, sound, touch, smell and taste in the garden.
  • Try edible flowers.
  • Hold a garden concert using musical instruments made out of garden tools, seed pods, etc.

Prairie Garden

  • Research to find out which prairie plants are native to your region.
  • Discuss ways in which Native Americans and settlers used prairie plants.
  • Learn about endangered native plants in your state or region.
  • Discuss ways in which early Illinois settlers used prairie plants.
  • Read prairie plant folklore.
  • Hold a "seed-saving" day in the fall; collect seeds and create a seed bank.

Native American/Colonial Garden

  • Plant a Three Sisters garden with corn, beans and squash.
  • Learn about plants used for dyes.
  • Discuss medicinal plants; learn how Native Americans and Colonial settlers used plants as medicine.
  • Read Corn Is Maize by Aliki.
  • Make seed jewelry using ornamental corn.

Literacy Garden

  • Use plants found in children's literature such as Peter Rabbit, The Ugly Vegetables or Growing Vegetable Soup.
  • Create a reading circle in the garden.
  • Have students construct nature journals to record garden development and collect seeds and pressed flowers.
  • Have students write stories or poems about gardening or plants in the school garden.
  • Read seed packets.
  • Create a school garden newsletter to share with parents and the community.

Shakespeare Garden

  • Create a garden using plants mentioned in Shakespeare's works.
  • Discuss the mythical or medicinal uses of Shakespearean plants.
  • Research the meaning or significance of plants or flowers.

Herb Garden

  • Discuss "cultural" uses of herbs through history.
  • Discuss the difference between "herbal" tea and black tea.
  • Learn how to make herbal teas from plants in the school garden.
  • Make herbal vinegars or sachets for Mother's Day gifts.
  • Dry herbs from the school garden and sell at Parent Night to raise money for next year's garden materials.

Vegetable Garden

  • Encourage children to grow exotic fruits and vegetables that they would like to taste.
  • Incorporate nutrition lessons.
  • Grow a "Pizza Garden" that includes plant ingredients on a pizza.
  • Grow a "Salsa Garden" that includes plant ingredients found in salsa.
  • Have students keep a food journal to record what plants they eat.
  • Build and observe a compost bin in your school garden.
  • Discuss organic homemade remedies for pests and diseases in the school garden.
  • Discuss when to harvest vegetables in the garden.
  • Discuss the concept of a "victory garden."
  • Learn about plant life cycles.
  • Read and discuss The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller.

Kinder Garden

  • Create an ABC garden using plants that start with each letter of alphabet.
  • Reinforce shapes by building raised beds in various geometrical shapes.
  • Plant a Rainbow Garden using flower color to create a "rainbow."

Craft Garden

  • Grow plants that can provide materials for art projects (e.g., dried flowers, flowers for pressing, interesting seed pods, gourds).
  • Sell items made with garden products to raise money for the next garden season.

International Garden

  • Use plants native to countries around the world.
  • Have students research a particular country and choose plants that represent that country.
  • Incorporate student art that reflects a particular country or region of the world.
  • Survey your school to learn more about student origins, and use plants from students' native countries.
  • Create a school garden recipe book with recipes that use items from the school garden and that students have collected from their native countries.

Wildlife Garden

  • Incorporate a tree with berries for the birds in your garden.
  • Use tall grasses for small animals to hide in.
  • Install a birdbath or bird feeder outside a classroom window.
  • Have students research plants and flowers that specifically attract hummingbirds, butterflies or moths.