Want to garden with your kids but don't know where to start? Penquis is offering a course to help get you started. Sally Healey joined Carolyn Callahan on TV5 News at 5 with the details.

· Early childhood professionals who work at family or center based child care programs are required to participate in 12 to 40 hours of in service education each year.

· Penquis is one of three sites in Maine to receive a grant from USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program to develop training about helping children to learn lifelong healthy behaviors.

· Penquis will be offering a series of four online training modules for child care providers. Eachonline course will provide three (3) hours of training credit. The first training is about Gardening with Children.

· While this training is for Child Care providers ANY parents or guardian can garden with children and reap the benefits……. (below)



The value of gardening with children.

1. Today's young children are tomorrow's adults- we are building a foundation for a lifetime of health and wellness.

2. Garden activities teach children where food comes from and how it grows.

3. Children who grow their own food are more likely to eat that food (and children can often be "picky" about eating vegetables)

4. Gardening provides an opportunity for active outdoor time - and children need plenty of active time.

5. Gardening teaches children about science- the parts of a plant- seeds, roots, stem, leaves and flowers. It is an opportunity to encourage curiosity and use the scientific method to answer questions like- does a pea plant need light to grow?


The course will include a month-by-month Activity Calendar with suggestions for other hands-on activities with young children. and recommend children's books.


Indoor Ideas:

Not every activity takes place in the garden- for example- a pretend farmer's market stand complete with play vegetables, baskets, scales, and writing materials to make signs and sales receipts. Children love to play and will create their own learning by being the farmer or the customer: talking about the produce, counting out the vegetables or weighing them, and writing the receipts.

How much does the course cost? The courses are free thanks to the sponsorship of the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program. For more information about how to sign up and what is required to get training credit go to: www.penquis.org/

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