Author: Joanne Laine-Gossin
Now that the season has finished, Asma and I as leads want to share with you the wonderful time we had with our Children’s Programs this year. Thank you to all the educators, parents, and volunteers who helped make our programs such a big success.
TPUF at the Montessori Education Centre Ltd.
Asma and I were invited to host 4 sessions for the preschool and kindergarten children at Montessori Education Centre Ltd. located in Thorncliffe Park thanks to TPUF’s volunteer Aysha, Principal Mrs. Imanthi De Bellefeuille, and the Montessori’s other educators. These sessions were held outdoors for which we brought with us extra natural materials to enhance the feel of a garden within their courtyard. Each week, we introduced a different topic with corresponding activities. Our first week was devoted to the importance of seeds and their growth as plants. We read books together as a group to help the children understand the life cycle of a plant, and had them decorate little pots that they planted seeds in to take home. The children also planted seeds in eggshells that were kept at the Montessori and were cracked open each week to observe the growth of plants. The following week, we discussed bees as key pollinators, made bee crowns, and imitated pollination through a waggle dance using cornflower as pollen and paper flowers. For our third week, the children built animal habitats using natural materials we collected from our own gardens, learning why animals need these habitats and use them for shelter. They did some sensory exploration using smell and touch to identify various seeds, fruits, and vegetables that we brought in. The children made collages using dried flowers and leaves to be displayed on the walls of their classrooms. Our last week at the Montessori was devoted to making journals with the children to summarize their experiences. They also demonstrated their knowledge of waste disposal when playing a game in which they tossed plastic items into the appropriate garbage, recycling, and composting containers. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and we felt fortunate to be able to transport some of our gardens to the Montessori’s courtyard. We appreciate the letter of thanks from Mrs.Imanthi, emphasizing how much the children enjoyed our weekly visits.
Partnership with Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy (FMELA)
We partnered once again with Thorncliffe Park’s kindergarten-only school Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy (FMELA) to share a garden experience with as many students as possible. In June, Asma and I along with the FMELA Outdoor Committee, their lead Marija Lovacev and FMELA’s Principal Barbara Sandler supervised 15 classroom visits to our garden at 53 Thorncliffe Park Drive. The primary goals of these visits were to allow children to connect with nature in a playful manner, introduce them to their community’s garden, and experience the concept of “farm to table” while having fun. The students were accompanied by their classroom educators and parent/caregiver volunteers. We explored the garden using our senses of vision, smell, hearing, and touch to delve into our surroundings of plants and insects. The children participated in the following activities: a tour and scavenger hunt of the garden, building a habitat using natural materials like pine cones, twigs and leaves, and drawing their most fond discovery during their visit. The students’ garden experience was supplemented with discussions of their visits in their classrooms. It was great fun for everyone. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how you look at things—we were unable to host a harvest party like we did last season due to having too many participants. However, we are glad that many students who are residents of Thorncliffe Park were able to learn about the garden, some for the very first time, and became familiar with this green space present within their community.
Summer Children’s Garden Club
Every Wednesday in July and August, Asma and I hosted a Children’s Garden Club open to children and their families residing in Thorncliffe Park who are within walking distance of our garden. We were very fortunate to have several volunteers to help us host these weekly sessions and want to give a special shout-out to Aysha, Karen, Leslie, Mominah and the youth Green Team Leaders for their support with this program. The children who attended ranged to 12 years of age. The activities involved basic garden care including planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting. The children were allowed to taste some of the harvested vegetables (with parental consent) as they could not resist the delicious food grown by themselves. These involved cherry tomatoes, spicy mustard greens, and woodland strawberries and blueberries—though usually birds and other animals ended up eating a lot of these. We made various crafts for children to take home from origami flowers to suncatchers. We tried experimenting with eco-friendly activities, one such activity involved painting fabric using natural paints made from avocado and onion skins, flowers, and beets to get different colors. We learned that we must use thicker materials to make the paints next time so that they aren’t so watery! The children also got to color, create bee, fruit, and vegetable puppets, and make clay pots and decorate them to take home as souvenirs. They also had fun making “nature soup” using natural materials they found around themselves and enjoyed scavenger hunts through the garden. At the end of the season, we celebrated by harvesting fresh vegetables and herbs one last time to make garden pasta and enjoyed homemade treats like zucchini chocolate bread—it was all delicious!
Through various programs this summer, the children of Thorncliffe Park connected with nature, learned about their natural environment, harvested and ate homegrown produce, made friends, and familiarized themselves with our communal garden at 53 Thorncliffe Park Drive.
