Resources for Gardening with Youth

Gardening with Youth Tips
10 Challenges of having a youth garden program and some ideas on how to meet them!  Thanks to Friends of Burlington Gardens in Vermont

Life Lab Science Program
This California-based program assists teachers and youth garden educators with getting the most from their youth garden. There's a wealth of resources available through their website, including a hefty collection of lesson plans and gardening tips, including a large manual The Growing Classroom - Garden and Nutrition Activity Guide available for purchase.

Rebel Tomato
An educational site designed to help high school and college-age students (and everyone else) start their own community gardens.

Gardening With Children
USDA’s National Agricultural Library has terrific links to information about gardening ith children of all ages, covering areas like working with kids with disabilities, starting a schoolyard garden, and garden themes and activities for children.  From this website, you can also click over to learn more about health and nutrition resources.

Books

Community Gardening With Kids
A list of books available from local libraries with stories and activities relating children to community gardening. Created March 2007.

Two Old Potatoes and Me
A Minnesota Humanities project, Minnesota StoryTime features Minnesota children authors.  This story, Two Old Potatoes and Me, is set in Mulberry Junction Community Garden in Minneapolis.  This factsheet provides adults questions and activities to enhance a child's experience with the book. 

SeedFolks
Thirteen very different voices -- old, young, Haitian, Hispanic, tough, haunted, and hopeful -- tell one amazing story about growing a community garden from a vacant, rat-infested lot and how it transforms the neighborhood. Author Paul Fleischman, 1997 for ages 10 & up. Available from Harper Collins, ISBN 0064472078.

Gardening At Home With Kids
A list of books available at local libraries with activities for children to begin gardening at home (or community garden)! Created March 2007.

School Gardens
Recommended reading materials for teachers, parents, or administrators who are looking to incorporate garden curriculum into their schools or interested in finding out and understanding the advantages better. Includes online resources. Created March 2007.