Growing a Green Generation

A curriculum of gardening activities for preschool and kindergarten children

Dot Perkins, Beth Hallett, John Nimmo, Cami Esmel and Lindsay Boyer

Growing a Green Generation is a horticulture curriculum for pre-school to kindergarten age children.

A unique feature of our curriculum is input from both plant professionals and experts in early childhood education. This is a collaboration between the Department of Plant Biology, the Child Study and Development Center (CSDC), and UNH Cooperative Extension at the University of New Hampshire. We are supported by the Anna and Raymond Tuttle Environmental Horticulture Fund.

The project began in 2000, and has included input from a number of horticulture and education students (Laura Broderick, Tracie Smith, Maria Sorrento, Cami Esmel, and Lindsay Boyer).

The project is currently led by Dorothy Perkins, with input from teachers at the Child Study and Development Center (especially John Nimmo (Director), and Beth Hallett) and Plant Biology professors (Rosanna Freyre and Paul Fisher). John McLean, the manager of horticulture farms and greenhouses, and his staff have provided backup support to keep our garden healthy and beautiful.

Growing a Green Generation is a living curriculum that is constantly being refined. Projects in our curriculum are field-tested by teachers at the summer teaching gardens at the CSDC in Durham. We also thank other sites such as the Child and Family Development Center at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord for providing feedback. We thank StandUp Gardens, Inc. of New Hampshire for providing container gardens that we use both indoors and outdoors.

We hope you and the children around you enjoy these activities!