Early education school awarded Best Startup Garden

Kids are learning to do complex things at such a young age.

One way kids can enrich their brains is through hands-on activities.

The Nest by Scissortail won an award and grant for $1,000 Oct. 24 from the 2024 Oklahoma Farm to School Garden Contest for Best Startup Garden. They, along with their 6 weeks to 2½ year old students, created a garden and learned how to care for it.

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry held a competition this year throughout the state for public or private PK-12 schools, early education facilities and alternative learning environments to see who could grow and maintain a garden, according to a press release.

Lindsey DeWolf, Owner and Director of The Nest by Scissortail, said the school is not like other schools.

“We are a nature based, Reggio inspired school,” DeWolf said. “That means it’s child led, not adult led. We don’t decide what goes on in the classrooms for ourselves. We pay really close attention to the children’s interests and what they’re really into. We create curriculum in the classroom based on those things. Everything that we do at The Nest and at Scissortail has to be something that a child is able to do, because they’re capable and we put that in their hands.”

“We base it on their development,” she continued. “You have to know where these child’s brains are developing, whether it’s fine motor skills or visual. Usually at that time it has a lot to do with their vision. As they get older, the teachers really have to know the stages and how we can encourage them with activities. As they get older, they develop mentally.”

At The Nest, they built four 4×4 raised flower or garden beds, DeWolf said. She and the teachers built the frames and planted them.

“We have planted fall and winter vegetables such as cauliflower, celery, cabbage, kale, broccoli and brussels sprouts,” DeWolf said

Even though they’re tiny, the students help in any way they can.

“Each day, the kids go outside and have their own little watering cans and water the garden,” DeWolf said. “We have two chickens and a little chicken coop out there. They collect the chicken eggs, they get to interact with the chickens, feed them, make sure they have plenty of water. They really enjoy playing in the soil the plants are planted in.”

“When we go pick vegetables and things, we’ll take the 1 and 2 year olds out and show them how to properly do that instead of pulling out an entire plant,” DeWolf said. “If we tell them, ‘Be easy with the plants, don’t rip them off,’ and start teaching them at that age, then the older they get the more respect they’ll have for those types of things.”

Not only are the tots learning how to gently care for the plants, they learn sensory stimulation.

“If you take care of them, it’s not like taking care of a kid in their eyes, it’s more of a sensory experience,” DeWolf said. “They get to touch things. They get to touch the water and the dirt and chickens and all that.”

After receiving the grant, DeWolf said they plan to put it into a fund to continue growing the garden, but nothing’s set in stone.

“Our hope is to move after winter, when we can harvest all those crops,” DeWolf said. “There are tons more plants that you can plant, vegetables and fruits that you can plant in spring and summer. We’ll add lots. We’re going to continuously add to our garden. We’ll add more beds and trellises and things like that.”

When the time comes to grow spring or summer crops, its even more interactive.

“It’s actually easier in the warm weather months to do with the kids,” DeWolf said. “There’s things like tomatoes. If you plant a cherry tomato plant, they will pull those tomatoes off and eat them right then. We have a cook at school and he will incorporate anything that we pick off of those plants into their lunches and breakfasts.”

Growing a garden can be both an interactive and fun experience.

“It teaches them how to take care of something and how to put love and time into something,” DeWolf said. “When you do those things, it shows them, even at that age, that you can get that return.”