(And How We Turn Dirt into Learning at The Kitchen Garden Playschool)
When you think of a preschool classroom, you probably picture bright walls, tiny tables, and maybe a cheerful carpet or two. But at The Kitchen Garden Playschool, our classroom is made of sunshine, soil, and imagination — and it’s not just beautiful; it’s brilliant for early childhood development.
Why a Garden is the Best Learning Environment for Young Children
✅ Hands-on Learning: Research shows young children learn best when they can touch, taste, and experience their lessons. In the garden, every day is a new science experiment, a story unfolding, a problem to solve. What happens if we forget to water the basil? Why are there holes in the lettuce leaves? Learning becomes living.
✅ Building Big Feelings Skills: Teamwork, patience, empathy for living things — these aren’t just “bonus lessons.” They’re the core of what we do. Watching a tiny seed sprout after weeks of care builds resilience and wonder in little hearts.
✅ Healthy Bodies, Healthy Habits: Kids are more likely to taste a snap pea, munch a radish, or nibble an edible flower when they grow it themselves. (We’ve seen it firsthand — kids who once swore off “green things” can become tiny salad enthusiasts!)
✅ Celebrating Curiosity: Bugs, mud, weather, worms — the natural world gives endless opportunities to ask Why? and How? We lean into those questions, sparking a love of discovery that will last a lifetime.
A Day in the Life at The Kitchen Garden Playschool
Every day at The Kitchen Garden Playschool follows a gentle rhythm — a balance of free play, good food, creativity, and time spent outdoors. Here’s a little peek at what a typical day looks like in our garden classroom:
🌱 Free Play
We start the day with open-ended play, where kids choose their own adventures — digging, building, imagining, and making friends.
🍴 Cooking
Children help prepare simple, wholesome recipes, learning real skills like measuring, mixing, and tasting along the way.
🥕 Snacks
We share healthy, homemade snacks (often from our own garden!), eaten together in a relaxed, family-style setting.
🎨 Creative Play (Art or Music)
Each day brings a new way to express creativity — painting, singing, crafting, or making joyful noise with homemade instruments.
🌾 Garden Exploration
We head outside to explore the garden: searching for bugs, watering plants, harvesting veggies, and noticing the changes each new season brings.
🫖 Tea Time
A calming pause in the day where we gather for a warm cup of herbal tea and some quiet conversation.
📚 Story
We cozy up for a read-aloud — choosing stories that spark wonder, curiosity, and kindness.
🚙 Pick Up
After a full morning of growing, creating, and connecting, it’s time to say goodbye — until our next adventure together.
🌸 Why Parents Love It Too
At The Kitchen Garden Playschool, we keep things simple: fresh air, muddy hands, healthy food, and lots of room to wonder.
Parents often tell us they notice small but meaningful changes after their child spends time in the garden — like wanting to help stir soup at home, asking more questions about bugs and plants, or proudly pointing out which vegetables they recognize at the grocery store.
It’s not about rushing to master skills; it’s about growing confidence, curiosity, and care — little by little, just like the seeds we plant together.
Families also appreciate that we practice sustainability in everyday ways. We compost our snack scraps, reuse materials for art and building, and find joy in taking care of the earth with simple habits.
It’s not about being perfect; it’s about showing kids that small actions matter.
We’re not about rushing childhood along.
We’re about giving kids a little patch of earth, a little room to grow, and a whole lot of time to notice the magic around them.
🌿 Curious about how a garden preschool could nurture your child’s growth?
Learn more about our programs here
🌸 Want to see a day at Kitchen Garden Playschool?
Schedule a tour today
