On October 3rd, we had a beautiful day in the garden and outdoor classroom with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. We are excited to do it again with kindergarten, 4th and 5th on Oct 17th! This program offers hands-on gardening activities at lunch/recess time as an enrichment program for all TFES students.
As part of our mission, we focus a lot on foods, as we grow food and encourage that our gardeners try foods that they grew, learn about healthy eating and wellness.
Talk to your students about what they learned… Food, Farming, Flowers with Fun!
For our first classes in the garden, station #1 in the Outdoor Classroom, focused on the MyPlate Food Groups. Led by Candice Sblacio and Jess Neff, students learned about the importance of eating from the food groups. Students brought home a myplate activity with stickers. Kids also enjoyed playing with the sensory bin “the seeds we eat” with beans, peas, corn, rice, and lentils. We also talked about making healthy choices and trying to represent the food groups in our meal (my plate).
Station #2, as always was hands-on garden time. To allow all the kids to plant seeds (they just love to plant!!!), kids had a choice of two garden teams: 1 Team Food and 2 Team Flowers. Team Flower was led by Mr Beau Allen to plant a flower bed in the courtyard so that next year, TFES can enjoy giant sunflowers, black-eye susans and other flowers. Team Food was led by Tracy Nyszczot and we planted a ton of cold weather seeds (leafy greens, root veggies and snow peas), and we harvested/ate the end of summer crops. Kids also love playing with the large sensory table while they await their turn!
We encourage you to use this momentum to discuss what a healthy meal should look like with your children, encourage trying new foods in those food groups – use a sticker chart or incentives if needed. Also, you can use MY PLATE activities / links at https://www.myplate.gov/.
SAVE THE DATE for Our Last Event of the Year! Join Us for the “Family Fun & Winter WrapUp” Event on Saturday, November 22, 2025 at 10am-12pm (Pending UDSD Approval)
All are welcome to join the TFES Garden Club Community! (Parental Supervision is Required).
We will have an activity table for the kids, as parents and families work on garden projects around the school’s campus. CLICK FOR DETAILS.
###
TFES GARDEN CLUB 