The Green Education Foundation (GEF) is challenging schools and youth groups nationwide to plant 10,000 classroom and outdoor gardens. This challenge is running between February 1st and August 31st 2010. This Green Thumb Challenge is hoping to connect children across the nation through sharing the joys and healthy benefits of gardening. Gardening is the perfect tool to help teach children the importance of eating well and human-nature relationships. With our country's high concern of childhood obesity and the dangerous long-term health ramifications of poor nutrition, developing healthy eating habits at a young age is imperative to addressing these concerns.
The GEF is providing participants with a $10 off a $50 purchase at Lowe's, and the opportunity to be awarded a $5,000 grant in recognition of their garden project. They also provide free PRe K-8 standards-based lessons, creative activities, songs, and supplemental learning material that connects gardening to science, math, language arts, and art. The GEF's mission is to promote learning opportunities that develop sustainable habits of environmental stewardship in children and thier communities.
Inspired by this challenge, I planted my own basil plant in the back yard. Hopefully this will be a start to a vast garden! We shall see how green my thumb gets.
Picture credit to www.greeneducationfoundation.org
Elizah Leigh
said on February 26, 2010