Last week, our early childhood students at C.S. 61 developed little green thumbs in the Bronx with help from our Go!Healthy program. The toddlers, with help from their teachers and Go!Healthy nutritionists, learned about gardening as part of the nutrition program’s education curriculum that shapes even the youngest minds in our services.

After a reading of “Planting a Rainbow” written by Lois Ehlert, students made their own arts and crafts plants; and thanks to some face painting magic, their classroom soon filled with young colorful butterflies, lady bugs, and bees. The morning ended outside in the school’s garden where kids and their parents planted bulbs and laid down soil for the winter. The excitement for our young ones will continue in the spring when they get to revisit the garden to see what has sprouted above ground.

Go!Healthy also made the morning particularly seasonal by sharing samples and recipes of a fall vegetable chili with parents. And staff raffled off gardening packets with pots, soil, and seeds to help our families continue their gardening efforts at home.

Thank you to C.S. 61 and the Go!Healthy program for instilling a love of gardening and nutrition in our young ones that will be sure to grow along with them.