Bloomers! Schoolyard

 Bloomers! Schoolyard is a hands-on gardening and healthy eating, 7 - 12 week program designed specifically for early learners. It comes with an entire garden, soil and all, and everything else you need to grow a little crop of vegetables. We do lettuce in the Fall, snow peas in the Spring and tomatoes in the Summer. The teacher has a harvest day and prepares the vegetables in 3 different ways so the kids learn that if they don't like one way, they may like them another way. And they always eat the vegetables!

There is a complete curriculum that meets over 50 ECERS, DRDP, Common Core standards and 7 storybooks - each one teaches a thing you need to grow a plant. There are posters and a big activity chart that the kids have to log in that they've accomplished their responsibilities for the plant that week. It's super easy for the teacher because she just has to follow the curriculum and the Bloomers! know + grow Garden is virtually fail-safe so the kids can have a successful first experience.

Then there is the educational online world, Bloomers! Island that the kids get a free subscription too. They can log on with their parents and become a Bloomer and it reinforces the lessons they've learned at school. All the Bloomers characters are plants, flowers and trees that really engage the children and teaches them that plants are living creatures and should be respected and taken care of.

We are currently using sponsors to pay for the program for the schools. They have an ability to create a relationship with the teachers and parents and get involved in their community.