Learning Across the ELC

Garden to Plate Project

Our Garden to Plate project has continued to flourish, offering children rich, hands-on opportunities to engage in the full journey of growing food. From the warmth of summer through to the changing seasons, children have been actively involved in sprouting seedlings, planting, nurturing, and observing the growth cycles within our vegetable garden.

They have taken great pride in caring for the plants: watering, checking for new growth, and noticing how the garden evolves over time. These experiences have deepened their understanding of seasonal change, patience, and responsibility, while fostering a genuine connection to the natural world.

As our garden has begun to yield its produce, the excitement has been shared across our community. Children have explored when fruits and vegetables are ready to harvest, learning to identify signs such as colour, size, and texture. Herbs like basil and lemon thyme, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicum, watermelons, eggplants, beetroot, strawberries and purple carrots have been particular highlights, with children eagerly picking and tasting what they have grown.

The harvest has extended beyond the garden beds and into our daily routines, as children have been actively involved in preparing and enjoying their produce. They have taken part in cutting and grinding herbs for sensory play and explorations, as well as grating carrots and cutting cucumbers, capsicum, and strawberries to add to salads and fruit platters. These experiences support independence, confidence and the development of important self-help skills, while fostering a sense of pride in contributing to shared meals.

We have also greatly valued the opportunity to share our harvest with families, further strengthening the connection between home and our learning environment. It has been especially rewarding to receive photographs of family mealtimes, where children take evident pride in incorporating produce from our garden into dishes prepared at home. In particular, we were delighted to see Essie enjoying her freshly harvested beetroot as part of her evening meal - a meaningful reflection of this shared learning journey.

The Garden to Plate project continues to provide meaningful, sensory-rich experiences that support children’s learning across many areas, while nurturing a strong sense of pride, wellbeing and community.

Banksia Gold Team