Anita Croft

Want to garden with tamariki but worried about time, space or lack of gardening experience? Discover how to make gardening achievable in your early childhood centre. Learn how to start small, involve children in meaningful gardening tasks, fit gardening into everyday routines and build confidence as a team. You don't need to have a perfect garden or all the answers to get started.

Gardening is more than just learning to grow flowers or food. It provides a rich context for learning, wellbeing, relationships, sustainability and connecting with Papatūānuku. When gardening becomes part of everyday life within an early childhood centre, it becomes part of the curriculum, not something extra that has to be fitted around an already busy daily programme. Gardening in early childhood brings the curriculum to life.

Teaching children to grow food is a powerful way to build food resilience in an uncertain world. By learning to grow their own food, children develop confidence, life skills, and a deeper understanding of sustainability. Gardening supports education, strengthens communities, and reconnects children with nature—starting with just one seed.