How Gardening Teaches Children Healthy Eating Habits

Why Gardening and Healthy Eating for Children Go Hand in Hand

There is something truly magical about watching a child harvest vegetables they have grown themselves. The excitement shows on their faces when they first pull up a carrot or harvest a broccoli – whatever the vegetable (or herb) is, they love it!

Gardening and cooking offer rich, hands‑on learning experiences that nurture curiosity, confidence, and skills that will serve them throughout their lives. When tamariki are involved in the whole journey – from planting seeds to preparing a meal – they gain far more than just how to grow something and cook it. They gain knowledge, skills, and confidence.

The Learning Power of Gardening

A garden is a natural classroom. Gardening and healthy eating for children are closely connected, and every moment – from digging to watering to observing tiny seedlings grow – supports children’s learning in meaningful ways.

Children learn through their senses, and gardening is full of sensory moments: the texture of soil, the scent of herbs, the sound of water, the colours of flowers and vegetables, and the taste of their harvests. These experiences help tamariki build their understanding of where food comes from and how things grow.

Caring for plants teaches children that growth takes time. They learn to check for dry soil, notice new leaves, and celebrate small changes. These routines build responsibility, patience, and empathy – all key foundations for lifelong learning and healthy food habits.

Working in a garden will naturally spark questions:

• What do plants need to grow?

• Why do some plants grow faster than others?

• How do I know when a tomato is ready to pick?

Gardening provides a place for children to experiment, measure, compare, and observe –key elements of scientific thinking.

Growing Food Children Love

Children are more likely to try new foods when they’ve been involved in growing them. It’s best to start with easy, high‑success crops that offer quick rewards and plenty of opportunities for participation, such as:

• Cherry tomatoes

• Lettuce mixes

• Radishes

• Strawberries

• Herbs like mint, parsley, or basil

These plants grow well in pots, planter boxes, or small garden beds – perfect for any early childhood setting or home.

To keep tamariki interested and involved, encourage child-led tasks like:

• Choosing which seeds to plant

• Filling containers with soil

• Watering the garden

• Harvesting ripe produce

They will be excited and proud when they begin to harvest food they have grown themselves.

Cooking With Tamariki: Bringing the Harvest to Life

Growing food is half the equation. Children also need to learn to do with their produce once they’ve harvested it. Therefore, cooking is an equally rich learning experience. Involving children in preparing meals, using their garden produce, builds confidence and strengthens connections between food, health, and wellbeing.

Simple garden-to-plate recipes for children to be involved in preparing could include:

• Mini salads using lettuce, herbs, and cherry tomatoes

• Fritters using vegetables and herbs from their garden

• Veggie sticks with homemade dips

• Fresh herb pesto on crackers

• Berry or fruit skewers

These tasks allow tamariki to practise washing, chopping, mixing, spreading, pouring, and measuring.

Like gardening, cooking provides wider learning opportunities, such as:

• Mathematics (measuring, counting, dividing portions)

• Language development (new vocabulary, sequencing steps)

• Fine motor skills (grating, tearing, spreading, cutting)

• Social skills (sharing, turn-taking, teamwork)

Best of all, cooking helps children feel confident and capable in the kitchen.

Nurturing Healthy Eating and Food Literacy

Food literacy goes beyond knowing what’s healthy – it’s about understanding food’s journey from garden to plate and developing a positive relationship with what we eat.

Children are more open to trying vegetables when they’ve been part of the growing process. They learn that carrots come from soil, lettuce grows leaf by leaf, and herbs have unique scents and flavours.

This learning helps reduce pressure around food and instead fosters exploration, curiosity, and choice.

Gardening shows tamariki that growing kai requires time, care, water, sunlight, and effort. They learn not to waste food, to compost scraps, and to appreciate what nature provides.

Growing and cooking food with tamariki is more than an activity – it’s an experience filled with joy, exploration, connection, and growth. From the first seedling to the final shared meal, the journey empowers children to become confident learners, thoughtful gardeners, and enthusiastic young chefs.