Plants in the Early Years Environment

                Join me for a walk down memory lane. At the edge of the garden, I stand patiently as my Grandma Joyce ties a fruit basket with an old piece of rope around my waist. Once my handy basket is secure, I grab two plastic berry quarts and put them in the basket. In front of me are rows, upon rows raspberries. Now, these are not just any raspberries. These are blue raspberries. The biggest and sweetest raspberries you ever could eat! I'm not alone in my berry picking. With me is my brother Chris, my cousin Jessica, my other cousin Daniel, my aunt Valerie, my mom, and my Grandma. Sometimes neighbours came too but not today. My Grandpa is over checking out the other plants in the garden (likely squishing potato bugs…that's a memory for another time lol). Picking berries was a family event/contest. The girls: my cousin and I against the boys: Chris and Daniel. Clearly, the girls were the better pickers (haha sorry not sorry). We picked more quarts while not leaving precious berries behind on the bushes. 

                 Looking back on this memory, one of my favorite parts concerns not with the berries we picked but with the way my Grandma Joyce just "was." She praised us for our work (which she trusted us to do), encouraged us to laugh,  brought us together, and loved us with everything she could. This memory cost $0, yet it is one of my strongest childhood memories. 

One of my "learning" environments growing up was my Grandma's garden. The knowledge provided just by letting me tag along, giving me chores, and actively communicating her know-how had a massive impact on my life. As early childhood educators, we owe it to the children in our care to take them back to nature. Nature is more than just walking through a forest, or exploring a meadow. It's more than gardening or picking flowers. Nature teaches us about life and death, cause and effect, senses, respect, and most importantly, it supports positive emotional and physical well-being. 

How can we incorporate nature into our learning environments? 

A great first step is to incorporate gardening into your sensory play. Allowing children to: 

• dig in the dirt
• add water
• fill seed trays
• plant seeds
• spray water using a spray bottle
• decorate planting pots
• build raised beds
• decorate garden stones 
• pull weeds

​These are all things young children are capable of. Supervision is essential as plants can be delicate, and potting soil isn't for eating. Let's take a second to talk about "resources." Gardening supplies are considered a teaching resource when they are brought into the early year's environment. As with introducing anything new, it's best to start with baby steps. Introducing gardening books into the reading nook, introducing gardening tools in the sand area, talking about delicate and soft touches. Experiment using our "pincer grasp" and then finally adding a seed starting activity. If children are not given any skills or knowledge prior, they will inherently play "their way" and "their way" might be stressful for us as educators. An activity we've planned with stimulating, and delicate resources could be destroyed. Supporting the child to understand and respect living things does not interfere with the concept of "child-led play." Rather it scaffolds the child's prior knowledge while allowing for supervised exploration. Eventually, the new plants will be transplanted in the garden. As educators, we will then continue to communicate plant husbandry and allow children's minds to flourish with hypothesizes and wonder. 

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What about indoor plants (houseplants)

We live in Canada… so our outdoor gardening season isn't very long. What can we do for the rest of the year? Having plants around our play spaces and throughout our homes allows children to feel connected to nature even when it's snowy outside. The benefits of houseplants transcend beyond just the child. They are crucial to our own feelings of well-being. 
Houseplants have incredible benefits beyond just being nice to look at. These include: ​

• cleaning the air in our homes (some are better than others. A quick google search for "air cleaning houseplants" will guide you in the right direction).
• improving mental health (just looking at greenery can make us happier)
• add humidity to the environment (especially good during winter months)
• they add oxygen back into the air
• they give your immune system a boost! Beneficial bacteria and chemicals are produced/released from plants. These compounds naturally reduce feelings of stress. When less stressed our bodies are able to sleep and function better. When we sleep better we aren't as susceptible to illnesses. GO PLANTS. 

I encourage having poisonous plants in your home and play space. Just be smart about it. The Peace Lily for example is the #1 best air purifying plant. It has striking green leaves and a super neat flower during it's bloom season. Nevertheless the Peace Lilly is considered poisonous (if consumed). This is a plant to put out of reach. The same way we put covers over electrical outlets vs. not having any electrical outlets. Having plants that are dangerous if eaten opens the door for multiple communication and teaching moments. 

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If however you can only have "safe" plants in your environment here's a short list I hope you find useful: 

• Christmas Cactus​
• Boston Fern 
• Blue Echeveria (succulent family)
• African violets
• Baby rubber plant (the rubber plant is considered poisonous but the "baby" rubber plant is a non-toxic alternative)
• Swedish ivy 
• Prayer plant (this plant is super neat! the leaves fold up at night time…thus its name)
• wax plant (also known as porcelain flower)
• Spider plant (great for those who want a plant easy to propagate) 
• Basil- normally thought of as a garden plant, basil is easily grown indoors year round. 

Connect with Little Lambs Home Daycare on Facebook/Instagram this week. I will be sharing some of my favourite plant ideas as well as ideas shared by our community. 

Thank you for reading, 
​Kristina

Sources: 
              Positive Health Wellness,.(Sept.27/2018). 7 Science-backed benefits of having plants at home. sourced from:  https://www.ecowatch.com/health-benefits-of-having-plants-at-home-2608386260.html

             D.Murray,. (March 16/2018). 20 Plants that are safe for children, cats and dogs. sourced from: https://www.hgtv.ca/green-living/photos/plants-child-pet-safe-1913786/#