This year Start Small Dream Big 2021, the Nursery 2 and Kindergarten 2 children at PCF Sparkletots Preschool @ Tampines West Blk 151 embarked on a journey called ‘We Care for the Environment’. The children were introduced on how to take care of the environment and together with their teachers, they came up with the idea of planting so that they can show their appreciation to the environment.
To kick start the project, the children from Playgroup and Pre Nursery brought food scraps which will turn into a soil-like product called compost. The compost will be used as part of the planting of the different herbs.
Next, the children were introduced to the different gardening tools and the life cycle of a plant. As part of their learning experiences, the children planted different types of herb seeds. As they also learnt the importance of upcycling, the children used empty Yakult/Vitagen bottles as pots. As the seedlings grow bigger, the teachers transferred it to bigger pots.
The children were engaged in taking care of the plants by watering and talking to it. They also observed and compared the growth of the plants that they have planted.
The children shared what they have learnt with their parents at home. Some of the parents reinforced what they have learnt in school and did planting at the comfort of their home. The parents even shared the progress of their planting experiences with the teachers.
Once the herbs were fully grown, the children harvested it. They even used the herbs as part of the ingredients of the chicken soup that they made.
Through this project, we realised that the children enjoyed planting hence we seek the approval from the town council to have a mini garden beside the school. With their approval, our mini garden is in progress and the children are so excited that they are able to continue with their planting project as part of giving back to the environment.
