KidsGrow KidsCook

KidsGrow KidsCook is a free program that provides everything you need to start cooking and gardening classes in your primary school.  Visit the Healthy Kids Association to download the resources, and join our Live Life Well @ School email list for more great ideas for your school community.

Why focus on kitchen gardens at school?

Promoting healthy eating runs parallel to involving students in kitchen gardens.  Kitchen gardens provide opportunities to grow and produce healthy food and connect students with healthy food and lifestyles.

How can KidsGrow KidsCook help your school?

The KidsGrow KidsCook program provides a practical toolkit of resources to help schools get kids enjoying a kitchen garden.  Specially created by teachers, the hand-on gardening and cooking projects are directly linked to the school curriculum and expose students to a range of thinking skills and learning styles.

Whether you have access to a garden and functioning kitchen, or are confined to the classroom, KidsGrow KidsCook will provide everything you need to turn your students into green-fingered master chefs. It will:

• Teach about food, where it’s from and how to prepare it.
• Get kids eating more fruit and vegetables.
• Meet NSW curriculum learning outcomes.
• Save money- grow your own food, rather than buying it.
• Show that you take nutrition education seriously.
• Create interactive, fun lessons with our pre-prepared lesson plans.

KidsGrow KidsCook was developed by the former Greater Southern Area Health Service, Healthy Kids Association and the Nursery Garden Industry Australia (NGIA).

More resources to support your school’s kitchen garden

• The Department of Education’s Kitchen Gardens website provides advice for teachers and schools, learning resources and a student investigation scaffold.  The Department of Education also provide information on how the kitchen garden can support multiple curriculum areas.
• The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage provides grants for schools to fund environmental management projects, including kitchen gardens to benefit students, teachers and your school community.
• Sustainable Schools NSW provides free teaching and learning resources about the environment and sustainability.  Joining the Sustainable Schools network can help your school Connect, share and learn with other teachers and schools.
• A case study of Eden Public School, ‘A Chicken Coop for Tarerergudje’ describes how the school created and implemented a Project Based Learning (PBL) project using STEM pedagogy to incorporate an outdoor learning area to enhance student wellbeing.

Ready to go?

Visit the Healthy Kids Association to download the KidsGrow KidsCook resources or email the Population Health team to discuss how we can support your school’s kitchen garden.